Siggy in Vikings: who she is, how and when she dies

Two women hide behind the search for siggy vikings, and almost no page bothers to tell them apart. There is the first lady of Kattegat, wife of Earl Haraldson, who spends three seasons losing everything, one thing after another. And there is an infant, the daughter of Björn Ironside, born only two episodes after the first one dies.

That mix-up accounts for half the questions asked about Siggy. The other half is about her end: a drowning in a frozen pond, with a wanderer standing motionless at the edge of the ice. The write-ups out there tell it in vague terms, and several of them name the wrong episode.

This guide separates the two Siggys that the search runs together, dates every event precisely, and reads the scene on the ice through what the series itself says about the man watching her die. You will also find out what the name carries in the original Norse material, where it is tied to one of the oldest she-wolf stories in Scandinavian literature.

Key takeaways

• Siggy Haraldson is the wife of Earl Haraldson and the first lady of Kattegat at the start of the series, played by Jessalyn Gilsig.
• She drowns in a frozen pond while saving Ubbe and Hvitserk, in season 3, episode 4, not episode 5 as several write-ups claim.
• The wanderer Harbard is present at her death. In the following episode, Floki states that Harbard is another name for Odin.
• A second Siggy, daughter of Björn and Thorunn, is born in season 3 and dies in season 4, episode 9.
• The name comes from the Norse names built on Sig-, meaning victory, and belongs to the family of the Völsunga saga, the one with the she-wolf and the wolf skins.

Who is Siggy in the series Vikings

Siggy Haraldson is the wife of Earl Haraldson, the first lady of Kattegat at the start of the series and the mother of Thyri. She appears in the very first episode, beside a husband who rules Kattegat before Ragnar Lothbrok takes his place.

This is where the confusion starts, because a second character carries exactly the same name: Siggy Bjornsdottir, the daughter of Björn Ironside. Both do exist, a few episodes apart, and most searches on the name blend their two stories together.

Three markers are enough to keep them straight, and they come up in almost every page devoted to the characters of the series Vikings:

• If the story is about Kattegat, power and widowhood, it is Siggy Haraldson.
• If the story is about an infant left in Aslaug's care, it is Siggy Bjornsdottir.
• If the story is about a drowning under the ice, it is Siggy Haraldson again.

Who plays Siggy in Vikings

The role is played by Jessalyn Gilsig, a Canadian-American actress born on 30 November 1971 in Montreal. Audiences already knew her before Vikings, notably from Nip/Tuck, Heroes and Glee, where she played Terri Schuester.

Her performance is one of the most remembered in the series, to the point that the actress's name now draws more searches than the character's. She holds the role from season 1 until her exit in season 3, roughly thirty episodes.

Siggy Haraldson's arc, from first lady of Kattegat to survivor

Siggy's arc comes down to four successive falls, and each one leaves her a little more alone than the last. The series never grants her a clean recovery, only new angles from which to reposition herself.

• The earl's wife: at the start of the series she enjoys an enviable standing and carries out her duties efficiently. Two sons have already been taken from her, murdered before the events we are shown.
• The dispossessed mother: Haraldson marries their daughter Thyri to an old earl from Svealand against Siggy's wishes. At the end of season 1, a sickness carries Thyri off at the same time as Gyda, the daughter of Ragnar and Lagertha.
• The widow with nothing: when Ragnar kills Haraldson and takes Kattegat, Siggy loses her husband, her rank and her home on the same day. She goes from first lady to living hand to mouth.
• The ally of convenience: she grows close to Rollo, then serves in Aslaug's household, where she ends up caring for Ragnar's sons.

She is neither a heroine nor an opportunist, and the series is careful never to settle it. She lies, manipulates and repositions herself, without ever ceasing to genuinely love the people she protects. That imagery of a Norse court, all dark metal and ornaments worn as marks of rank, runs through much of our wolf jewellery.

How Siggy dies, and in which episode exactly

Siggy drowns in a frozen pond while saving Ubbe and Hvitserk, Aslaug's sons, who have fallen through the ice. The scene plays out in season 3, episode 4, titled Scarred.

This point deserves to be stated plainly, because it is wrong almost everywhere else. Several write-ups and recaps place her death in episode 5, The Usurper. But episode 5 is the one where the men return to Kattegat and learn that she is gone, which is not the same thing. Ragnar in fact turns on Aslaug there, asking her why she was not watching her children.

The scene itself is brief and chilling. The two boys leave the house, venture onto a frozen pond, and the ice gives way. Siggy dives in. She brings them up one after the other, helped by a figure leaning over the hole, one she first takes for her daughter Thyri. Then she understands who is standing there, lets go and lets herself sink. Her body is never found. It is that scene, more than anything else, that keeps bringing the search for siggy vikings back ten years after the broadcast.

What her death changes in Kattegat

The immediate consequences trace the gap she leaves behind:

• Rollo is devastated by the news and holds himself responsible.
• Ragnar suspects Aslaug of neglect and says so in front of witnesses.
• The two children she saves, Ubbe and Hvitserk, go on to become two of the most important sons in the rest of the series.

Harbard, the wanderer present at her death

Harbard is a wanderer who arrives in Kattegat while the men are away, and he is the one standing at the edge of the ice when Siggy drowns. He eases Ivar's pain with a single touch, seduces Aslaug, and leaves an unsettled village behind him.

This is the point that divides viewers the most. Harbard pulls the two boys out of the water but does not lift a finger for Siggy. She looks at him, understands that she saw not Thyri but him, and stops holding on to the edge. The series never says whether this is abandonment, a choice, or a bargain she agrees to.

The next episode adds a detail that many recaps leave out: Floki states that Harbard is another name for Odin. This is not a screenwriter's invention. Hárbarðr really is a name borne by Odin in the Poetic Edda, in the poem Hárbarðsljóð, where the god takes on this ferryman's disguise to goad Thor.

Read that way, the scene changes in nature. It is no longer a stranger letting a woman sink, it is the god of the chosen dead leaning over a hole in the ice. The same god found in the company of his two wolves, and whose own end is written in the jaws of Fenrir.

Siggy Bjornsdottir, Björn's daughter who carries the same name

Siggy Bjornsdottir is the daughter of Björn Ironside and Thorunn, born in season 3, episode 6, titled Born Again. Her father names her that way in tribute to Siggy Haraldson, who died two episodes earlier.

So the duplicated name is not clumsy writing, it is an act of mourning built into the story. It also explains why so many viewers keep a blurred memory of two Siggys without knowing which is which. Sigurd, Margrethe and Erlendur are circling Aslaug's household at that point, which muddles the memory of this stretch even further.

Her short story comes down to four dates:

• Season 3, episode 6: birth, and Björn gives her the name of the woman who died.
• Season 3 into 4: Thorunn, disfigured in battle and unable to take on her role, withdraws and eventually leaves.
• Left in Aslaug's care: the child stays behind in the house at Kattegat, where she is neglected.
• Season 4, episode 9, Death All Round: Sigurd finds the child dead. He tells Aslaug, who is drunk and brushes the news aside.

That scene is one of the harshest of the season, and one of the most discussed when it comes to Aslaug. It also explains why the question "how did Siggy, Björn's daughter, die" still turns up in searches today.

What the name Siggy carries in Norse mythology

Siggy is a short form of the Norse names built on the root Sig-, from the Old Norse sigr, meaning victory. Signý, Sigríðr, Sigmund and Siggeir all belong to that same family, and that family has a reference text: the Völsunga saga, written down at the end of the 13th century.

And that text is also one of the oldest great wolf stories in Scandinavian literature.

The she-wolf of the Völsunga saga

The story is worth telling, because it is little known. Signý's ten brothers are tied up in the forest rather than executed. Every night a she-wolf comes and devours one of them. Nine nights, nine brothers. On the tenth night, a servant smears honey over Sigmund's face. The she-wolf starts licking, slides her tongue into his mouth, and Sigmund closes his jaws. He kills the beast and escapes.

Years later, Sigmund and his son Sinfjötli come across sleeping men dressed in enchanted wolf skins. They put them on and become wolves for a time. It is one of the oldest werewolf accounts in the Norse corpus, and it is attached to that same family of names in Sig-.

The circle closes on Odin. He is the one who shatters Sigmund's sword and lets him fall in battle, just as he stands motionless at the edge of the ice while Siggy lets go. The god who chooses the dead is also the one who shares his table with two wolves, Geri and Freki. That link between the wolf, the choosing of the dead and fate runs through the whole of the Norse material, and it turns up again in our wolf pendants as in our wolf rings.

Placing Siggy in the series without getting it wrong

Six habits are enough to stop being caught out by loose write-ups about Siggy. The pages ranking for siggy vikings largely copy one another. These habits serve just as well for a rewatch as for checking something found online.

• Check which Siggy is meant before anything else: the earl's wife or Björn's daughter.
• Note season 3 episode 4 for the drowning, and keep episode 5 for the news of her death.
• Avoid confusing Thyri with Siggy Bjornsdottir: the first is Siggy Haraldson's daughter, the second carries her name without any blood tie.
• Compare pages against each other: any page saying "heroic death" without giving a season or an episode is copying another page.
• Read the ice scene with Harbard in mind: identifying him as Odin changes the reading entirely.
• Keep the Völsunga saga in mind to understand what the name carries, rather than stopping at the series.

This Norse world, dark and lupine, carries on naturally into our wolf decorations and our wolf figurines, for anyone who wants to keep a trace of it somewhere other than a screen.

Frequently asked questions about Siggy

How did Siggy, Björn's daughter, die?She is found dead by Sigurd in season 4, episode 9, titled Death All Round. Left in Aslaug's care after her mother Thorunn's departure, the child had been neglected. Aslaug, drunk, takes the news without reacting, which remains one of the most discussed moments of the season.

Who is Siggy in Vikings?Siggy Haraldson is the wife of Earl Haraldson and the first lady of Kattegat at the start of the series. After her husband is killed by Ragnar, she loses her rank and survives by growing close first to Rollo, then to Aslaug.

In which episode does Siggy die?In season 3, episode 4, Scarred. She drowns saving Ubbe and Hvitserk after they fall into a frozen pond. Episode 5, The Usurper, is the one where the men return to Kattegat and learn of her death, which explains the very widespread dating error.

Who plays Siggy in Vikings?Jessalyn Gilsig, a Canadian-American actress born on 30 November 1971 in Montreal, known before the series for Nip/Tuck, Heroes and Glee. She holds the role from season 1 to season 3.

Are Siggy and Thyri the same character?No. Thyri is the daughter of Siggy Haraldson and Earl Haraldson. She dies of a sickness at the end of season 1. It is in her likeness that Siggy believes she sees a figure at the edge of the ice, before realising it is Harbard.

What does the name Siggy mean in Vikings?It is a short form of the Norse names in Sig-, from the Old Norse sigr, victory. That family of names is the one from the Völsunga saga, where Signý sees her brothers devoured by a she-wolf and Sigmund becomes a wolf by putting on an enchanted skin.