Katheryn Winnick portrayed Lagertha in all six seasons of Vikings, which premiered in 2013. Lagertha was once married to the famous viking Ragnar Lothbrok (played by Travis Fimmel), but is Lagertha based on a real Viking shield woman? Express.co.uk has everything you need to know.
Is Lagertha based on a real Viking shield woman?
Fans were introduced to Lagertha in season one of Vikings in 2013.
In the series, Lagertha was the first wife of warrior Ragnar Lothbrok and was the former Queen of Kattegat.
She is portrayed as a fierce shield-maiden, fighting alongside the men in the shield-wall and alongside her husband.
Following the loss of their daughter Gyda and the death of their unborn child with Ragnar, Lagertha realised the goddess Freya’s fertility was meant for another woman.
Ragnar went onto marry Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland), his second wife.
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Vikings show creator Michael Hirst has blended historical fact and fiction to tell the story of Lagertha and Vikings.
Lagertha is inspired by the shield maiden of the same name, who is believed to have existed in the 9th century.
There remains debate over whether Lagertha actually existed or whether she is simply part of the myth of Viking warrior women.
The real Lagertha was Viking shield maiden and ruler from what is now known as present-day Norway.
The story of Lagertha was first recorded by the chronicler Saxo Grammaticus in the ninth book of the Gesta Danorum.
According to Saxo, Ragnar and Lagertha have one son named Fridleif, as well as two daughters, whose names are not recorded.
When Ragnar returned to Denmark, he divorced Lagertha in order to marry Thora Borgarhjört (Þóra Borgarhjǫrtr), daughter of King Herraud (Herrauðr) of Sweden.
However, when Ragnar needed support from Norway to aid in Denmark’s civil war, his former wife Lagertha came to his aid with 120 ships.
However, Hirst has altered the story of the Viking shield-maiden along the way.
For example, Lagertha was the first wife of the famous Viking Ragnar Lothbrok but she did not kill his second wife, Aslaug in real life.
In the series, Rollo (Clive Standen) and Lagertha become lovers, which did not happen in real life.
Rollo is depicted as Ragnar Lothbrok’s brother which he is not. The real Rollo was born 20 years after Ragnar’s death and by that time, Lagethera, if still alive, would be in her late 60s.
The real Lagertha did also not die at the hands of one of Ragnar Lothbrok’s sons.
In part one of season six, Lagertha was killed by Ragnar’s son Hvitserk.
Unfortunately, there are no accounts of how the real Lagertha actually died.
She is believed to have been born in 795 and died around the mid 9th Century.
Vikings is streaming on Amazon Prime now