Raginarius

Reginheri was a

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

leader in the early 9th century. Reginheri is mentioned in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Frankish sources as the leader of a group of Vikings who in 845 raided

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

West Francia In medieval historiography, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () constitutes the initial stage of the Kingdom of France and extends from the year 843, from the Treaty of Verdun, to 987, the beginning of the Capet ...

. He is mentioned in the Annals of Xanten in the entry for the year 845, while the entry for the year 845 in the Annals of Saint Bertin does not mention him by name. In March 845, Regenheri attacked Paris with a large fleet. Having defeated a West Frankish military force he was free to move on Paris.

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

, the king of West Francia, was compelled to pay 7,000 pounds of silver for the Vikings to withdraw. Reginheri was probably allied with the Danish king

Horik I Horik I or Hårik (died 854) was a king of the Danes. He was co-ruler from 813, and sole king from c. 828 until his violent death in 854. His long and eventful reign was marked by Danish raids on the Carolingian Empire of Louis the Pious, son an ...

, but no details about him are known. According to the Annals of Xanten, he was said to have been killed in 845. It is probable that the Raginarius mentioned by

Rimbert Saint Rimbert (or Rembert) (''c.'' 830 - 11 June 888 in Bremen) was archbishop of Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, Hamburg-Bremen, in the northern part of the East Francia, Kingdom of East Frankia from 865 until his death in 888. He most famously wr ...

is identical to Reginheri. It is often assumed that Reginheri represents the historical core of the story of

Ragnar Lodbrok Ragnar Lodbrok (Old Norse: ''Ragnarr loðbrók'', ), according to legends, was a Viking hero and a Legendary Kings of Sweden, Swedish and Legendary kings of Denmark, Danish king.Rory McTurk: Ragnarr Lodbrok in the Irish Annals? In: Proceedings of the Seventh Viking Congress. Dublin 1976, S. 93–123. * Donnchadh Ó Corráin: High-Kings, Vikings and other Kings. In: Irish Historical Studies 22, 1979, S. 283–323. 9th-century Danish people Viking warriors 9th-century Vikings {{Denmark-hist-stub