I know this was probably already asked, and I’m sorry if it was, but do you have any recommendations on books you read about Ragnar, his wives and his sons?
No need to be sorry, it was probably already asked.. and I probably never answered because I’m awful about answering questions! Also I said I was going to put together a big reading list and then just never did it! So you’re really helping me out by giving me an opportunity here!
Ok so I know you asked for books, but there are also lots of interesting papers you can read online as well (which have the added bonus of being free), so I’m going to include them below too:
Translations:
The Saga of the Volsungs: With the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok by Jackson Crawford [Amazon]
The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok by Ben Waggoner [Amazon]
Both of these are good, I think the Ben Waggoner one might be more interesting because it has translations of multiple texts other than Ragnar’s saga . But, the Volsung saga is really great too and the Volsung saga is basically a prequel to Ragnar’s saga anyway so it can be nice to read them together imo.
Papers:
Völsunga saga, Ragnars saga and romance in Old Norse: revisiting relationships by Carolyne Larrington [academia.edu]
Þóra and Áslaug in Ragnars saga loðbrókar: women, dragons and destiny by Carolyne Larrington [acadmia.edu] [vsnrweb-publications]
Stjúpmœðrasögur and Sigurðr’s Daughters by Carolyne Larrington [pdf]
Why be afraid? On the practical uses of legends by Ármann Jakobsson [pdf] (this is about ragnar’s role as a dragon-slayer)
Men’s Business? Two Female Skalds of the Uppsala Edda and the Origins of Poetry by Anna Solovyeva [pdf]
Ragnar Lothbrok and His Sons by Allen Mawer [free google e-book] (yes it’s from 1907, but it’s still interesting imo)
The Corpse and the Conqueror: The Curious Afterlife of Ívarr inn beinlausi by Kristen Mills [jstor]
Books:
The Matter of the North: The Rise of Literary Fiction in Thirteenth-Century Iceland by Torfi H. Tulinius, translated by Randi C. Eldevik [academia.edu] (it covers many sagas, so I guess in this case I’m recommending the specific sections about ragnar’s saga but the whole thing is really good imo)
Vikings in the West: The Legend of Ragnarr Loðbrók and His Sons by Elizabeth Ashman Rowe [Yes I had to buy this from the publisher whose site is in German]
Studies in "Ragnar's Saga Lodbrokar" and Its Major Scandinavian Analogues by Rory McTurk [Amazon]
So those last two books... are very expensive, to the point where I had to debate whether or not I should put them on the list. Because they don’t feel quite like they’re in the same vein as the other examples I listed which are either free to read or in the case of the translations, modestly priced. In the end I decided to include them because I found them interesting and useful, but hopefully there’s enough easily accessible stuff too.