Harbard is a tall enigmatic wanderer who seems to show up in Kattegat, the seat of Ragnar's kingdom, whenever the King and his warriors are away. His origins and his intentions are mysterious, but he seems to have a strong effect on women, especially Ragnar's second wife, Aslaug. Harbard claims to be a healer and Aslaug is impressed at how he seems to magically ease the pain of her crippled young son, Ivar the Boneless. Floki seems to think Harbard is a messenger from the gods, perhaps even a personification of the great Odin ( Harbard is one of Odin's nicknames.) Harbard appears at one point when Siggy is saving Ragnar's young sons Ubbe and Hvitserk from drowning when they break through the ice in the fjord -- though he helps her draw out the boys from the icy water, he watches placidly as Siggy loses strength and slips away to her own death. Harbard's actual identity and motives are very sketchy and more than a little unsettling -- he seduces Aslaug during his first appearance and during his second (when all the men are off invading Paris) he extends his sexual healing to all the women of the village, much to the distress of Aslaug, who has become possessive of her adulterous lover. Spiritual guru or malevolent Rasputin? Who knows -- perhaps time will reveal. Show less «