Vikings Valhalla: Season 1 Episode 1

Vikings Valhalla: Season 1 Episode 1

 Warning- Spoilers!

Disclaimer: This is just my opinion on the series. I do not mean to cause offense to anyone. I do like to look at the history behind the time period. I sincerely do not mean to cause offense or upset anyone.

Costuming: I liked the costuming so far. Nothing seemed to far fetched. The background characters had pretty plausible outfits. I really liked what they put the Greenlanders in.

Characters: I like the sibling bond between Leif and Freydis. I look forward to seeing more of it.

Harald Sigurdsson is a hottie with a body! He’s channeling that Harald Finehair energy with that top knot. I’m pretty sure King Harald would be rolling in his grave if he found out his descendants were Christians. 

King Canute: aka my new fav. I guess I am a sucker for dark haired, deep voiced kings.

Estrid Haakon- She takes me out of the show, in my opinion. I want to know how she got to this position of power.  Did she marry into it? It will be interesting how the show explains it. The Norse were heavily involved in the slave trade with the Muslims. In this time period, people from across Europe, Asia, and Africa could be slaves. They literally shows slaves in the first few minutes of the first episode. I just hope the shows gives a good back story for Jarl Haakon on how she got to power.

King Aethelred II: I hope he is not a one-dimension villain or a Ecbert copycat.

History:

 St. Brigid Massacre did occur in 1002. 

Slavery is still occurring in this time period. In the Doomsday Book, about 10% of England’s population were slaves (c. 1086).

Jarl Haakon was a real man from c. 937-995. Estrid Haakon is apparently a purely fictional character.

King Canute becomes king of England as King Cnut. I can’t wait to see him and Emma of Normandy!

I really like the conflict of Christians V. Pagans. I hope they do not make Christians the ‘bad guys’ or overly favor the the Norse religion, and leave it up to interpretation. 

#help me but I never update

hey i made this fanfic writer meme. drop in my ask which one u think i am!!!!

(okay to rb!)

King Harald specializes in awkward moments and memorable lines: "And here's to a sacred agreement, which if any man breaks, he will deserve to die..."

Character Thoughts 02: Judith

Does anyone else hate everything the character Judith did on Vikings? Cheats on her husband, neglects her child, KILLS HER SON! I think it would of been more interesting if Hirst included actual history in his show. He should of given Aethelwulf a love story with Osburh and had children by her , and then have her tragically die in childbirth. Echbert needs an alliance with Northumbira  so he still has Aethewulf marry Judith.

I feel like it would of been more interesting if Alfred being illegitimate was kept a secret and Echbert found out and took advantage of it. 

Another way it could or gone was the historical route and have Judith marry her stepson, Aethelbald. That could bring drama to the show.

“ In 855, King Æthelwulf of Wessex made a pilgrimage to Rome with his youngest son Alfred, who was about six years old. On the way back, in 856, he stayed at the court of Charles the Bald. Back in July, on the way to Rome, Æthelwulf negotiated his marriage with Judith,...  Shortly after the death of Æthelwulf, the new king, Æthelbald, married his stepmother. By agreeing to this marriage, Judith may have tried to avoid the usual fate of dowagers - a nunnery “-wikipedia

- Then again I am a Christian so it could just be my bias against how Hirst wrote the show. Anyone’s thoughts?

Matching top knots!

Well God damn Harald Sigurdsson.

Excellent casting making him the Great-Grandson of Harald Finehair

History: Alfred was the son of Æthelwulf and Osburh. Æthelwulf took Alfred to Rome not once but twice, because he loved him more than any of his other sons. He brought Judith (daughter of Charles, King of Franks) home and wanted her to be Queen, but she was not allowed to be called Queen, but King's wife. After his death, his son Æthelred ruled, before dying in battle, and Alfred became King, eventually marrying Ealhswith, a noblewoman from Mercia.

Michael Hirst: So okay, Alfred isn't the son of Æthelwulf. Osburh doesn't exist. He's the son of Judith, who is the daughter of King Ælla of Northumbria, and the former monk/sometimes Viking Athelstan. He's not Aethelwulf's favorite. Æthelwulf hesitantly takes him and eventually accepts Alfred as his son. Oh and Æthelwulf doesn't die in battle. A bee does it, and Æthelred isn't King, either. Alfred is King now, and even though Æthelred swears he won't ever turn against his brother again, Queen Judith kills him. Oh and Alfred married Elsewith, but because he doesn't talk to her every five minutes, she sleeps with Bjorn Ironside, first. Oh and she's not Mercian. She is the daughter of his mother's cousin, instead. That's historical right?