Þóra Town-Hart or Þóra borgarhjörtr (Tora Borgarhjort) was the daughter of Herrauðr

Herrauðr

Herrauðr, Herraud, Herröðr, Herruðr, Herrud, Herothus or Heroth is a legendary earl of Götaland or king of Sweden, who appears in several medieval legends, in particular those relating to Ragnar Lodbrok...

, the earl of Götaland

Götaland

Götaland , Gothia, Gothland, Gothenland, Gautland or Geatland is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises provinces...

 and wife of Ragnar Loðbrók

Ragnar Lodbrok

Ragnar Lodbrok was a Norse legendary hero from the Viking Age who was thoroughly reshaped in Old Norse poetry and legendary sagas.-Life as recorded in the sagas:...

.

Her father gave her a small lindworm

Lindworm

Lindworm in British heraldry, is a technical term for a wingless bipedal dragon often with a venomous bite.-Etymology:In modern Scandinavian languages, the cognate lindorm can refer to any 'serpent' or monstrous...

 that grew into a serpent

Serpent (symbolism)

Serpent in Latin means: Rory Collins :&, in turn, from the Biblical Hebrew word of: "saraf" with root letters of: which refers to something burning-as, the pain of poisonous snake's bite was likened to internal burning.This word is commonly used in a specifically mythic or religious context,...

 and encircled her bower

Boudoir

A boudoir is a lady's private bedroom, sitting room or dressing room. The term derives from the French verb bouder, meaning "to be sulky" or boudeur, meaning "sulky".- In architecture :...

. Her father promised Þóra to the one who could slay the serpent.
Ragnar Loðbrók

Ragnar Lodbrok

Ragnar Lodbrok was a Norse legendary hero from the Viking Age who was thoroughly reshaped in Old Norse poetry and legendary sagas.-Life as recorded in the sagas:...

 arrived, killed the serpent and married Þóra. Ragnar famously wore the hairy breeches whereby he gained his nickname, Loðbrók meaning Hairy-Breeks. Ragnar went to Västergötland

Västergötland

', English exonym: West Gothland, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....

 and dressed himself in shaggy clothes that he had treated with tar and sand. He took a spear and approached the serpent which blew poison at him. Ragnar protected himself with his shield and his clothes and stuck the spear through its heart. He then cut off the serpent's head, and married Þora.

According to the Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok's sons (Ragnarssona þáttr

Ragnarssona þáttr

Ragnarssona þáttr, Þáttr af Ragnars sonum or the Tale of Ragnar's sons is a short story on Ragnar Lodbrok and his sons.-Ragnar Lodbrok:When Sigurd Ring dies, Ragnar succeeds him as the king of Sweden and Denmark...

), they had two sons Eiríkr and Agnar, who would later die in battle with Eysteinn Beli, Ragnar's earl of Sweden. Before this Þóra died of an illness and Ragnar was remarried to Aslaug

Aslaug

Aslaug, Aslög, Kraka, Kráka or Randalin, was a queen of Scandinavian mythology who appears in Snorri's Edda, the Völsunga saga and the saga of Ragnar Lodbrok.-The Legendary Aslaug:...

 (Aslög), the daughter of Sigurd

Sigurd

Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Völsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr) is a legendary hero of...

 and Brynhild.

Sources

The story appears in Krákumál

Krákumál

Krákumál or the Lay of Kraka is a skaldic poem, consisting of a monologue in which Ragnar Lodbrok is dying in Ælla's snake pit and looks back at a life full of heroic deeds. It was composed in the 12th century, "almost certainly" in the Scottish islands...

, the Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok's sons, Ragnar Lodbrok's saga, Gesta Danorum

Gesta Danorum

Gesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus . It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history...

and Bósa saga ok Herrauds

Bósa saga ok Herrauds

Bósa saga ok Herrauds or "Saga of Bósi and Herraud" is a legendary saga written around 1300 preserved in three 15th century manuscripts relating the fantastic adventures of the two companions Herraud and Bósi....

. According to the last saga, the lindworm was hatched from an egg that Herrauðr had taken in Bjarmland.

Other sources

• McTurk, Rory Studies in Ragnars saga loðbrókar and its Major Scandinavian Analogues (Oxford: The Society for the Study of Mediæval Languages and Literature, 1991) ISBN 0-907570-08-09