THE SCENE: The story of how Ragnar Lothbrok won his name begins when a viking king won a golden vulture egg from an old witch.
THE TEXT: It has been said, that inside the vulture’s egg, which they brought from Bjarmaland, was found a little snake, golden in color, and King Herraud gave it to his daughter as a teething gift. She put a piece of gold under the snake, and it grew so big, that it encircled her bower, and was so savage that no one dared come near her except the king, and those who brought it food. The snake needed an old ox for each meal, and everyone thought it was the greatest monstrosity. Herraud vowed solemnly that he would only marry Thora, his daughter, to the man who dared to go into her bower and destroy the snake. But no one dared to do that until Ragnar, son of Sigurd Hring. So Ragnar was afterward called Lodbrokar, or “hairy britches” and he took the name from his clothes, which he had made, when he conquered the snake.
– The Saga of Bosi and Herraud, 14th Century AD
