Vikings Fact Check: Was Ragnar's Daughter, Gyda, Real?
Vikings told different stories from the early years of the Viking Age through Ragnar Lothbrok and his family, and while his sons became the leads of the series, he also had a daughter, Gyda – but was she a real person? Created by Michael Hirst, Vikings premiered on the History Channel in 2013 and became one of the most popular historical dramas in recent years. Vikings came to an end in 2020 after six seasons, but there’s still interest in the stories of its main characters and their historical accuracy.
During its first seasons, Vikings followed the journeys of legendary Norse figure Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) alongside his Viking brothers, but as his story and those of other characters evolved, the series shifted its focus to Ragnar’s sons: Björn, Ubbe, Hvitserk, Sigurd, and Ivar. After Ragnar’s death in Vikings season 4, his sons became the protagonists and the series focused on their travels and raids until its end, and while their stories became part of history and legends, they weren’t the only children of the great Ragnar Lothbrok.
When viewers met Ragnar and his wife, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick), in Vikings season 1, they had two children: Björn and Gyda (Ruby O’Leary). Gyda was 11-years-old and managed the farm with Lagertha while Ragnar traveled and sometimes took Björn with him, and when Ragnar brought Athelstan (George Blagden), Gyda quickly bonded with him and they became very close. Unfortunately, Gyda’s time in Vikings was very brief, as she fell ill when the plague hit Kattegat and she passed away while Ragnar was away on a raid. Now, Vikings is known for taking a lot of creative liberties with its characters and their stories, and the same happened with Gyda, who is mostly a fictional character.
First off, it’s unclear if Ragnar Lothbrok was a real person or not, and it’s believed by historians to be a combination of different historical figures, such as the Viking leader Reginherus, King Horik I of Denmark (who appears in Vikings), and King Reginfrid. With that in mind, many aspects of his life are fiction but many others are facts, as is the case of Björn, Ivar, Ubbe, and Sigurd, all of them historical figures but maybe not sons of the legendary Ragnar Lothbrok. Now, Ragnar is said to have had three wives – Lagertha, Aslaug, and Thora Borgarhjort – and he had many sons with them as well as daughters. According to some sources, Ragnar had two daughters with Lagertha and several with his other wives, but there are no recorded names, with only Ragnhild Ragnarsdottir and Åløf Ragnarsdóttir as possible ones.
It’s unknown if Vikings’ Gyda was inspired by some – perhaps lesser-known – historical or legendary figure, but the truth is that the legends of Ragnar Lothbrok establish that he had daughters, but their names and stories are unknown. Gyda was a good addition to Ragnar’s story in Vikings as through her the series showed a warmer side of the legendary Viking warrior, but unfortunately, she wasn’t given enough time for the audience to truly get to know her.