Richard the Lionheart:
I'm Richard I, from the Third Crusade!
(Richard the Lionheart was coronated as Richard I. Richard is notable for being involved in the Third Crusade.)
That only leaves room for you in second place!
(Richard the First and the Third Crusade's names include the numbers one and three respectively, meaning the only number missing is two, which Richard says fits Lodbrok's position in the battle, thus making him lose.)
The chivalrous swinger of the sword and mace
And I kill you when I spit like a pit full of snakes!
(According to legend, Ragnar was executed by King Ælla of Northumbria, who threw Ragnar into a pit of venomous snakes. Some snakes, like the spitting cobra, are capable of spitting their venom when threatened. To "spit" also means to sing rap. Richard is says that he will kill Ragnar with his rapping like the snakes killed Ragnar in the legend.)
I'm the number one Dick risin' up to make you feel small,
("Dick" is a term for the penis. It is also a shortened version of Richard. For a penis to rise up would mean to get erect. Richard says that he is superior to Lodbrok and has a larger penis than him, thus he makes Lodbrok feel small/inferior.)
My battering ram slams through your shield wall!
I'll announce at the next of your things
(A "thing" refers to a unicameral political body as used throughout Scandinavia, which dates back to earlier Germanic cultures. Richard says he will present his next argument at a thing when it meets, which follows.)
That I'm chopping through your family like boneless wings!
Of course you got avenged by a kid with no bones
(One of Ragnar's sons was Ivar Ragnarsson, who is also known as "Ivar the Boneless".)
Your own story ended worse than Game of Thrones!
(The series Game of Thrones was notable in the late 2010s for having an ending that many fans considered disappointing. Richard is saying that the ending of Ragnar's legends are even more disappointing than that of Game of Thrones.)
Your son killed your ex, your ex killed your wife,
(In the series Vikings" Ragnar's second son, Hvitserk, was hallucinating and, mistaking her to be his brother, Ivar, kills Ragnar's first and former wife, Lagertha. Prior to this Lagertha murders Ragnar's second wife, Aslaug, out of revenge for taking her husband away from her.)
I'm the Lion King, man, but that's a messed up circle of life!
(A reference to the widely popular Disney 1994 animated film, "The Lion King," Richard makes a comparison with his position as king and his title of Lionheart to call himself a Lion King. "The Circle Of Life is the beginning song from The Lion King and refers to the life and death of all leaving creatures and their rankings in the food chain. Richard says the line of Ragnar's family killing each other forms a circle of life that is messed up.)
Half-assed head tats can't be condoned!
It's like you raided the face of Post Malone!
I'm scared of no foe, I'm backed by the Trinity,
I'll conquer you on my day off like you were Sicily!
Ragnar Lodbrok:
Threatening to conquer Ragnar is bold
For a king who got whacked by a ten year old!
(While besieging the castle at Chalus in France, Richard was shot with a crossbow bolt and gangrene set in. Richard requested the archer who shot him to visit his bedside. The archer turned out to be a boy named Bertrand who Richard pardoned with a hundred shillings. Bertrand, however, was executed after Richard's death despite being pardoned.)
I'll sacrifice you to Odin while drinking horns of mead!
Good thing you hold a Red Cross because that's who you're going to need!
(The "British Red Cross" is a United Kingdom body of the "International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement", an international humanitarian movement. Additionally, Richard I is commonly seen with a shield designed with the St. George's cross on, a red cross on a white background. Lodbrok says that Richard's shield is convenient, for he will need the Red Cross after the battle is done.)
You built your army by raising English taxes!
I raise my army taxing English asses with my axes!
Who are you to talk about the circle of life?
Your old lady can't feel the love on any night!
(Referring back to "The Lion King," "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" is another popular song from the animated film. Richard the Lionheart was believed to have very little interest in women and eventually married late to Berengaria of Naverre, whom his mother chose for him to marry. It is believed they never consummated their marriage and so Naverre would not feel any love from him. This could also refer to Richard's own mother, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, who plotted against her husband, King Henry II and encouraged Richard and his brothers to overthrow their father.)
Your only son was illegitimate, you were tossed aside
(Richard had an illegitimate son, Philip of Cognac, whose mother was unidentified.)
I'll twist your spine like the end of the Plantagenet line!
I'm just a warrior, I'm not a linguist
But I think the king of England should probably speak English!
You took Acre and Jaffa like a piece of cake
But never attacked Jerusalem, for Christ's sake!
Saw the Holy Land but couldn't go all the way
We should call it the Crusade of Richard the First Base!
Richard the Lionheart:
Sail back north with your barbarian goons
Because I'm tearing down your legacy: leaving it in runes!
Your real self next to your legend disappoints!
(As most of the exciting stories of Ragnar are rooted in legend, it is likely many of his exploits never happened and that the real historical Ragnar would disappoint in comparison to the legend made about him.)
I see you shaking in your shaggy little pants like "Zoinks!" (Ha!)
(Lodbrok's name means "Shaggy breeches", referencing his clothing. "Zoinks!" is the signature phrase of Norville Rogers from the Scooby-Doo series, who's nickname is also Shaggy. In Scooby-Doo, Shaggy's personality mostly revolves around eating a lot of food and being a coward.)
Who invented the royal me? We!
Who's the predominantly fictional MC? Thee!
(As mentioned earlier, Lodbrok is a legendary figure and while most said about him is found in legend, there is little evidence if he did actually exist, unlike Richard. MC means "Mic controller", thus Richard is calling him both fictional, and also saying his rapping skills are fictional too.)
You're a wannabe, mon ami, kneel down and honour me
("Mon ami" is French for "my friend", Richard the Lionheart understood and spoke French.)
Richard coming through in the end like Sean Connery
(A reference to the ending of the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, in which Sir Sean Connery had an uncredited cameo as Richard; he would see his cousin Maid Marion wedded to Kevin Costner's Robin of Loxley.)
The double-coronated blood and gore gourmet
You might have the axe, but I make a body spray!
(This line makes a play on that Lodbrok preferred axes in combat, as well as on the AXE line of personal hygiene products, among which are body sprays for men. Richard was supposedly ruthless in battle, so he brags that while Lodbrok might use an axe, Richard himself has other, more gruesome methods of putting down his opponents.)
Lionheart's the sobriquet but I'll strike like a cobra!
If I wanted to fight loser Vikings, I'd go to Minnesota!
(This line references a team in the NFL called the Minnesota Vikings. They have a history of losing 4 Super Bowls and other playoff games.
Ragnar Lodbrok:
You want to fight me?! Take off the tin shirt
I'll be waiting in my birthday suit, going berserk!
Ding-dang-dong, mourning bells be waiting for you at the break of dawn
(A convoluted reference to the French/English nursery rhyme "Frère Jacques", which may have referenced the death of Richard's brother John. Its final lines read, "Morning bells are ringing/[Ding-dang-dong]!" However, Lodbrok states that after he finishes with Richard, funeral bells will ring for the belated king.)
Then I'm putting you to sleep like your brother John!
Leaving monks in chunks on Northumbrian lawns
Because I'm the All-Father's spawn!
You couldn't even beat a salad in a fight!
(Saladin was the first sultan of Egypt and Syria. He is described as the Christian Richard I's Muslim counterpart. Richard I had finalized a peace treaty with Saladin, however the treaty involved Richard's campaign to conclude without reclaiming Jerusalem.)
You're as soft as Monty Python knights!
You went from chainmail to chained up in jail
(Chainmail is a heavy fitting armour. After being shipwrecked in the Adriatic, Richard was captured and ransomed by the Duke Of Austria.)
To Mommy drained England to pay for your bail!
(Following from the previous line, the ransom for Richard's release was costly and his mother degreed in England that a quarter of every man's income for a whole year would be used to secure Richard's release.)
But no king's ransom will save you from these bars, son
I'm eating you alive like the gangrene you died from!
