Lagertha is one of those names that leaps out of the Viking Age, a warrior woman who has sparked endless fascination. She appears in only one medieval source, yet her story has been retold in books, films, and television, making it feel larger than life. Was she real, or just another legend spun by a medieval writer? That question has followed her for centuries.
The truth is more complicated than the popular image of a fearless shieldmaiden charging into battle beside Ragnar Lothbrok. We have a single account from Saxo Grammaticus, writing in the 12th century, and even he blurred the line between fact and myth. His version of Lagertha’s life is packed with drama, bloodshed, and betrayal, but there is very little to prove she existed outside those pages.
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Still, her story is worth telling, as it opens a fascinating window into how the Vikings viewed women, warfare, and power. And of course, we’ll look at what’s fact and what’s fiction, and if she did really exist outside of the storybooks and TV programs.
Historical Roots and Legendary Origins
If we go searching for Lagertha in the Viking Age, we don’t find much. In fact, we find only one real mention of her, and it comes from Saxo Grammaticus, a 12th-century Danish historian, long after the Viking Age had ended. His work, the Gesta Danorum, is part history, part myth, and part moral tale, making it a challenging ground for anyone hoping to find hard evidence.
In Saxo’s account, Lagertha appears during a war between the legendary Ragnar Lothbrok and a Swedish king named Frø. Ragnar’s family had been humiliated, and in his bid for revenge, he called for warriors to join him. Among the fighters who answered were women dressed as men, and leading them was Lagertha. Saxo describes her as fierce and fearless, saying her courage outshone the men around her. It’s a vivid picture, but whether it reflects reality or a writer’s imagination is another matter.
Why would Saxo create a character like Lagertha if she wasn’t real? One reason might be that he loved a good story. His writing is full of drama and heroics, and warrior women fit well into that. But there’s another layer to this. Saxo was writing for a Christian audience at a time when ideals about gender roles were undergoing significant shifts.
He often portrayed strong women as extraordinary but ultimately threatening, which served as a warning against female independence. So Lagertha’s story could have been meant as entertainment, but it also reinforced the message that women who stepped outside their expected roles did so at their own peril.
As for her name, Saxo uses the Latin form “Lagertha,” but it likely comes from the Old Norse name Hlaðgerðr. That detail, at least, feels authentic. What we can’t determine is where she came from or if she even existed.
Some scholars suggest she may have roots in older Norse myths, possibly connected to goddesses or spirits like Thorgerd, which would make her more symbolic than real. Still, the fact that Saxo gave her such a prominent role hints at how deeply the idea of a warrior woman resonated in the culture of the time.
The Shieldmaiden Tradition
Lagertha’s tale often sparks the question: Were there women who fought as warriors in Viking society? The sagas and poems give us plenty of examples of so-called shieldmaidens. Names like Hervor and Brynhildr appear in the literature, painted as fierce fighters who take up arms alongside men. These stories demonstrate that the image of a woman in battle was part of the Norse imagination, but proving it in history is more challenging.
The archaeology adds a twist. For years, most scholars believed warrior women were a myth. Then came the discovery of a 10th-century grave in Birka, Sweden, containing weapons, gaming pieces, and a horse; everything you’d expect for a high-status warrior.
Tests confirmed the skeleton was female. This doesn’t mean armies of Lagerthas were roaming the battlefields, but it does suggest women could and did fight under the right circumstances. Whether that was common or exceptional is still up for debate.
Saxo might have known these traditions or stories of exceptional women, even if he didn’t believe in them himself. Including a figure like Lagertha gave his narrative color and tapped into a cultural fascination that stretched back to the Viking Age. Whether he was embellishing an old tale or inventing her outright, she became the ultimate embodiment of the shieldmaiden ideal.
Lagertha in Gesta Danorum
Lagertha appears in Saxo’s story during a war of vengeance. Ragnar Lothbrok’s family had been disgraced by the Swedish king Frø, who killed his grandfather and threw the women of his household into a brothel.
Ragnar raised an army to avenge the insult, and among the warriors who answered his call were women dressed as men. Leading them was Lagertha. Saxo says she fought so fiercely that her courage put the men to shame. Her arrival is sudden, her reputation immediate.
After the victory, Ragnar traveled to meet this woman who had fought so bravely. Winning her hand, however, was not simple. According to Saxo, Lagertha set two deadly guardians at her door, a hound and a bear. Ragnar killed the hound with a spear and strangled the bear with his hands, proving his worth.
She agreed to marry him, and together they had a son named Fridleif and two daughters. It sounds like the beginning of a saga marriage built on mutual respect and battle-hardened love, but Saxo doesn’t give them that kind of ending.
Ragnar eventually left Lagertha for another woman named Thora, the daughter of King Herraud. Saxo does not dwell on why, beyond suggesting Ragnar’s ambition and the political advantage of the match. Lagertha disappears from the story for a time, but not forever. When Ragnar later faced civil war in Denmark, he found himself outnumbered.
To his surprise, Lagertha came to his aid. She brought 120 ships and threw herself into the fighting once again, turning the tide in his favor. It was an extraordinary act of loyalty from a woman he had cast aside.
Her story closes with a twist that Saxo delivers in a single line. Back home in Norway, Lagertha killed her second husband during a quarrel. She hid a spear in her dress, struck him dead, and seized control of his lands. Saxo does not explain, leaving us to wonder whether this was ambition, anger, or simply another layer of the legend. Either way, it cements Lagertha as one of the most unpredictable and compelling figures in Viking lore.
Fact vs Fiction: Could Lagertha Have Been Real?
The hard truth is that we have no evidence Lagertha ever lived outside of Saxo’s story. The Gesta Danorum was written about three centuries after the Viking Age ended, which means Saxo was piecing together oral tales, earlier legends, and his own imagination. That makes it hard to separate fact from invention.
So why do some people argue she might have been real? Part of it comes down to the shieldmaiden question. Archaeological finds, such as the Birka warrior grave in Sweden, suggest that women did sometimes fight or at least held high-status warrior roles. It’s possible that Saxo drew on memories of exceptional women who broke the mold. If so, Lagertha might be a fictionalized echo of real individuals whose names have been lost.
There’s also the mythic element. Lagertha’s story carries traces of older Norse traditions. Her name likely connects to Hlaðgerðr, and some scholars believe she was inspired by a goddess or supernatural figure, such as Thorgerd, a protective spirit associated with war. If Saxo borrowed from these myths, Lagertha becomes more symbolic than historical, a way of adding drama while reinforcing ideas about courage and danger in women who stepped outside their expected roles.
In the end, we can’t prove she existed, but that doesn’t make her story meaningless. Legends like Lagertha’s tell us how medieval writers viewed women, power, and morality. They also demonstrate how history and storytelling often intertwine, leaving us with tales that feel genuine even when the evidence is thin.
Cultural Impact and Modern Portrayals
For centuries, Lagertha existed only in the pages of Saxo’s Latin text; however, in the last decade, she has emerged into popular culture. The History Channel series Vikings turned her into a global icon. Katheryn Winnick’s portrayal gave us a fierce, independent warrior who rose from Ragnar’s wife to a powerful leader in her own right. The show didn’t stick to Saxo’s plot, but it drew on the same themes: loyalty, betrayal, and strength in a brutal world.
This modern version of Lagertha sparked more than entertainment. She became a symbol of empowerment, featured in books, games, and even academic debates about Viking gender roles. Her popularity has also revived interest in shield maidens, prompting people to ask whether such women could have existed and what their lives might have been like.
Of course, TV and fiction take liberties. The Lagertha we know from Vikings is a carefully crafted mix of history, legend, and imagination. Yet her story resonates because it taps into something timeless, the fascination with women who defy expectations and claim power in a violent era. That makes her one of the most enduring figures to emerge from the sagas and into modern storytelling.
Kylie Lang is a nationally syndicated travel journalist with bylines on the Associated Press Wire & more, a medieval history writer, and the founder and lead author of Tales of the Middle Ages (talesofthemiddleages.com). She holds a BA (Honours) in History from the University of Kent and is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers.
