When King Ragnar is to meet his intended for the first time he tests her and encourages her to appear “neither dressed nor naked, satisfied or hungry, alone or in company”. The wise Kraka solves the test by dressing up in a fishing net in the company of a dog. According to legend she also had an onion in her mouth but, in the painting, this is lying on the ground instead. While he was still a child Winge was interested in Nordic mythology and he produced several paintings on this subject.