Heimir was king of Hlymdalir. His spouse was Bekkhildr, sister of renowned shieldmaiden Brynhildr. Aslaug, daughter of Sigurd (also known as Nibelungenlied‘s Sigfried) and Brynhildr, was his foster-daughter. After Brynhildr’s and Sigurd’s deaths, fearing for the child’s life, as the Burgundians wanted to kill her, Heimir started to wander the Scandinavian lands disguised as a miserable minstrel, keeping the little girl hidden inside a large harp he used as his instrument. As he arrived in the village of Spangereid, in Norway, he found shelter for the night in the house of a couple, Áki and Grima. Áki suspected the harp contained precious items so he told Grima about it; the woman persuaded her husband to kill Heimir in his sleep to rob him of his treasure. As the couple completed their evil deed, they found Aslaug concealed in the harp instead of the precious loot they were hoping to obtain. They decided to keep Aslaug with them and raise her as their own daughter, naming her Kráka (Crow) and lying about her noble origins.
Kráka was later noticed by Viking commander and hero Ragnar Lodbrok. Hearing much about her beauty but wanting to test the girl’s intelligence, he sent for her ordering the girl to come neither dressed nor undressed, neither hungry nor full, neither alone nor in company. Kráka arrived only dressed in a net, biting an onion and in the company of a dog. Impressed by the girl’s wit, Ragnar married Kráka. They had two children, Ivar also known as “The Boneless” and Björn, nicknamed “Ironside”.
When years later Ragnar was convinced by Swedish king Eysteinn Beli to repudiate his wife to marry the king’s own daughter, Kráka revealed to her husband her true noble origins. To convince Ragnar that she was really the daughter of legendary hero Sigurd, she promised to give birth to a child who beared the image of a snake in his eyes. Sigurd “Snake-in-the-eye”, the third son of Kráka and Ragnar Lodbrok, really had the image of an ouroboros encircling his left pupil, so Ragnar changed his mind and remained faithful to his spouse, while king Eysteinn was killed by Kráka’s other two sons on her behest.