Who were the toughest Viking Warlords in history?

Vikings were often depicted as horned-hat wearing, constantly drunk Neanderthals who raided and plundered coastal communities to earn a living, but, save for those Vikings who became kings, most of their time was actually spent farming to sustain their families. Perhaps consider Vikings as outcasts of their own societies who did what they felt they needed to do in order to survive and support a family Yet, for all of the stereotypes, the majority of people do not know that much about what a true Viking was. Here are some of the toughest and most famous Viking Warlords in history. The favored son of Harald Fairhair, the first King of Norway, Eric got his cheerful nickname by attempting to stop his father’s bloodline at himself by murdering two of his own brothers. The one brother that remained, Hakon, drove Eric out of Norway, but Eric soon found a new land to rule as the King of Northumbria in what is now northern England and eastern Scotland. Ragnar Lodbrok made a name for himself by conquering villages all over England and France. One French king even paid Ragnar to not raid his land. He is also known for fathering many sons who also grew up to become great warriors themselves, like Ivar the Boneless, Björn Ironside, and Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye. Unfortunately, he is probably mostly known for his last moment on Earth, during which King Ælla of Northumbria threw him into a pit of snakes. There aren’t many people who can claim to be both a Viking warrior and a poet, but Egill Skallagrímsson was both. He wrote his first poem when he was three and made his first kill when he was seven. He killed much more people before finally being exiled from Norway to Northumbria, where Eric Bloodaxe ruled. Bloodaxe understandably wanted Egill dead, because Egill had killed his son, but when Egill read him one of his poems, Bloodaxe was so moved that he spared the poet’s life.

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