History Theatre / TheWarriorsAtHelgeland

* BadassGrandpa: Ørnulf, topping it with burying his seven sons, considering suicide, but betters himself with a lengthy poem, and resolves to help his friend Gunnar. Ørnulf from the Fjords was reckoned so awesome when the play was first performed that [[AwesomeMcCoolname the name Ørnulf]] became quite popular among Norwegian boys the following generation. One particular boy was actually christened "Ørnulf from the Fjords".

** This plot expies the Brynhild/Gudrun-quarrel over Sigurd in the {{saga of the volsungs}}.

* IcelandicSagas: The premise of the play, with continous {{Shout Out}}s all the way.

** It is hard for a modern audience not to ridicule this scene, when ten actors cry out in astonishment and at the same time: "Ørnulf from the Fjords!" (Post {{Monty Python}}, this is impossible - note the "bicycle repair man skit").

** This play actually makes a good Norwegian answer to {{Macbeth}}, sans the curses, of course.

** Consider, just for a moment, an English production of the play casting {{Brian Blessed}} as Ørnulf.

* AFatherToHisMen: Ørnulf is a ''literal'' example of this trope, commanding his seven {{badass}} sons in combat. And of course his household men.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Hjørdis, exploiting the rules and the black magics to her own ends, making it difficult for everybody else.

'''The Warriors at Helgeland''' is one of {{Henrik Ibsen}}`s early plays, and considerably different from his later productions. In the late 1850s, Ibsen wrote a string of historical plays, and this is one of them. The plot is as follows:

Sometime during the tenth century, a fleet arrives at the northern coast of {{Norway}}, apparently from {{Iceland}}. The leader of the band, Sigurd, has errands to his old friend and comrade, Ørnulf. Sigurd eloped some years before with Ørnulf`s daughter Dagny.

!!'''Tropes found in the play''':

* {{Expy}}: Gunnar and Sigurd are modelled on, well, Gunnar and Sigurd from the {{Saga of the Volsungs}}. Ørnulf is an expy of {{Egill Skallagrimsson}}, while Hjørdis and Dagny expies Brynhild and Gudrun from Völsunga Saga. Dagny doubles it with her expy of the abducted bride mentioned in the saga of Egil Skallagrimsson.

** It is implied that Hjørdis works pretty hard to ''enforce'' fate, comparing herself to the norns (the norse godesses of fate).

Alternative English title is ''The Vikings at Helgeland''. [[Full translation here https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/i/ibsen/henrik/vikings/complete.html]]. The term "Hærmand" (armed man), as used by Ibsen himself, translates as "warrior" rather than "viking".

* RuleOfCool: Ibsen tried to stretch this as far as possible. The whole play verges on {{awesome}}, almost tipping it over to {{narm}}. Nowadays, the reception is more bending towards {{narm charm}}.

* BadassBoast: The first line of Sigurd, stating that has never retreated from any challenge.

* IfICantHaveYou: And that is why Hjørdis kills Sigurd.
* InstantDeathBullet: Sigurd is shot and mortally wounded by ''one single arrow''. He does get some lines after that, though.

* IcelandicSagas: The premise of the play, with continous ShoutOuts all the way.

'''Tropes found in the play''':

** Hjørdis: Black.

* WorldOfHam: Seldom found in the corpus of Ibsen, but this play is hammy in ''spades''. Every single line is made for hamming, all the actors are expected to {{chewing the scenery}}, even the women. The entire cast is {{large ham}}s.

* TheResenter: Hjørdis, who never forgave Sigurd for leaving.

* MistakenIdentity. Gunnar and Sigurd switched places in their youth, because Gunnar didn`t have the guts to kill a bear. This resulted in Hjørdis marrying Gunnar because she actually believed he was the one who did it. Dagny reveals the true circumstances, and tragedy ensues.

* WarriorPoet: Ørnulf.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: Sigurd wears a white coat, and he is recently baptized. Hjørdis, who eventually kills him, is wearing a black dress - acting as a witch and is the most outspoken pagan in the cast.

* YouCantFightFate: Discussed, because Hjørdis really wants Sigurd dead, and wishes Gunnar to do it for her. Gunnar resists because of the bond between them, so Hjørdis does it herself.