Series / Vikings: Valhalla

Vikings: Valhalla is the sequel to The History Channel's Vikings. Michael Hirst steps aside as writer and showrunner in favor of Jeb Stuart, writer of Die Hard.

The show is set a century^note See the Writers Cannot Do Math-entry bellow after the original series, towards the final years of The Viking Age, and follows Greenland siblings Leif Eriksson (Sam Corlett) and Freydis Eriksdottir (Frida Gustavsson) and the Norwegian prince Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter) as king Canute (Bradley Freegard) gathers vikings far and wide to avenge the St. Brice's Day Massacre. Meanwhile jarl Olaf the Holy (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) and jarl Kåre (Asbjørn Krogh Nissen) conspires to violently convert Norway to christianity: the show delves into the war between the pagan and christian vikings as the old faith of the Aesir is being displaced.

The first season, consisting of 8 episodes, premiered on Netflix worldwide on February 25, 2022. Season 2 premiered in 2023, with Florian Munteanu joining the cast.

---

Vikings: Valhalla contains examples of:

• Actual Pacifist: Leif Eriksson tries his best to not kill his opponents.
• Action Girl: Freydis.
• Adaptational Heroism: Canute the Great was not motivated by a desire to avenge killings of anglo-scandinavians as much as claiming the inheritance his father Sweyn Forkbeard had left him: England. Sweyn was the one who embarked on a decade long campaign which culminated in a conquest of England.
  • Olaf get this as the series has him join the expedition to avenge the St. Brice's Day Massacre rather than teaming up with a genocidal king to drive out the Danes when they are weak in an act of pure opportunism.
• Adaptational Villainy: The show decontextiualizes Aethelred's motivation for ordering the death of anglo-scandinavians by not bringing up the decades of attacks on England by viking armies in the late 10th century (the worst being Olaf Tryggvasson who later got axed by Sweyn Forkbeard). St. Brice's Day Massacre was more the Moral Event Horizon of a paranoid yet sympathetic man who lapsed into a monster.

  • By extension the show also leaves out how these attacks were often based from Normandy, the Norman's actually helping them. It's believed Aethelred married Emma of Normandy to pacify the Normans.

  • Godwin's father is made guilty of the crimes he was accused of, through sources are not clear if he actually was guilty. Given the accuser was Eadric's brother, it makes you wonder...
  • Sweyn Forkbeard is noted as having demanded tribute from Aethelred, which he did in real life. As a response to the St. Brice's Day Massacre. Sweyn Forkbeard is not know to have antagonized Aethelred prior.
• Adapted Out: Thorkell the Tall does not appear, even though he was central to the real life events the show dramatizes. For some reason, he was in the original show.
  • Eirik jarl doest not appear. Through jarl Haakon loosely takes on both his and his sons role in the story, she does not share his backstory or role as Canute's dragon.
  • Canute's brother Harald is also adapted out from the show.
  • Olaf Tryggvason is never mentioned. His defeat at the hands of Sweyn Forkbeard is the reason Norway was under danish rule at the time and would be a really sour memory to the pagans due to his violent conversion campaign. He was also the man who compelled Harald Sigurdsson's parents to convert and was the godfather of Olaf Haraldsson.
• Adaptation Name Change: Godwin's father's name is changed from Wulfnoth to Godwin.
• Aerith and Bob: As expected, the characters in the show have names ranging from Leif and Emma to Eadric and Aelfgifu.
• Age Lift: Aethelred and Godwin are presented as much older than they were would have been at the time of the actual events. Aethelred was in his late 40's at the time of Canute's invasion. Godwin was 12.
  • Harald Sigurdsson takes the cake as he was an infant at the time of Canute's invasion.
  • Leif Eriksson was born 50 years before Harald Sigurdsson.
• Amazon Brigade: Haakon has a personal guard of shieldmaidens.
• Arc Villain: Jarl Kåre is one of the main antagonists in season 1, and the only one who dies in that season.
• Artistic License – Law: Freydis claims that she has the right to kill her rapist Gunnar due to him being found guilty by the Greenland thing. This would only have applied to Greenland, under the law of outlawry. This would not have juristiction in another country unless the same case being brought up there and enforced by the thing of that country. Also Haakon's claim about Freydis' being right by the "old way" but the "new way" would require evidence is also false. In theory she would have had to give the same evidence at any thing, but the evidence she'd have to present would more likely differ more due to the personality of the people in attendance rather than differences in the application of the law.
• Bad Boss: The show opens with Aethelred murdering his own danish guards, as well as a large part of his own subjects.
• Badass Boast: Emma gives one to Aethelred on his deathbed that just about perfectly sums up the kind of people he's dealing with
  Emma: You married a Norman. We create nightmares.
• Bait-and-Switch: Sweyn Forkbeard starts a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Emma which at first seems to be how she should Stay in the Kitchen by asking if she is a good cook and then glowingly describe how his mother could cook large yet always perfect meals. Then he reveals that it's a parable about logistics, noting that his mother could handle multiple pots at once which he does not think Canute can: that is handling multiple countries.
• Batman Gambit: Olaf Haraldsson's plan to conquer Kattegat involves a pincer manouver were jarl Kåre and the other christian jarls will attack the walls while he will attack from the sea. Harald informs Freydis about the plan leading them to Haakon stretching out the defenses of Kattegat. However, Olaf expected Harald to do this and only sent a few unmanned ships to come in with the tide. His real plan is to let the jarls storm the undermanned defenses and then when both armies are destroying each other so his fresh army can sweep in and kill them all, destroying most of Norway's aristocracy in a single day.
• The Berserker: Harald fights bare chested, draped in wolf fur.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Jarl Olaf and Kåre are the main villains of Season 1. While they start off as independent and separate antagonists, they team-up near the end of the season where they plan to cleanse all of Norway of "heathen" and establish the country as under one religion (Christianity).
• The Big Guy: Olaf Haraldsson, naturally.
  • Njall the Greenlander is not so bad himself.
• Black Vikings: Jarl Haakon and Altöra are presented as of African descent. No such figures appear in the sagas or historical records. The closest parallell are the brothers Hámund and Geirmund Heljarskin, two princes who were of part White Sea descent and had features that likely resembled the Uralic Samoyeds.
• Bolivian Army Ending: Season 1 ends with Kattegat overrun by Olaf, only for him to watch in absolute terror as Sweyn Forkbeard and his fleet arrives.
• Brutal Honesty: When Aelfgifu asks Sweyn if he will explain to his grandchildren that they are being disinherited he replies with a shrug and that he will tells them this is the way the world works.
• The Bus Came Back: An odd example, as the entire Uppsala location complete with original props returns after not having been seen since episode 8 of the original Vikings.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Jarl Kåre. Among other things he believes he keep the Seer in a cage. Everyone else sees an empty cage.
• Composite Character: Jarl Haakon loosely takes over the role of jarl Eirík of Hladi and his sons Hákon jarl and Svein.
• Continuity Snarl: Aethelred the Unready is refered to as Aethelred II. The issue here is that Aethelred I was Alfred the Great's older brother Aethelred, who did not become king in the timeline of the original show.
• Crisis of Faith: Leif is undergoing one for the Aesir-religion. He is visibly uncomfortable with human sacrifice and very coy about claims about the gods. Which comes to season 1's big Tear Jerker moment when due to his reluctance to subscribe to pagan belief concepts fails to reassure a dying Liv that they will meet again in Valhalla before she passes.
• Crucified Hero Shot: The gydja of Uppsala is presented crucified on a ship by jarl Kåre's men.
  • In season 2 Olaf is impaled through his armpits with a spear. When he falls to his knees and dies spear gives enough support for him to remain kneeling in death - with his arms extended over the spear making him appear crucified.
• Dark Age Europe: The series is set in the latter centuries of early medieval Europe.
• Decapitated Army: Harald Sigurdsson's plan to defeat the English is isolating king Edmund from the rest of his forces and capturing him.
• Distant Sequel: Set a century after the events of the original series.
• Doomed Hometown: All of the Danelaw for Harald Sigurdsson.
• The Dragon: King Canute has Agnarr, while Olaf Haraldsson has Hallbjörn and jarl Kåre
• The Dreaded: Sweyn Forkbeard, naturally.
• Elite Mooks: Jarl Kåre's band of christian fanatics kill several named characters in the final battle in season 1.
• End of an Age: With the Christianization of Scandinavia well underway and the Normans growing increasingly influential in English politics, its clear that The Low Middle Ages are coming to an end and The High Middle Ages are about to begin.
• Evil vs. Evil: The pagans perform human sacrifices, while the christians massacre the pagans that refuse to follow convert. The human sacrifices are shown as barbarous but the pogroms against the pagans creates much more death and destruction than the sacrifices do.
• Eye Scream: A saxon grabs a viking and gouges out his eyes during the battle of London Bridge.
• Fish out of Water: Leif and Freydis are this, knowingly little to nothing about the practices and politics of Norway and the rest of the world.
• Freudian Excuse: Jarl Kåre hates the pagans because his brother was offered up as a human sacrifice by his parents.
• Freudian Trio: Freydis is the id, being reckless and very emotional. Harald is the Superego, a rational and moderate man who prefers diplomacy to violence. Leif is the the Ego, who wants to be thoughtful and controlled but has the same temper as his sister and father deep inside.
• The Fundamentalist: Oh, like Olaf "the Holy" Haraldsson would go high-five pagans?
  • Jarl Kåre, too. He's even worse.
• Gang Initiation Fight: Freydis is made to fight and defeat all of jarl Haakons shield maidens to join them.
• Gender-Blender Name: Alfrun of Tröndelag, with Alfrun being a woman's name. Even more cringe inducing since there is a cast regular named Alfrun (Álfrún Laufeyjardóttir) so the producers must have been aware of it.
• The Ghost: Erik the Red is talked about a lot, but is never seen. He was the sponsor who sent his children on the mission to avenge Freydis' rape. He is set to appear in season 3.
  • Magnus the Good is talked about but makes no apperence in the first season. He appears in season 2.
• The Good King: King Canute is tolerant to pagans, is a great judge of character and seems to genuinely love Emma.
• Gratuitous Foreign Language: A character is referred to as the læknir, which old norse for "healer". Other healers also appear and are themself referred to as simply "healer".
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Like the original main characters rarely don helmets, even when they are otherwise fully armored. Helmets are fairly rare among common soldiers as well, though when they are worn, they're by faceless mooks.
• Historical Villain Downgrade: Eadric Streona gets hit by this. While he is not a likable guy, he no nowhere near the awful Heel–Face Revolving Door of real life and his death thus becomes much less satisfying.
• Historical Villain Upgrade: Godwin killing Edmund II, who's (possible) assassin or even exact cause of death is unknown.
• Heroic Lineage: Harald Sigurdsson is the great grandson of Harald Finehair.
  • Inverted with Leif Eriksson, who does not want to be associated his murderous father Erik the Red.
• Hufflepuff House: Once again, Sweden is never mentioned. For some reason the Swedish king has nothing to say about a Norwegian attack in the heart of his kingdom. Given how Olof Skötkonung had such trouble getting his people to go to war with Norway, he could not have begged for a better excuse.
• I Am X, Son of Y: Played much more realistically than in the original show, as the people are (mostly) given correct patronymics and people like Harald and Olaf have different surnames despite being brothers.
• King on His Deathbed: Aethelred get's such a scene in episode 2.
• Love-Interest Traitor: Harald Sigurdsson betrays Kattegat to aid his older brother Olaf's conquest of Norway.
• Mauve Shirt: All of the Greenlanders.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Freydis' spirit journey at Uppsala.
• Meet the In-Laws: Emma gets a meeting with her new father-in-law Sweyn Forkbeard.
• No Delays for the Wicked: Jarl Kåre and his men can somehow raid Uppsala without interference from the Swedish king despite it being at the heart of their kingdom and bring the priests with them so they send a ship with their crucified bodies on it.
• No Name Given: The ealdorman of Northumbria is never named in the series, maybe not to confuse the viewers as his name was Uhtred of Bebbanburg.
• Off with His Head!: As per history Eadric Streona gets this treatment.
• Oh, Crap!: Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson does a GLOURIOUS "oh crap-face" when Sweyn Forkbeard arrives in episode 8.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: A very fitting one from Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson in episode 8. For most of the show he uses the largely made-up Viking-accent from the original show, but slips into his native Faroese accent for a moment when he panics as his men flee in terror of Sweyn Forkbeard.
  • Frida Gustavsson struggles to keep her accent consistent as she often fluctuates in how she pronounces words. Often the Nordic terms are the ones that are really inconsistent.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted. Canute's sons Harald Harefoot and Svein co-exist with their grandpa Sweyn Forkbeard and the character Harald Sigurdsson. And for some reason earl Godwin's father's name is changed from Wulfnoth to Godwin.
• The Quisling: Eadric Streona is so Obviously Evil that even Aethelred the Unready points it out. Given this is a guy who topped BBC's list of worst Britions it could be justified.
• The Patriarch: Sweyn Forkbeard
• Put on a Bus: King Canute goes away to fight the Vends in episode 7. He returns in season 2 episode 6.
• Raised by Grandparents: Harald Harefoot and Svein Knutsson seem to be raised by their grandfather Sweyn. Said raising involves bringing his grandchildren to battle, arming them and charging into battle with them at his side.
• Rape as Backstory: Freydis was raped the christian viking Gunnar who carved a cross on Freydis' back.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: The viking invades England to avenge the genocide of the anglo-danish population.
• Sacrificial Lamb: Any Greenlander that dies that is not Liv.
  • There is also Arne, Yngvi, Altöra, Vestian, Tomas, Torsen, Birger, Merin and Sten.
• Sacrificial Lion: Liv is killed by Olaf at the storming of Kattegat.
• Screaming Warrior: Liv shrieks wildly in battle.
• Shout-Out: Ragnar, Lagertha, Rollo, Harald Finehair, Ivar and Bjorn all gets mentioned in dialogue, as well as the in Vikings Adapted Out son of Harald, Eirik Bloodaxe.
• Show Their Work: Aethelred's justification for the massacre of danes is taken straight from the royal charter were Aethelred the Unready justified the massacre. The shame charter mentions an Oxford church being burned to kill the danes hiding there and its reconstruction by Aethelred, both which are featured as background events in the show.
• Sins of Our Fathers: In episode 2, Leif is attacked by the family of the victim of one of Erik the Red.
• Spared By Adaptation: At the end of season 2 Sweyn Forkbeard is still alive, through in real life both Aethelred the Unready, Eadric Streona and Edmund Ironside survived him by a few years.
• The Squire: Downplayed, but Harald Harefoot acts like this to his grandfather.
• Standing Between the Enemies: Harald Sigurdsson does this in episode 1 in a Establishing Character Moment to get the christian and vikings to fight together.
• Start of Darkness: At the end of season 1 it's implied that Leif has irreversibly entered the path to be his father's son in the worst possible way.
• Statuesque Stunner: Besides being very beautiful, Freydis is also as tall or taller than most men on the show.
• We ARE Struggling Together: The vikings are divided between christians and pagans, while some the Greenlanders do not really feel any connection to the rest of Scandinavia.
• Women Are Wiser: Emma of Normandy is the most intelligent and toughest member of the English court.
• Writers Cannot Do Math: The show is stated to take place a 100 years after the events of the original show. Looper, Den Of Geek and fans at the Vikings fan wiki all came to the conclusion that the original show ended around the year 821 based on the information given in the show^note Through the season 4 time jump is not really specified, Magnus age is given which gives a very good indication for how much time passed between his birth and season 4B. This would mean the show takes place closer to 200 years after the original show, with the St. Brice's Day massacre happening in 1002 and the Danish invasion of England happening in 1013^note After a decade of punitive raids. To complicate things further, Eadric Streona claims his family has been fighting Vikings for two hundred years, which contradicts the timeline spouted by all the other characters, but lines up better with real world history.
  • Peter Friedlander, head of US and Canada scripted series at Netflix, said the show takes place 125 years after the events of the original series so it's the 940's then?
    • Most likely the mistake has arisen from counting around from Alfred's actual reign, meaning they completely missed (or ignored) the original timeline. Then, Vikings Valhalla is maybe meant to take place in 940's or the 995's?

---