The legendary Viking chieftain Ragnar Lodbrok (Ragnar…

The legendary Viking chieftain Ragnar Lodbrok (Ragnar 'Hairy-Breeches'), finished with ravaging France, has turned his attention to England.

He lands his ships in 865 in East Anglia and proceeds north, aided by a supply of horses by which King Edmund of East Anglia has bought them off and by civil infighting between royal candidates—the brothers Osbehrt and Aelle—in the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria.

It is claimed that here he is defeated in battle for the only time, by King Aelle II of Northumbria.

Aelle's men capture Ragnar, and the King orders him thrown into a pit filled with poisonous snakes.

As he is slowly being bitten to death, he is alleged to have exclaimed "How the little pigs would grunt if they knew the situation of the old boar!"

Alternative versions of the story say that he had landed by accident in East Anglia and there befriended King Edmund before being killed by a jealous courtier.

The murderer escapes to Denmark and blames Edmund for Lodbrok's demise.

One Viking saga states that when his four sons heard the manner of his death, they all reacted in great sorrow.

Hvitserk, who was playing tafl, gripped the piece so hard that he bled from his fingernails.

Björn Ironside grabbed a spear so tightly that he left an impression in it, and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye, who was trimming his nails, cut straight through to the bone.

Although these stories may not be accurate, like virtually all tales concerning Ragnar Lodbrok, his death has serious consequences.

His other sons, Ivar the Boneless (alias Hingwar) and Ubbe soon learns the details of their father's death and swear that they will avenge his killing, in time-honored Viking tradition.