Ragnar Odinsson

Ragnar Odinsson is the protagonist of the first 5 books in the series of 10. He is adapted from the myth of Ragnar Lodbrok and his TV-counterpart in "Vikings," Ragnar Lothbrok. Ragnar is the third son of Odin and Gytha, and is a Demigod by blood to the world. However, we know him to have been a Chosen Child, and also a Favored Child. He discovered the lands to the west, such as: England and Frankia. He successfully united the whole Kingdom of Sweden as it was centuries before him, and brought a sense of unity to the Viking people all across Scandinavia, so much so that after his death, he was avenged by every Viking nation, creating the Great Heathen Army.
== Appearance and Character ==
Ragnar has a handsome face, thought of by many women as handsome. Scars on his face are few, though he does have them elsewhere. He has ice-blue eyes which he is quite infamous for, as they are both capable of being eyes of love, as well as intimidation. He had long blonde hair, which he would not cut until he was defeated in battle so that the killer could cut off his hair and show it off as a trophy. However, Ragnar shaves his head bald in To the Gates after Athelstan's death as a metaphorical statement that the old Ragnar died with Athelstan. He also sports a thick beard throughout his entire life. He stands 6 feet and 8 inches tall, weighing around 310 pounds of muscle. He is strong enough to flip a wagon or cut a man in half with a single blow. 
Ragnar is known above all else as being smarter than smart. He is an incredible battle commander, the best of his time and possibly in Viking history. But he is also thought to be the greatest Viking warrior to ever live. But he is known to know things before they happen, leaving many to create stories about him, idolizing him as a God in the later parts of his life. Ragnar is also known for being very cunning and being able to outsmart other rulers many times. Rulers that have personally lost to Ragnar's cunning are King Ecbert of Wessex, Emperor Charlemagne of Frankia, King Horik of Sweden, Jarl Borg of Skane, and King Aelle of Northumbria. But he is also known for being very lustful and gregarious. It is a well-known fact that Ragnar slept with many women towards the back part of his life, specifically his reign as King, or when he was actually trying to be one at least. 
Ragnar's real personality as us, the readers, know it, is a little different from how he's thought of in the books. For one, we know he is very arrogant and has a very large opinion of himself, only putting on an act to make the people like him, which works. We can also attribute a very large amount of his cunning to his father who favored him, giving him many tips throughout his life until Athelstan's death at the hands of Floki. We also know that the reason he became so lost and unstable in The Bear Who Holds the Crown is because he lost his father's favor of knowing things before, they happen (the one time he lost). So, Ragnar's outside appearance versus his inside appearance to us as the readers is very different. 
Ragnar usually wears lighter colored furs, and always wears chainmail to battle with his raven emblem on the chest. He never wears a helmet to battle, showing his lack of fear (or high opinion of himself). He always carries his Aesir axe, Hrafnsvard, to battle, showing his strength as it is speculated to be around 110 pounds, and about the size of a torso. 
== History ==
=== Youth ===
Ragnar was born in 762, somewhere in Norway. His mother was a favored woman of Odin, and she bore him five sons, Alvis, Rollo, Ragnar, Floki, and Torstein. Ragnar was raised with his brothers in a grand cabin in the woods of Norway. Whilst Odin would visit a few times a year, it was primarily Gytha raising the boys. Eventually, when Ragnar was 12, Odin stopped visiting the boys for a still unknown reason, but he would still visit Ragnar, with only Ragnar being able to see his father. Whether that was an ability of Ragnar's, or just Odin deciding to just let Ragnar see him is unconfirmed, but heavily thought to have been Odin due to Ragnar only seeing his father once more after the death of Athelstan. 
In 777, when Ragnar was 15, Gytha died from a sickness, and the boys, led by Alvis, left for the Jarldom of Vingulmork, ruled over by the famous Jarl Toke. Alvis quickly became a prized advisor to Jarl Toke, but Ragnar stayed back and learned from his eldest brother. After raiding with the Vingulmork Vikings for a while and meeting the Vikings from the Kingdom of Sweden, Alvis decides to leave and join King Arni of Sweden's court instead, bringing his brothers with him. Ragnar quickly earned respect and admiration in the raids alongside Rollo and Alvis. In 779, whilst raiding long Baltic rivals of Sweden, the Pomeranians, led by Chieftain Jaromil, the 5 Princes of King Arni all die one way or another at the hands of Chieftain Jaromil and the Pomeranians. This calls for an all-out war against the Slavic nations in the Baltics. 
=== Arni's Revenge ===
Arni's calling forms the biggest Viking army ever seen until the Great Army is formed in 813. Ragnar is appointed to King Arni's war council and plays a major part in the war. Ragnar was always by the legendary King's side with Alvis, and the three of them were the ones making the major plays. Over the course of the short, near three-month war, Ragnar proves himself as a strategist. Most of the war is made up of reaving by smaller forces, spreading out the Slavic forces and forcing unrest amongst their ranks. 
Towards the end of the war, Ragnar shines brightest. The Slavic forces are bitter and squeezed tight, and with a force positioned behind the Slavic force, prized for an ambush mid battle, the main concern becomes the deadly Pomeranian tactic of "the Man on the Shoulder." The solution comes from Ragnar, who creates his infamous "Grab their Cocks" counter. With that, the Battle of Arni's Wrath sets in. Ragnar sets himself apart, killing around 200 men, and he kills many great Slavic warriors, including the greatest of them all, Zbiginew the Prince Killer, the very man who killed every one of Arni's sons. He also kills Chieftain Jaromil as well, cutting him in half with one blow. Ragnar is remembered as the hero of the battle, and because of that, the hero of the war. He also meets his brother Rollo's woman in the war, Lagertha Sigurdsdottir, leading to them having sex before the battle, and her choosing Ragnar over Rollo as she became pregnant. 
=== Jarl Toke ===
Following their return to Scandinavia, Alvis's sudden departure, leaving his brothers on their own, and the clear descent into insanity and cruelness Arni was going with no heirs, Ragnar leaves with his brothers and returns to a friendlier place in Kattegat, returning to Jarl Toke, who participated in the war as his sons were all at least fairly close friends with the Princes. Toke appoints Ragnar his Leader of Raids and to his council, and he also makes Rollo his Martial, and Floki his Boat-Builder after discovering his innovative mind. Now within safe walls and around people he can trust, Ragnar can only sit back and watch a Kingdom and it's dynasty collapse in just a few months. 
Following Arni's death and Horik's ascension to King of Sweden, allowing the southern half of the Kingdom independence to become the ancient Jarldom of Skane once more, Vingulmork is left as the most powerful nation whilst the other two get back up and running, leading to Ragnar gaining much reputation. Ragnar is also given land and slaves by Toke as a gift following the birth of Ragnar's first child, Gyda Ragnarsdottir, in early 781. 
=== War for Kattegat ===
In early 782, Lagertha gives birth to Bjorn Ragnarsson. By this point, Ragnar is one of the most famous Vikings alive. He has savaged the Baltics for the past 4 years, and stories of his prowess and cunning spread like wildfire. Jarl Toke died the year prior, and a succession crisis was adverted thanks to Ragnar, splitting the land between the 5 sons. Emund becomes Earl of Kattegat, and retains the Lothbroks. But when the close friend of old King Arni comes, demanding Kattegat, Ragnar is put to his first test. He is able to deal with Haraldson effectively for a while, but eventually Earl Orvar, Ragnar's close friend and another son of Toke, joins their defense. But as Haraldson's defeat draws closer, he demands a Challenge for the Earldom, challenging Emund. Having no choice, save destroying his reputation by refusing, he accepts, and Haraldson defeats Emund easily, becoming Earl of Kattegat. He retains Ragnar as his Leader of Raids and Floki as his Boat-Builder, but installs an almost entirely new council.
=== Earl Haraldson ===
=== A New World ===
=== The Sons of Odin ===
=== A King and His Enemies ===
=== Following Years of Raiding Frankia ===
=== The Hailed ===
=== To the Gates ===
=== The Bear Who Holds the Crown ===
=== All His Angels ===