Aslaug

Aslaug , also called Aslög, Kráka O.N.: or Kraba, is the figure in Norse mythology who appears in Snorri's Edda, the Völsunga saga as alive as in the saga of Ragnar Lodbrok as one of his wives.

Scholarship

According to Marilyn Jurich, Aslaug's tale in the Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok is the prototype of the "Clever Peasant Girl" folk tale, Aarne–Thompson No. 875. The saga matches the tale closely up to Aslaug's marriage to Ragnar, but even after that there are similarities: The saga highlights Aslaug's decide she refuses sex to Ragnar until after marriage in addition to her seemingly preternatural wisdom: because Ragnar insists on bedding her immediately after the wedding, contrary to her advice, their first son Ivar was born weak, "boneless".

The Brothers Grimm discuss the similarities of their tale 1815 No. 8 "Die kluge Bauerntochter," with the Nordic tale of Kraka in the appendix programs of the text. They also discuss similarities to a tale in Johannes Pauli's "Schimpf und Ernst" from 1519-1522.