Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye

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Sigurd Snake-in-the-eye (Old Norse: Sigurðr ormr í auga) was one of the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok and Kraka, but what set him apart from the others was that he was born with the image of the ouroborous, a snake or dragon biting its own tail, encircling the pupil of his left eye.

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[edit] Sigurd's descendants

Ragnarssona þáttr informs that when his father died, he inherited Zealand, Scania, Halland, the Danish islands, and Viken. He married Blaeja, the daughter of king Aelle II of Northumbria and they had the children Harthacanute and Aslaug (who was named after her grandmother).

[edit] Harthacanute and his son Gorm

Harthacanute succeeded Sigurd as the king of Zealand, Scania and Halland, but he lost Viken. He was the father of Gorm the Old, the king of Denmark.

Gorm succeeded his father as king and married Thyra , the daughter of the Jutish chieftain Harald klak. When Harald died, Gorm took his kingdom too and united Denmark.

[edit] Aslaug and her son Sigurd Hart

Sigurd's daughter Aslaug married Helgi the Sharp (the great-great-grandson of king Ring of Ringerike) of the Dagling dynasty. They had the son Sigurd Hart, who married Ingeborg, the daughter of the Jutish chieftain Harald Klak. Sigurd Hart and Ingeborg had the children Guttorm and Ragnhild. When his uncle king Fróði of Ringerike died, Sigurd Hart went to Norway to succeed him as king.

Ragnarssona þáttr and Heimskringla relate that a berserker from Hadeland named Haki killed Sigurd Hart, but lost a hand in the fight. Then Haki went to Sigurd Hart's residence at Stein and took Sigurd's children Ragnhild and Guttorm. Haki returned with the children and all the loot to Hadeland. Before Haki recuperated from his wounds and could marry the 15 year old Ragnhild, she was captured a second time, by Halfdan the Black. Halfdan and Ragnhild were the parents of Harald Fairhair.

Preceded by
Ragnar Lodbrok
Legendary king of Denmark Succeeded by
Harthacanute

[edit] References to Sigurd in Media

In the popular Japanese anime/manga Fullmetal Alchemist (Hagane no Renkinjutsushi), one of the seven homunculi (each named for the seven deadly sins in the Christian religion), Wrath (in the manga) or Pride (in the anime) also known as President Fureur King Bradley, wears an eyepatch covering his left eye which is revealed to show no pupil or iris, only the symbol of the ouroborous. Possibly a reference to Sigurd.

The 1998 Playstation game "Xenogears" portrayed a man part of the Royal Family of Nisan named Sigurd who donned a Black eye patch.