E7: Ivar the Wide-Fathom: The Serpent Who Conquered Too Much

Before Ragnar Lodbrok and his sons set out to conquer the Viking world, there was Ivar the Wide Fathom, Ragnar's great-great-grandfather who decided that one kingdom simply was not enough. In this episode, Shawn explores how Ivar toppled (well, sort of) two of the most powerful dynasties in Norse legend, the Ynglings of Sweden and the Skjoldungs of Denmark, drawing from the Ynglinga Saga, Saga of Hervor and Heidrik, Hversu Noregr Byggdist, and Sögubrot af fornkonungum. Through these overlapping and often contradictory sources, Shawn traces how Ivar’s ambition laid the foundations for the royal lines that would lead to Ragnar Lodbrok and the historical kingdoms of Scandinavia.

Between family feuds, long-lived foster fathers, and the occasional dragon dream, Ivar’s story walks the line between myth and history. Compared to the Midgard Serpent itself, his ambition grew so vast it may have swallowed its own tail, and Shawn reflects on how, like Ivar, we often chase our goals until we forget why we started in the first place.

Sources Used:

• Heimskringla or The Lives of the Norse Kings (Dover Publications)- Translated with the assistance of A.H. Smith
• The Poetic Edda (Hackett Publishing) - Translations by Jackson Crawford
• Hversu Noregr Byggdist (How Norway Was Settled) - Translated by George Hardman
• Sögubrot af nokkrum fornkonungum

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