Related Articles
Season 1 of Vikings: Valhalla on Netflix saw the type of pillaging and plundering that would make Odin proud. During show developer Jeb Stuart’s (Die Hard, The Fugitive) epic first season which sees the Vikings blaze new trails and reshape Europe, we also get to know a small group of Greenlanders that includes show leads Leif Erikson (Sam Corlett) and Freydís Eiríksdóttir (Frida Gustavsson) as they brave the rough waters from their home country of Greenland to the Viking hub city of Kattegat to join a larger group that has vowed revenge against England and the Saxons for the slaughter of all their Danish brothers throughout the country by England’s King Aethelred II (Bosco Hogan). The army of Norsemen is led by King Canute (Bradley Freegard), who has visions of uniting all the Vikings under one English flag. Meanwhile, a war is also waged over the religious differences of a Christian faction and their pagan counterparts within the group.
After arriving at Kattegat in the initial part of Season 1, Freydís Eiríksdóttir is said to be the daughter of Erik the Red and the sister of Lief Erikson. In the beginning of the season she is merely another Greenlander in a group seeking a better life in the regions south of her native homeland, but as the season plays out, she becomes much more. Not only does she hone her physical skills to become a great Viking warrior, but after a trip to Uppsala, she is also tabbed by The Seer who has visions about her and warns Freydís to take heed of her strong will as she will be tested by marauding Berserkers and other enemies during her journey to avenge her friend and fellow Viking Yrsa’s death at the hands of the religious zealot Jarl Kare (Asbjørn Krogh Nissen) and fight at the Batlle of Kattegat. By season’s end, she is the most skilled of all the Viking warriors and is prepared to go to war with anyone who threatens the realm and fulfill the prophecy of The Seer. In the series finale, she gets her vengeance by plunging her sword into Jarl Kare’s gut and killing him.
After Aethelred II order to execute all the Danes in England, King Canute of Denmark is appointed the leader of a band of Vikings who have gathered from all over the northern regions of Europe. He coordinates and communicates a single vision for them which is an all-out assault on the capital City of London at the Battle at Stamford Bridge in 1066 which historically marked the end of the Viking Age. With the help of Lief and the other Greenlanders, they are able to destroy the bridge leading in and out of London and take control of the city and all of England. Once they have prevailed, Canute becomes drunk with power and strives to unite the Vikings under a new Northern European flag. He is challenged by Olaf Haraldsson (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) who wishes to unite Norway under the banner of Christ. He will join forces with fellow Christian Jarl Kare against Canute and his pagan followers by launching an attack on Kattegat, and by the end of the season Olaf claims victory at the stronghold of Kattegat only to see his forces flee at the sight of Canute’s father, Swen Forkbeard (Søren Pilmark) arriving with an enormous fleet of ships to deal with the Christian traitors,
