It is well known that the Viking sagas tell the stories of the most impressive Viking heroes, but are they all to be taken seriously? The saga of the infamous Viking poet and warrior Egill Skallagrimsson reads more like Monty Python’s Life of Brian than like the story of a true Viking hero. The saga…

Eric Bloodaxe is one of the most famous Viking warriors, at least in the British Isles. Many Britons today trace their Viking ancestry through Eric Bloodaxe and his prodigy who settled in York. But Eric’s story seems far less noble than that of many other Viking warriors. He was expelled from kingship several times, usually…

Hvitserk is, without doubt, one of the most tragic characters in the History Channel’s Vikings series. One of the younger sons of Ragnar Lothbrok, he is a follower rather than a leader and often struggles when he must choose between his brothers. He is haunted by the things that he has done and eventually goes…

While we tend to think of the Vikings as raiders and warriors, we should not forget that this was just one element of a sophisticated culture that also had music, science, religion, and, of course, visual art. Like most cultures, the Vikings created beautiful things out of many different materials. However, due to the inevitable…

One of the most popular characters on the History Channel’s Vikings is undoubtedly the monk Athelstan, who finds himself torn between the Viking and Christian worlds, and his loyalty to his own people and his friendship with Ragnar Lothbrok. But is the character that we see in the Vikings series real? The short answer to…