Artistic License History / The Last Kingdom

• Unlike the books, the English weapons and tactics appear suspect since they carry rectangular shields instead of round ones like the Danes and Uhtred must explain shieldwall tactics to them. In reality, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes came to England from roughly the same place as the Danes and had a very similar social and military culture. (In the novels, instead of teaching shieldwall tactics, Uhtred's Danish background gets him sent to Wessex's fledgling navy.)
  • In Season 4 in particular shield walls all but disappear on both sides in favour of the standard chaotic Hollywood melees, only being called on in the final battle as a means of halting the fighting.
• In general, the series only makes mention of the most notable offspring of Alfred and Edward the Elder, sometimes giving the impression they only had two kids in the former's case and three kids in the latter's case. Historically, Alfred had at least five children with Ælthswith, and Edward had at least 14 children over the course of his three marriages. Most either died young or were daughters married off to minor lords or sent off to convents, so it's likely this was done to avoid cluttering the storyline with even more inconsequential characters.
• As in the books, Ubba is given the patronymic "Lothbroksson" as a son of the famous Ragnar Lothbrok to avoid another "Ragnarsson".^note Even though "Lothbrok" ("Shaggy Pants") is a personal epithet like "the Great" or "the Bald," rather than a proper name.
• Æthelwold is a historical character, but he was only an infant when his father died, not the young man the series portrays him as.
• In Season 3, the final battle in which Æthelwold is killed is depicted as a great victory for Wessex. In reality, Edward retreated before the battle, the men of Kent disobeyed the order to follow, and in the ensuing fight the Danes were victorious but suffered heavy losses, including Æthelwold, making it a Pyrrhic Victory.
• At Alfred's coronation, father Selbix says the words "Vivat Rex Alfredus" ("Long live King Alfred"). However, in Latin, a person's title comes after their name. This could have been handwaved as Selbix not knowing enough Latin (something that was actually a frequent occurrence among the clergy of Alfred's time) and applying the rules of his own language to it, if not for the fact that in Old English, the title also comes after the name ("King Alfred" would be "Ælfred cyning"). The usage of the latinized form "Alfredus" is also questionable, as it would not be used until the 11th century, with the Latin texts from his own lifetime using the Old English form "Ælfred". A more accurate thing to say would therefore be "Vivat Ælfred Rex".
• The Cornish Britons receive an absolutely bizarre portrayal in Episode 1.6. They wear chalky face paint that seems to be styled after the Hindu tilaka. Their hairstyles and dress seem to be inspired by Central Asian peoples. Their soldiers wield Inuit fishing spears, Dacian falxes, Renaissance pikes, and crude wooden pitchforks. In terms of armour, they wear Early Roman ‘heart protector’ breastplates, which at this point would be nearly 1000 years out of date. Their shields are made of wicker, and have gigantic holes in the front of them, apart from some where the hole had been covered by a large bronze disc. In what seems to be a low-budget attempt at emulating scale armor, King Peredur wears a leather shirt sewn full of metal buttons, and also wields a late medieval longsword.
• Early in the series, nuns can be seen in the background of some scenes wearing giant ridiculous hats shaped like shoes, possibly a low-budget attempt at a bonnet. Later in the series when nuns show up in more prominent roles, their costumes are less egregious.
• In Season 4 we see Æthelred claiming to be the King of Mercia, whereas in Real Life he was only ever acknowledged as the Lord of the Mercians. In real life he was also older than his wife and had seemingly submitted to Alfred's authority several years before he married his daughter.
• The Welsh in Season 4 also receive an odd treatment. They seem to be portrayed as faux Romans with red tunics and rectangular shields, but wear no Roman-like armor (this is likely based on the traditional belief that the Welsh preserved aspects of Roman culture long after the Romans left Britain). They also use the Saxon term Wēalas to refer to Wales, even among themselves, which they certainly wouldn't have called themselves. The closest Welsh terms they may have used would be Cymru, Cymry, or Kymry, which are all modern names for Wales.
  • Uhtred also quips that they don't look like Christians because of their different appearance, as though Saxons were the only Christian people in Britain. This is despite the fact the Welsh had Christianized nearly two hundred years before the Saxons did, though the comment could very well be just Uhtred's ignorance.
• Historically, Ælswith died in 902, eight years before the Battle of Tettenhall, while in the series she's instrumental in the political maneuvering surrounding the campaign, and serves as an important supporting character all the way into the later reign of her son Edward.
• Sigtryggr is based on Sitric Cáech, a (possible) grandson of Ivar the Boneless who spent much of his life in Ireland (making him about as Irish as Finan), and later became King of Northumbria from 921 until his death in 927. However, while there's evidence that he didn't have a good relationship with Edward the Elder, there's no mention of him ever directly fighting a war against him like in the show (there is numismatic evidence of Sigtryggr having held territory south of the Humber, which would indicate a partial Norse reconquest of lands around 921 - 924 however), and he definitely did not capture Winchester. His reign in Northumbria was also immediately succeeded by another descendent of Ivar named Guthfrith, whereas in the show Norse rule over Northumbria simply ceases to exist with his death.
• The real Aelfwynn actually succeeded her mother as Lady of Mercia and ruled as such for a few months before being removed by Edward. There is no evidence that he massacred Mercia's ealdormen either, simply that there was no opposition in Mercia when he deposed his niece.
• Some of the Scots in season 5 are shown wearing early kilts, a-la Braveheart, which they wouldn't have for about another 600 years. Additionally, they all speak in modern Scottish English with each other and refer to themselves as being from "Scotland", when at that time they would have spoken Pictish or Gaelic, and referred to themselves as being from "Alba." ^note While parts of what is now modern Lowland Scotland spoke a dialect of Old English, those areas were still part of Northumbria at the time, not the Kingdom of Alba. Much like the Welsh, this depiction of the Scots was probably meant to evoke the popular portrayal of Medieval Scotland from Braveheart instead of historical accuracy.
• The show introduces Constantine II's fortress as being located in Sterling. In reality, the seat of royalty for the Kingdom of Alba at the time was in Scone, and Sterling was part of the Kingdom of Strathclyde. While Sterling holds an important place in Scottish history for being the site of one of the most famous battles of the Scottish Wars of Independence, it would not be annexed into the Kingdom of Alba (Scotland) proper until well after the events of the series, and it never served as the capital of Scotland.
• There was no battle of Bebbanburg as shown in season 5, where Constantine II of Alba (Scotland) fights against Uhtred, Edward, and Stiorra's Jorvik Danes. The entire campaign primarily serves to finish Uhtred's story of finally reclaiming Bebbanburg. Constantine, however, did later ally with a Viking lord from Ireland and a Brittonic king to fight against Aethelstan.
• Seven Kings Must Die ends with Uhtred pledging Northumbria to Aethelstan after winning the Battle of Brunanburh, giving him the last kingdom he needs to finally unite England and fulfill Alfred's dream. In reality, it was Aethelstan driving Sitric Cáech's successor (yes, the guy who inspired Sigtryggr) out of York that gave him Northumbria, and the Battle of Brunanburh was actually in response to Aethelstan marching into Scotland (which the movie touches upon). The historical Aethelstan was already King of the English by the time of the battle, and what his victory ensured was that his neighbors would be forced to accept his dominion over the lands he possessed.