From The Viking Lair: The Deadliest Vikings To Ever Exist

Get to know the deadliest Vikings ever to exist today! It’s a must-read tale from the Viking Lair you surely don’t want to miss.

News from the Viking Lair!

Although it was an excellent series in many ways, Vikings brought a rather romanticized portrait of some of the Norse Sagas' critical names and the lives they might have lived. Although these figures certainly existed in some form, the reality was probably far less romantic and more brutal than fiction. However, these serve as great designs for authentic Viking apparel.

The History Channel's success shows Vikings have increased interest in the Viking culture and mythology of the North since it first hit our screens in 2013. After an announcement that the next sixth season of the show will be the show's last season, the super fans may well be wondering what to do next since it shows just how much the show has contributed to becoming a traditional Viking art.

While it will take some time before the discovery is ever available to the public, there are many Viking characters whose names you should know. These are even characters you might see on a bunch of Viking merch.

Erik the Red

He's considered the most famous Viking of all time. Erik the Red discovered Greenland mainly because he had a murder problem. The man loved to kill people. After his father's exile from Norway for committing manslaughter, Erik took up the Iceland family mantle. He, later on, killed two men who had killed his slaves. Then, after his removal from Iceland, it inspired him to find Greenland.

Erik the Red is a popular figure who embodies the bloodthirsty reputation of the Vikings more than most. Eventually, Erik ended up founding Greenland, but only after his exile from Iceland for murdering a few men.

His father's exile from Norway—his birthplace—for Erik's manslaughter, due to its violence and exile running into the family. Erik owes his epithet to his rough temperament and flowing red locks. If you're one to idolize all Erik the Red, you can find authentic Viking apparel online and in retail stores.

The Boneless Ivar

Ivar's nickname "Boneless" starts a way of making osteogenesis look pretty badass. By having the bones of an 80-year-old woman, Ivar conquered vast areas of England and Ireland and did so with brutality. He's famously taken vengeance on his father's rapist, Northumbria, by executing a "blood eagle" on him. It happened by cutting his back open, pushing his ribs out of his spine, and making "wings" with his lungs, which some can even consider traditional Viking art.

Another son of Ragnar Lothbrok, Ivar, owes his nickname to a condition that caused his legs to break easily, making his fearsome reputation even more impressive. Ivar the Boneless was popularly known as a Berserker, the Norse warriors champion who fought in a trance-like rage. He is best known for having invaded several Anglo-Saxon kingdoms with his two brothers.

Freydís Eiríksdóttir

As another child of Erik the Red, Freydís proved that she was just as much a daughter of her father as her brother, Leif Erikson, was his son. Legend has it that when she was visiting North America with her child, she was single-handedly chasing off the natives with a sword—while pregnant. That illustration looks so good on a few Viking merch.

When Erik the Red is your dad, and Leif Eriksson is your half brother, there's a need to make a name for yourself. With that, it's hard to forget the name of Freydís Eiríksdóttir. On her way to Vinland, Freydís gets in a battle between her friends and the locals. While the locals were chasing her band away, the then-pregnant Freydís grabbed one of her fallen comrade's swords, exposed her breast, beat her chest, and shouted a battle cry from the Vinlanders. In the end, the Vikings took control of the village, and Freydís killed all the local children.

Ragnar Lothbrok

Ragnar Lothbrok made a name by conquering villages throughout England and France. Even a French king had paid Ragnar not to raid his land. It is also known for the birth of many sons with funny names, such as Ivar the Boneless, Björn Ironside, and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye. Unfortunately, he is probably most known for his last moment on Earth, during which King Lalla of Northumbria decided to throw him into a pit of snakes. The story then joined the most popular forms of traditional Viking art.

Probably the most famous Viking warrior of all, not least because of his role as the leading protagonist in Vikings, the popular drama of the History Channel. Ragnar's fame was well established before the TV show, though, due to his leading presence in the stories written by the Vikings known as the "sagas."

In these sagas, based on real people and events, Ragnar's many 9th-century raids on France and Anglo-Saxon England earned him the legendary status that his nickname, "Shaggy Breeches," does not convey.

Egil Skallagrimsson

The most famous warrior-poet, Egil Skallagrimsson, and his exploits owe a great deal to legend. However, even given the sagas' tendency towards drama and enlargement, Egil was a remarkable Viking.

Egil's Saga depicts him as a complicated man, prone to violent rage but also capable of great poetic sensitivity. Indeed, his poems are among the finest in ancient Scandinavia. Egil is said to have killed for the first time when he was only seven, taking an ax to another boy. It was the first deadly act of a bloody childhood packed with pillaging and plundering. Axes tend to be the go-to designs of authentic Viking apparel, making this design stem from Egil himself.

Not many people claim to be both a Viking warrior and a poet, but Egill Skallagrímsson was both. As soon as he wrote a poem when he was three, and Egill murdered people the first time he was seven. He murdered several more people before his exile from Norway to Northumbria, where Eric Bloodaxe ruled. Bloodaxe understandably wanted Egill dead because Egill had killed his son, but when Egill read one of his poems, it touched Bloodaxe so much that he saved the poet's life.

Many consider the age of the Vikings to have been between 700 AD and 1100. They packed an impressive amount of raiding and pillaging during this time, developing an unrivaled reputation for brutal aggression. The term Viking means "a pirate raid" in Old Norse, so it's fair to say that they were, by definition, a violent bunch.

Of course, such characterizations are never entirely accurate. The Vikings were not just violent raiders; many came to settle peacefully, trade, or explore. However, Vikings merch items range from books to apparel to help you understand more about these characters.

Louie is the father behind the travel blog Browseeverywhere.com. He has a background in photography, E-commerce, and writing product reviews online at ConsumerReviews24. Traveling full time with his family was his ultimate past-time. If he’s not typing on his laptop, you can probably find him watching movies.