Þóra Borgarhjǫrtr

In the legendary-historical cycle surrounding Ragnar Loðbrók, Þóra appears as the daughter of Herrauðr (Herraudr), an earl/king of Götaland/Sweden. Herrauðr gives his daughter a small lindworm (lingormr), which Þóra keeps; over time the creature grows, is kept near her bower in a chest, and eventually encircles her bower and threatens any who approach. Her servants fed the lindworm an ox daily. The episode culminates when the hero Ragnar slays the serpent and thereby secures Þóra's hand in marriage. The tale appears across saga material (e.g., Bósa saga og Herrauðs / Fornaldarsögur excerpts) and later retellings and summaries.

Surviving sources provide limited physical detail beyond social and aesthetic markers: Þóra is repeatedly described as very beautiful and of noble bearing — in one saga passage she is called 'the fairest of women' (Hun var allra kvenna fridust). She is identified as the daughter and prize of Herrauðr and later as the wife of Ragnar Loðbrók in saga tradition. No detailed physical description (height, dress, or distinguishing marks) is preserved in the supplied excerpts.

The supplied sources do not attribute supernatural powers to Þóra. Her role in the narratives is social and dramatic: noble daughter, bride-prize, and the focal point of a lindworm episode. Her agency is primarily relational (daughter of Herrauðr; eventual wife of Ragnar) rather than magical. The notable behavior associated with her in the accounts is that she possessed or was given the lindworm which grew to encircle her household; the creature, not Þóra, displays the extraordinary behavior.