Hvitserk was one of the legendary sons of the 9th-century Norse

Norsemen

Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...

 king Ragnar Lodbrok

Ragnar Lodbrok

Ragnar Lodbrok was a Norse legendary hero from the Viking Age who was thoroughly reshaped in Old Norse poetry and legendary sagas.-Life as recorded in the sagas:...

 and his wife Kraka

Aslaug

Aslaug, Aslög, Kraka, Kráka or Randalin, was a queen of Scandinavian mythology who appears in Snorri's Edda, the Völsunga saga and the saga of Ragnar Lodbrok.-The Legendary Aslaug:...

, attested to by the Ragnarssona þáttr

Ragnarssona þáttr

Ragnarssona þáttr, Þáttr af Ragnars sonum or the Tale of Ragnar's sons is a short story on Ragnar Lodbrok and his sons.-Ragnar Lodbrok:When Sigurd Ring dies, Ragnar succeeds him as the king of Sweden and Denmark...

. Since he is not mentioned in any source that mentions Halfdan Ragnarsson

Halfdan Ragnarsson

Halfdan Ragnarsson was a Viking chief and one of the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok with Aslaug. It has been suggested that Halfdan is the same person as Ragnar's son Hvitserk....

, some scholars have suggested that they are the same individual.

After having avenged his father together with his brothers, he went pillaging in Garðaríki

Garðaríki

Garðaríki or Garðaveldi is the Old Norse term used in medieval times for the states of Kievan Rus'...

. He was, however, opposed by such a large foe that he could not win. When asked about how he wished to die, he decided to be burnt alive.