Ragnar Lothbrok: ENTJ

Guest Writer 4 Comments

Guest post by Fanta, INTJ

Vikings (2013)

Ragnar Lothbrok ENTJ | Vikings 2013 #MBTI #ENTJ

Dominant Te: Ragnar Lothbrok is a serious and focused leader who is quick to retort and act to gain the upper hand when things do not go his way. He is a pioneer in his own right, and fully organised a raid to England (using improved technologies) even before getting approval from Earl Haraldson, whose denial of his wish to raid the west promptly caused Ragnar to question his authority. His peers quickly rally under his command, and whoever questions his plans, such as his brother Rollo, gets a firm retort that closes the door to discussion. Even during celebrations, Ragnar never relaxes, instead observing the people he does not trust, and planning his next move to deal with those who may be a threat to his Ni vision.

Ragnar Lothbrok ENTJ | Vikings 2013 #MBTI #ENTJ

Auxiliary Ni: In the first episode, Ragnar tells his son Bjorn about his vision of exploring the west and how he yearns for more knowledge and expansion, which he regularly mentions throughout the months that follow the first raid. Ragnar’s intuition is what makes him a superior military strategist, giving him the right hunches in battle,  and tempering his basic instinct to react right away. If he feels a situation directly impacts his long-term success, such as negotiations with King Ecbert, his Ni makes him use objectivity, patience, and diplomacy instead of letting his feelings and desire for action control his words.

Ragnar Lothbrok ENTJ | Vikings 2013 #MBTI #ENTJ

Tertiary Se: In stressful or unexpected situations where the Ni vision is set aside, Ragnar has the ability to quickly assess new battlegrounds and react to ambushes. He falls into the TeSe mode when his family is threatened or insulted, aggressively getting rid of the people who annoyed him or hurt them even though they could have been useful to his long term plan. He enjoys the company (and bed) of beautiful women, and does not shy away from flirting and expressing his desire to have both Lagertha and Aslaug as his wives. Ragnar is a good observer of his surroundings, and is curious about the exotic objects and Roman statues lying around Kind Ecbert’s mansion. If it serves him and his vision, he will use his wits  and charms to rally a crowd.

Ragnar Lothbrok ENTJ | Vikings 2013 #MBTI #ENTJ

Inferior Fi: Ragnar feels personally slighted and upset when others disregard his vision or make changes to his plans without considering his initial ideas. He is insensitive, ignoring Lagertha’s plea to accompany him in the raids, dismissing his son’s heartfelt request to trust him with criticism on his battle skills, and failing to notice’s his brother’s burning desire for equality. Ragnar has developed his own code of ethics and values: in the duel with Earl Haraldson, he kills him fairly instead of letting his frustration dictate his actions; when he gives his word to Bjorn he will not sleep with Aslaug again, he keeps it despite strong temptations.

Author’s Note: I’ve seen Ragnar typed as ESTP , but he is not a Se dom. I think his Te is confused with Se because of the numerous battles we see in this show. More often than not, Ragnar lacks the typical Se impulsiveness and doesn’t display bravado simply to impress crowds. I hesitated for a while with INTJ, because Ragnar’s character changes in the second and third seasons. He is less sarcastic, no longer makes appeals to crowds, keeps to himself a lot more, and starts declaring that he did not wish for power. In the end inferior Fi (and the occasional TeSe reactions) is what I feel makes Ragnar ENTJ, as well as his constant attitude, not his words, towards leadership.

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4 thoughts on “Ragnar Lothbrok: ENTJ”

    • Fair question, the note I wrote can be expanded. Here’s a dump of all the things I considered when I juggled between both types:

      Ragnar takes decisions and adapts more quickly to external, changing environment (TeSe) than a INTJ would, especially in front of an audience or in unexpected situations. He makes his vision known to Kattegat people early on, and when Haraldson deliberately prevents what he perceives as progress for his people, he gets ticked off because it slows down his desire to “make it real now”, and bluntly tells him that.

      He also has capacity to rally people under him and focus them on accomplishing his goal (whereas an INTJ would typically prefer to work alone, or delegate the convincing of the masses to better able people).

      Ragnar makes plans, but not ones created in the excess/flawless/long-term way an INTJ would do them, and he is not as cautious with them either: he can live with the uncertainty that his plan might fail (e.g. sailing to the West without the certitude there are lands there, with merely his gut feeling to move him forward). He can also ditch the need for careful consideration when the need arises i.e. he is not usually overwhelmed by excess new information he did not anticipate.

      Lastly, and this is subjective, he displays more charisma than an INTJ would (my opinion only, and I don’t mean charisma towards fans but the impact he has on other characters in the show).

      I looked at all functions when I considered both types. If I had to pick between Fi and Se in the xNTJ stack, he shows more Se than Fi. He does not seem to weigh in his plans and his vision against personal morals or rigid feelings of right and wrong. He can easily kill people without consideration and for the sake of efficiency (“getting rid of problems”), but does so without cruelty or a desire to make another suffer. He likes Lagertha for what she looks like, how she acts (Se) and what she contributes to his plan, and cares very little about how she feels or what is the right thing to do about her feelings, unless reminded bluntly by her or his son Bjorn. Even this is not enough since he lets her go in the end. He does not indulge in excessive Se impulses when stressed out (as inferior Se could) but simply because he enjoys it.

      TL;DR Ragnar shows more assertiveness, action-oriented and leadership/controlling behaviour than a tendency to enjoy problem-solving, theoretical concepts, data gathering, and learning about new things simply for the sake of it. And if he does the latter, it’s more often than not to take action about something in the short term.

      I haven’t written yet the contribution I wanted to make to this blog regarding Athelstan, I came up with INFJ as well, which seems to be a consensus with all the forums and blogs I’ve read so far.

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