It is good and far more accurate than vikings.. But they make all the male saxon leaders appear as tyrants or weak.. And I don't like that they had Alfred completely reliant on Uthred..But I loved what they did with the lady of Mercia Aethelfled...A fine queen..I'm disappointed to see the movie has Athelstan as a tyrant.. Which we know he wasn't..
My favourite made historical show. It may not be 1000% accurate about everything, but the setting, the stories and the general vibes of the show are amazing. Even stuff like the music makes it amazing.
It kinda blew my mind the first time I learned that the historical Uhtred lived three hundred years LATER than the events depicted in The Last Kingdom. But at the same time, I think that action by the show is somewhat forgivable, because if you think about it, the Uhtred on the show could easily be interpreted as the ancestor of the historical Uhtred (“I am Uhtred, son of Uhtred”).
There’s another uthred who was born like 50ish years after the movie. He was know as uthred the bold and was ruler of bamburgh/bebbanburg and ealdormen of northumbria like the show. He died in 1016.
Maybe read a book sometimes instead of just watching a movie. Uhtred wasnt a unique name, Uhtred wasnt just the son of Uhtred, his fathers father was also named Uhtred like his fathers fathers father, and Uhtred also named his first son Uhtred. There isnt also not just one Julius Caesar, there were generations of Julius Caesars befor him.
In Vikings on the raid in lindisfarne I don’t think they were shocked that there was treasure they were just shocked that there was no one defending the treasure
@@stephenconnolly3018 damn didnt king cnut from denmark become king of england and norway. wonder how that happen ? guess they killed the unarmed monks an became king. that easy lol u sound slow bud
I found her critiques very baseless because it seems like she didn’t do her homework at all and just watched individual clips rather than the whole show.
Fans of The Last Kingdom who haven’t yet should read the books by Bernard Cornwell. The series kind of rushes through the books (I very much liked the show but wish it had followed the books more, it would have lasted many more seasons). Cornwell is my favorite author and creator of arguably the two most iconic characters in historical fiction: Uthred of Beddenburg and Richard Sharpe. If you enjoy historical show and movies you will very much his work.
Agreed. The actor who played Steapa must have been rather disappointed to have been killed off early, baring in mind that he was a vital part of the final battle and LIVED. Oh well...😕
The books are great but depart from the show a little bit. In addition, the timelne in the books cover a much longer period than the shows....great entertainment overall. Cornwell has some great stuff
Norsemen is one of the best shows out there and also one of the most underrated ones. Absolutely hilarious. It feels alot like watching a mix of Monty Python and The Office but within a Vikings setting:D
Why do you look at your wrist? Sometimes l just like to look at my wrist... I tell you...These eyes will get some use! DONT PULL THEM OUT! Don't be ridiculous! How will you sleep on your stomach?!
It's so perfect. I think what boggles my brains the most is that they films EVERY SINGLE SCENE twice. Once in Norwegian, once ALL OVER AGAIN in English. It speaks volumes to the dedication of the actors as well and their ability to deliver characters in two languages.
I think it was Hastein who is said to have done it, but you're close because Bjorn was there as they led the expedition together. This is where my memory gets a bit murky though, I think the inspiration was something to do with Vikings believing they had ancestry to Antenor of Troy and were adapting the idea of the horse from the Iliad.
I adore all these inputs and shared knoledged in videos like this. Thank you to History Hit and Dr Cat Jarman for sharing her expertise and passion. Very appreciated.
The Last Kingdom has made such an impact on my life, i am forever grateful to Bernard Cornwell for creating the novels and for Alexander Dreymon for his amazing portrayal of Uhtred and the whole cast which is just brilliant!
A bit of missing context on the Lagertha scene. She is retired on a secluded farm and women whose husband's died on raids started flocking to her from the countryside because they are being attacked by skogamor repeatedly with no men folk in their lives to do something about it. She rallies the ones who were shieldmaidens before and tutored them back up to speed. This is the end of the second skogamor attack on her farm where she challenged their leader.
She really didn’t like the idea of shield maidens. All the evidence and she just kept saying “we don’t know” but that coffin scene from the sagas was just so realistic
@@vippixel8942 At this point, every show reviewd here could be called Fantasy, except for maybe the Last Kingdom - however the last Kingdom has also very serious historical flaws if you ask me.
@@vippixel8942 NOT missing context: She were badly loosing the fight until she got lucky with the last attack. He went for a big show in the end, and it did not work...
@@ssu7653 she is 65 years old grandmother in a time where there wasn't any medical treatment for osteoporosis or others normal illnesses in women of her agem There is no way she could beat a 40 years old man warrior in a duel. My father is 65 years old man boxer and he could not beat a 40 years in a fight (he doesn't have the cardio or the strength of his youth)
Yep. T.V and films always use a lazy shorthand to explain the success of the Vikings in this period; they're big, beefy, manly and cunning, whilst their enemies are weedy, stupid and generally made to look a bit like nerds wearing armour that they made in their dad's garage. This is part of the reason that, in the past decade or so, Vikings have acquired a bit of a chad, dude/bro incel following. To be fair, Last Kingdom does this too at the start. Go back and look at how they make Northumbrians look in Season 1.
She is good..But she did make a glaring mistake. She said Alfred didn't use the term English... But he does use that term..He just doesn't use the term England..She also implies that the saxons practiced slavery like the vikings.. Saxos hardly ever enslaved, especially the west saxons, they called it devils work..And so yes it happened...But on a completely different scale..
@@welshman8954 Please be objective..That was at the time of the pagan saxons..But like the Walsh the saxons also had some female warriors, although they were rare..The reason the Walsh had more was because it was their lands being invaded. I live in somerset.. which in history has always had strong ties to the Britains..And as you know the Britains would become the Walsh.. And it was the Britains whom invited the saxons over in the first place.. once Wales became a place and boarders were drawn up, wessex and the kingdoms of Wales very rarely fought. So I dont know where your getting your information.. It was the plantagenists who encroached on Walsh soil, and tried to destroy the Walsh language.. And of course they were of Norman decent, they didn't even speak English..So don't hate on the saxons..Both our ancestors were subdued. Why would the Vikings bother with any of the Walsh kingdoms.. There was nothing there to plunder..I'm not being hateful,, But at this time the Walsh were very tribal..They didnt have any cities, no monasteries, nothing of wealth..The vikings were raiders...Plunderers.
@@welshman8954 completely agree with you..From the records we have it seems Mecia for most of its life was a very tyrannical kingdom.. I think they began to turn more Christian after Offas death, around 770 AD.. When the Vikings started settling there lands the religious people there, said it was gods way of punishing them for their sins against humanity...They were talking about their part in slavery.
Norsemen is pretty historically accurate, actually, even though it's an absurdist comedy show. They show makers actively worked with the Borre viking museum, and there are a lot of random little historical facts in it. Probably helps that it's the only one of these shows that's actually made by Scandinavians, as we tend to learn a lot more about Norse culture and history here since they're actually our ancestors, rather than just scary invaders from another culture.
These shows either have leather wearing bikers or overuse of swords and heavy mail. 90% of a Anglo-Saxon levy or Norse fylk would be linen clad spearmen with maybe a helmet. Swords and heavy mail is something very valuable back then. A good sword or mail would be worth a small farm and would go down to sons and grandsons etc. The square shields also made my eyes bleed but I accepted it like she did as it was done to distinguish Anglo-Saxons from Norsemen and bring a "Roman" testudo effect for entertainmaint. Those shield walls were also never used like that, not even by the romans themselves. Bunch up behind your shields ssitting and proning and the enemy spearmen can just stand slowly and poke you to death :-)
@@NiobesnuppaNorsemen is not only one of the best historical TVseries… it’s also the best and funniest. … I have seen all the seasons twice now and Still I can’t get enough of it. Maybe it’s. Scandinavian thing (I’m Swedish)… but that’s my kind of humour , should attract brits as well I guess… we have quite similar humour .
@@eh1702 tHE AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL LABOR ACTUAL VIKINGS DID MADE THEM EXCEPTIONALLY STRONG. you can't even comprehend with the amount of rowing, fighting lifting and infrastructure these guys had. Also. The first fact this so called expert have is false ! We know from the travels of Ahmad ibn Fadlan how vikings looked and how they did their hair
@@eh1702 Etter beskrivingen var ruserne et handelsfolk som oppretter en markedsplass i nærheten av volga-protobulgarenes leir. Deres kropper beskrives som like høye som palmer med rødmusset hud og blondt hår. Han beskriver også tatoveringer fra fingerneglene til halsen med mørkeblå eller grønne mønster som ligner tre eller andre figurer. Alle menn er bevæpnet med øks, kniv og sverd.
@@RegulareoldNorseBoy as opposed to the countless roman scriptures and accounts that prove otherwise? There is literally no point in having dreadlocks as a non-african, the hair structure is not made for this and you will ruin your hair. They would also not shave one side of the head, they would never shave their heads at all, since in most pagan societies, shaved heads were the sign of slaves. Scandinavians and Germanics were described by the Romans as "tall, well built with blonde/red, flowing hair, they would clean their hair regularly in limewater" amongst other things. Hollywood Vikings are a far cry to their IRL counterpart.
@@RegulareoldNorseBoy doesn’t mean they had six packs 😂. Extreme physical labour doesn’t guarantee an aesthetic physique. Vikings were probably more bulky, large backs from the rowing and big shoulders.
Reading Bernard Cornwells series is unforgetable & even better than the Tv series , I have reread the 12 novels 2/ 3 times & visited the places mentioned . The time of the Vikings who lost to Alfred the Greats Saxon Army was a close call period for England making our history one of conflict & growth to who we are now .
@@wendyHewim sorry but that is not true , i read Bernard Cornwall and Patricia Cornwall and have done for many years and they are 2 seperate people as well as differant sex. If you google you can find bios with pictures of each . I dont know where you got that info but its incorrect.
I'd love to see someone break down just the show Vikings who's actually watched it from beginning to end because that show alone is filled with historical inaccuracies from top to bottom. Just from her first comments it's obvious she has no context from the shows perspective that this raid was indeed "supposed to" be there very first time in England
Exactly she not getting context from the producers or nothing even if she did watch it. She wasn't paying attention probably debated and commented on the whole show with a colleague as they "watched"
Yep this was depicted as the first ever raid of england for the vikings so ofc thay did not know what thay had in store DOH =P ! Vikings has so many inaccuracies that is to laugh at ! Ofc the series never said it was a historical reinactment! but the armors really pisses me off to see so heavy use of leather even it was not common use ! VIkings used linen since it was way more agile then leather ! leather kinda makes your body stiff in movement ! and ofc thay did not care about death since death ment valhal
I think it's really important to understand that Vikings is a mythology/fantasy show. They use historical characters, but they're clearly not really trying to represent reality. It's made pretty explicit when Odin himself shows up, like, this is a fantasy show.
Yea... But I think historical people would Imagine the charactes in their sagas as wearing clothing and Armor they themselves know/wear. Similar to medieval illustrations of biblical scenes that show the biblical characters in medieval clothing and armor a viking would imagine a legendary warrior in expensive arms and armor like the one might have seen himself. Maybe bit exageated, more golden parts, more jewels, but the basic look would be that of a man of his own time. The leather gear that looks like a teenager created his first LARP barbarian outfit from leather scraps and a bucket of modern rivets comes completely out of the blue... And without the color grading (visible in behind the scenes photos) some of it looks even more like modern leather meant for furniture and car seats or possibly even faux leather...
Many thanks Dr Cat Jarman and the History Hit team for this one. It's nice to get some insight into what was likely, unlikely and what is currently not known from these shows. Very well presented. Thankyou for sharing.
I like those history shows, know of course they are romanticised, otherwise it would be a documentary, wouldn't it? But watching always goes together with Wikipedia, looking for what really happened, which characters really exist and what is known generally about the era and people the show is covering. That is what makes it way more interesting for me
new concept: your mum in a norse uniform running and screaming as she attacks the whole french army. Then she just craps herself and throws up before being dashed into a skip
They were called shield maidens because they stayed at home whilst the men raided..I'm pretty sure that of all the warrior graves, Only one woman was proven to be a warrior And we dont know for sure if she was a warrior or not. I'm sure there was the odd female warrior, but definitely not in groups like the Vikings show portrayed.
yer, based purely on the name, I've always thought 'shield maidens' sounds more like they would be behind the shield, supporting the men, protecting the home and children rather than actively going out to fight as warriors. Not politically correct today, but makes more sense.
@@JohnDoe-tx8lq political correctness is so odd.. I don't understand what difference it makes.. I mean why would they want to promote woman in the role of a looter, slaver and pirate anyway..Its so weird... We actually have more DNA sites with female saxon warriors than we do female Vikings..
@@JohnDoe-tx8lq It do make more sense that they were behind the shield of men fighting. There are alot of task that needs done, and woman would have been trained for other activities than fighting (keeping the house in order, treating inguries and so on). In todays world these things are considered almost like a slight to woman, but in a time where any injury could mean a slow painfull death you NEED someone to treat wounds. Its equally important as winning the battle.
what about jarl Hakkon? Do you think there was really a black woman ruling a xity in Norway during the viking period? I would be interested to find out if they found any overweight african women buried in a royal garve
Netflix is ruining vikings valhalla (and many other shows), by putting a random black viking queen in for an ACTUAL male viking chief that truly existed. Glad this lady knew enough to just ignore how ridiculous it truly is. 🤦🏻♂️
yes it is offensive and ridiculous. The left wing are ruining tv and ebtertainment with their drive to get rid of white europeans. This will only get worse if the Labour party is elected
There was also no place called Kattegat. Who cares ? Also Non-white Vikings existed. Archeological evidence suggests this. 🫠 It was an occupation not dependent on race as there was no concept of race during the Viking age. Gtfo with the weird-ass covert racism.
Apollo 13 was remade in 2020 and Fred Haise who still alive was replaced with a black man with a back story of civil rights and confronting each other on civil rights issue , so disrespectful to Mr Haise and his experiance on the Apollo 13 flight. And the actor , to agree to twist the story to the extent they reinvent a historical event, has no integrity.
The whole thing would be anglo centric as the vikings in part became anglo with several waves of settlement invluding 1066 in rality. The baltic is just a bit of side information as a few raids happened there, unfortunately in that area there were viking leaders but no large scandinavian settlements so the area remained slavic.
bit of an odd choice to discuss authenticity, the entire scene of Lagertha fighting. Surely there were many more interesting scenes to analyse in the series
Great comments, and I love The Last Kingdom and Norsemen. Not a big fan of Vikings, personally. Norsemen is such good fun and such a wonderful dead-pan take on their practices.
Last Kingdom just gets better and better each season, Vikings kindda lost me after Ragner’s death but Ivar the boneless dragged me back. And Floki’s character played by Gustaf Skarsgård was outstanding.
What, the Gay bit😂? Ubisoft were once brilliant at recreating the past. Especially AC2. But it's got ridiculous Especially the one in London... 'Nice' Mr Marx (the rapey racist) repackaged as a 21st C woke hero!
When did someone sneak in another "great" king of England. Alfred deserves this because of the scope of his military, social, legal and educational actions. He didn't just envisage a united England he put everything in place to achieve that goal,including educating Edward and Aetheflaed so that they would continue his work to consolidate power across the country. That eventually led to his grandson Aethelstan, educated by Aetheflaed, unifying England for the first time. I don't see that anyone else comes close, I assume that the the reference refers to Cnut. Cnut is hardly in the same league as an english king.
Well, Cnut was King of England, and Denmark, and Norway at the same time. So.. as the leader of the "North Sea Empire" Several historians, have given him the title 'The Great'.
@@wPatrickSF To be fair to Alfred, what he laid the foundation for has lasted for over a thousand years. The country of England. What Cnut created ended with his death. The North Sea Empire was broken up and never recreated.
@@wPatrickSF Cnut was good, but if what you created ends when you died, then you can't be that great. Alfred took what were 4 seperate and disparate kingdoms and pretty much made England something.
@@simonsmith1974 4 petty kingdoms and it was not all Alfred. Alfred’s legacy is greater than Cnut’s but conquering two actual kingdoms is more impressive imo. They both deserve the epithet “the great”
@@Hollero71 perhaps they do. But unfortunately for Cnut (autocorrect doesn't like that name) he doesn't get it and Alfred does. History is fascinating isn't it?
My problem with these is that they only get clips to judge. Personally, I'd rather they watch the entire movie and really go to town. You know what. I might just do that.
I feel like the lack of evidence for Edington just shows how determined people were back then. Swarms of Alfred's subjects probably cleaned up the battlefield in the days to come after. (Not to mention scavengers.)
The raid on Lindisfarne is in one interpretation a message to Alcuin from nearby York, the counselor to emperor Charlemagne who just recently slaughtered some thousands saxons nearby the Danish border. Alcuin wrote a letter to Charlemagne about going further north.
Viking Valhalla is pure fantasy. I found it pretty abysmal . The first few seasons of original Vikings show was fantastic and Last Kingdom is fun and well written.
Pretty sure that in the sagas it was Björn Ironside who faked death and it was in Italy instead of Paris (vikings thought it was Rome but it actually was Luna)
I've never understood the dishonesty about shieldmaidens and their likes... Why would anyone ever believe that in a time where physical attributes mattered the most, women would be great fighters?
Wait till she sees how in season 2 Lagertha says to King Horiks wife Gunhild that she heard that Gunhild had killed Sweyn forkbeard. Then she watches vikings Valhalla, which is supposed to be 100 yrs after the death of Ragnor, and she sees Forkbeard as one of the main characters. Both series written by Michael Hirst.
I noticed she didn’t mention the immersion breaking an lack of accuracy of having black warriors and jarls in Vikings Valhalla. I’ve tried several time to watch this show but the inaccurate use of black people is too jarring. It would be like the battle of Roark’s Drift had white warriors and tribal leaders or having the film biography of Nelson Mandela played by an Asian.
She is good...Really enjoy her content .But she did make a few mistakes. She said Alfred didn't use the term English... But he does use that term..He just doesn't use the term England..She also implies that the saxons practiced slavery like the vikings.. Saxons hardly ever enslaved, especially the west saxons, they called it devils work..And so yes it happened...But on a completely different scale..
@@juliaforsyth8332 True..The west Saxons were highly religious and dispised slavery..But your right..Places like Northumbria I would imagine slavery was quite normal..But I still think general slavery is very different than sailing to foreign lands.. Stealing and sacrificing at whole villages.. Usually leaving one person behind and alive to spread fear..Anyone they took was to be sold to the east as slaves, the woman as sex slaves. And with Ireland...Well there they pretty much committed genocide..Most of Irelands people are decended from the Vikings.. And nearly all there cities are Scandinavian founded.. Scotland also has a massive Scandanavian DNA count.. Its crazy to think...If Wessex fell there woold be no English language..its why the Irish and Scottish languages vanished.. These Viking Weren't like the later Normands, These vikings wanted to destroy and eradicate the saxons as well as all Christains.. And in much of the isles that's exactly what they did.
I read somewhere that the scene where Ragnar comes out of the coffin is taken from something that actually happened in Italy, I'd love to learn the details.
No it was an actual event in Paris recorded by the French and Norman’s so I don’t get it when she says it was in the sagas and it was halfdan who lead the assault
Frankish, Norman, Arab, Skandinavien and Irish sources tells that an expedition lead by Bjørn Ironside and his foster-father Hastein went to the Mediterranean in the years 859-861. Among others they took the town of Luna which they believed to be Rome. They where unable to breach the townwalls and came up with a sneaky plan. To gain entry Hastein pretended to be deathly ill and wished to recieve Christian sacraments, he was brought into Luna with a small honor guard. Their plan was a succes but they where disapointed when they learned that the town was not Rome, as for the vikings no goal was to great and Hastein wanted Bjørn to become the new Roman Emperereur.
@@patlambert2296 TH-cam Historians are a dangerous bet, especially when they seem to be knowledgable about such a broad topic. I dont theres there are actually "medieval historians" because that would include a timespan of roughly 1000 years. Usually "Medieval Historians" are focusing on a specific time or area.
If Alfred had lost at the battle of Edington England would never have been a country at all. It was more or less a last stand and possibly the most important battle in history to pave the way to it's solidification as a country.
If you were watching Vikings you’d know that, it was their first time going anywhere besides the west, the Viking show shows it all, in the show Ragnar was the first to sail that way and got famous because of it he was smart enough to know it was all gonna get confiscated and built a new boat with the gold he hid
@@BertPreast love to see you give a talk about anything historical I’m sure there wouldn’t be any tiny detailed mishaps also look up the definition of a Northman so her saying north is correct as they were from the north ….
The first scene is supposed to be their first trip to Britain, which means they knew there were riches but they hadn't seen them yet, hence the expressions when they finally see what they are? Maybe I am getting it wrong, I watched it ages ago
Nah, the first season of Vikings pretty much implies that the Vikings did not fully know that there were lands to the west even though, historically, they definitely did
What's with the leather biker's kit? Why do art directors insist on it? Well a friend of mine was Art Director on the Last Kingdom, they were essentially told by the commercial people that historically accurate dosent sell TV series to the far east or America..they want biker gear, huge swords, snazzy action scenes... which is why thats what they do.
Excellent walkthrough. Most probable candidates for "Kattegat" in Norway I humbly guess: Tunsberg: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%B8nsberg Avaldsnes: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avaldsnes
Just because a woman was buried with weapons does not prove she was a warrior in life. I think historians of today really want it to be true because it fits the narrative of today. We want female warriors like Lagertha, but in reality, women stayed at home because they were more valuable than the men that went abroad. They were the ones who carried the children and kept the household stable. Stop trying to make the role of women less valuable because they weren't fighters. See their roles as valuable in itself.
sourcess about that woman not being a warrior? im assuming youre talking about that one birka grave at gotland. everything ive read makes out a consenus that she definetly was a warrior but if you have scholarly sources that say otherwise id be very interested to read those
@@missingno6216 The sources i could find (limited research i admit) indicate that she was found with "weapons ued in conflict" but states nothing that indicate she was the one to wield them. A warrior would be expect to have some indication of prior damage, in life/death battles its unlikely to never get hit in a way to cause damage. She would have to be a rare specimen to take hits that would damage the bones of a man with no evidence. What i find most likely, is that she was the daughter, wife or mother to a warrior that decided to honer her in death the best he could
@@missingno6216 Cant be of much help there, jsut found a wiki article about the one you mentioned. Assume you already have some sources on that one :P
As a historian, it irks me that real Norse are never depicted correctly. No woolen trousers, wrapped lower legs, helmets, chainmail etc. Every show is a damn leather fetish. Costume designers are clueless. Leather is not good for ones heath in combat when pointy objects are being swung or poked everywhere.
I enjoyed the series and would like to thank the lady for taking her time telling me how accurate it was compared to what we know it to be in history. It clearly shows that the series made some attempt to be true to life
The "coffin trick" is actually attributed to Harald Hardrada and can be found in Snorre Sturlasson's Heimskringla. It's been a while since I last read that book. But I believe the incident happened on Sicily. It was one of several castles on Sicily that Harald defeated according to Harald Hardrada's saga in Heimskringla. The trick of using captured birds and the attaching burning pitch tar to them was also used by Harald as described in his saga in Heimskringla. The idea was that the birds flew back into the castle and started fires in the thatched roofs of buildings inside the castle walls. I believe this idea was also incorporated into an episode of Vikings but with Ragnar Lothbrok using this strategy! Harald Hardrada served in the Varangian guard of the Byzantine Empire but also campaigned in various places on behalf of the Byzantine emperor throughout the Mediterranean Sea. It was through these campaigns that Harald amassed enormous wealth as his share of bounty from looted cities.
Olga of Kiev also broke a siege against the Drevlians by using the same flaming bird tactic. Apparently she told the Drevlians she would lift the siege if they gave her one of the birds of each household and returned them with burning tar attached to their feet and burned the city. Check out her story on Biographics.
Around 4:30 - Isn't there abundant evidence that Old Norse and Old English at this time were very close and likely mutually intelligible, meaning that it's not at all odd that the Vikings and Monks could understand each other?
Yep, I'm pretty sure there's a video where Jackson Crawford and a guy who speaks Old English have a conversation with each other, although there is some communication issues.
Yep, they were. Unless the monks spoke primarily Latin, which I suppose is a possibility (although unlikely), they shouldn't have had too much trouble understanding each other.
Lindisfarne in this vikings clip was a monastery set up by St. Columba, who was Irish, so the monks wouldve primarily written in Latin, but the majority spoke either Anglo Saxon or Old Irish. But thats just the Columban british monasteries that had Irish speakers.@@Niobesnuppa
I've only watched Vikings, and absolutely loved it... reading these comments I'm realizing ANY viking show is good lol...I'll be looking into The Last Kingdom and Norsemen
I really wish people would actually watch the show before analyzing them. In the Viking show scene they just arrived on the shores where they were the first ever vikings to do so. So everything they saw was the first time.
The vast majority of the actors are not Scandinavian. There are also many ethnic Scandinavians with quite dark skin. Vikings spent several months each season sailing, and would have developed deep tans, even on the North Sea.
Sorry but everything you said about vikings shows that you did not watch the show, Ragnar definatly aged when he is at paris, ragnar was also the first viking to sail west and find land which turned out to be england, the reason he only had 1 boat with him was because he went against the orders of his local chief who told him not to sail west.
@@mrdarren1045 I never said he discovered england, saxon and angles people already got there before them, not to mention the romans, ragnar was the first however to sail against orders to the west and he found to them new lands, which they always said wouldnt be there. He proved them wrong.
The Vikings raided Lindesfarm in 793, the Normans conquered England 273 years after that and prior to that English was much more similar to other West Germanic languages which in turn were closer to the North Germanic ones of that era than they are nowadays, so even without training the Norse and English of that era could most likely conduct a basic conversation without too much of an issue, similar to an Italian and Spanish speaker.
"Expert" again cannot tell difference between wolf pelts and bear skins. Ragnar coffin scene is stolen from Harald Hardrada who actually did it while serving in Varangian guard. Fun fact - spent few nights camping on the same field where nithing pole was filmed. That could explain my misfortunes.
For a tv show called vikings the depiction of vikings is horrendous. They weren’t tattooed, scruffy nor did they wear leather armour. Also Lindisfarne for a Viking raid as she pointed out what far too slow paced it should’ve been a lot quicker
The Viking law about not losing honor and being legal if for the "active party"in homosexual sex had quite chilling implication, espcially in the light of th vinking being a slavery culture.
@@thecage2580 when the show stars she already has a son of 12 years old (if she got pregnant at 16). She is already 28 years old. When ubba is Born she at least 31. At the end of the show Ubba is at least 30 to 35 years meaning lagertha is over 60
@@thecage2580 60 year olds don't exactly fight a lot. And given that life expectancy in the Viking age was around 45, she's probably in pretty rough shape.
Re the "timewarp" between Lindesfarne and Paris in the Vikings TV show, there was an approximate 12 to 15 year gap between those events in the show as was evident by Bjorn's ageing
It feels like the historian is missing context for some scenes. The Lindisfarne one is especailly perplexing since this woman asks why they're seemingly unprepared and so forth, if she knew what particular raid it was, she could probably critique is more accurately.
She talking over the scenes instead of letting them play out. 😂 I bet she did take ot out of context. Watch/listen then comment. Or pause and comment Luke regular reaction videos.
A lot of the comments she’s making about Vikings could be answered if she really watch the show. Like the reason, Ragnar’s coffin is being carried, and has shields on it. 😂
In the books Uthred was over 6ft tall with blonde hair and beard. And Finan was small and skinny. Unlike the actors - which is where I lost it for the series.
I honestly think it's impossible to like TLK if you've read the books or even if you just like ACTUAL history. TLK butchered Uhtred's character in so many ways, both visually and personally. And all the rest looks horrible. Monty Python's armors look better than TLK's. The armour Alfred was wearing on this clip is an abomination. And that shield wall we just saw... holy shit, what a ridiculous thing to show in a historical viking show. With Vikings, even if the big picture history is inaccurate, at least the costumes and tactics were historical and plausible.
@@MyCaio1997 Last Kingdom’s budget in season 1 wasn’t huge and it never had Vikings budget and yet it had a good story until the end. Viking fans agree that the show didn’t end well.
I've never seen that Vikings show, but it seems to be incredibly slow, boring and not a little bit stupid just from the clips shown. That scene in the monastery - like what? You can see them taking the coffin past armed spearmen and guards inside the church. They'd just be bum-rushed the minute that weirdo came out of coffin. Nobody seemed to react like a normal person. Also, it managed to make even such a big bombastic moment massively anticlimactic. Everyone in the scene just looks vaguely bored. I'm kinda glad I've seen it on here rather than wasting my time watching it irl.
So, it's depicting the Siege of Paris, and it is almost completely ahistorical. The scene you mentioned is actually something Bjorn Ironside may have done in Italy. The tv show justification is that the siege has gone on for a while and both sides are tired, the Viking king is dead and had converted to Christianity to honor a friend of his. So when the French offered the Vikings tribute to bugger off, one of their conditions was a Christian burial for their king, unfolding like we see here, and the girl he takes hostage is the King's daughter. It's complete nonsense, as much of the Vikings tv show was. The main character is an apocryphal Viking, Ragnar Lothbrok, and in the show his brother is apparently Rollo, or Rollon, a real historical figure, and the ancestor of William the Conqueror.
Seems like a fair place to say this.... I have binged the Vikings series (Vikings and The Last Kingdom) maybe 8 times each. Ivar The Boneless' portrayal and that actor were FANTASTIC! A guy that had to be evil and terrible because he had no legs and if he weren't that way, he would have been dead long ago.... And that scene where Ragnar (his father) left him as an infant next to that tree and he still found himself alive shows that he was meant for greatness. On top of all the evil stuff, he showed many times over that he had a heart. The ONLY thing that pissed me off (SPOILER.....). . . . . .. Was the very ending when he died and he cried in fear! WHY?! Why did they do that!!?? I did read that there was awriting that-that is what happened. Other writings said that he went down and right before he last breath, he took out one more. They didn't have to go with the crying / scared bit for his ending. So mad at that.
I think Dr Jarman is overthinking things a bit. This was supposed to be the FIRST Viking raid to the East, they may have heard about Christianity and England it was still their first time there and a smart warrior is a cautious warrior.
She didn't watch the show😂 she probably talked during it played like she is now. Hence why she is missing points and context of the show. They need to put subtitles on for her lol.
The Last Kingdom is just amazing. Favourite show hands down.
Have you read the books?
It is good and far more accurate than vikings.. But they make all the male saxon leaders appear as tyrants or weak.. And I don't like that they had Alfred completely reliant on Uthred..But I loved what they did with the lady of Mercia Aethelfled...A fine queen..I'm disappointed to see the movie has Athelstan as a tyrant.. Which we know he wasn't..
My favourite made historical show. It may not be 1000% accurate about everything, but the setting, the stories and the general vibes of the show are amazing. Even stuff like the music makes it amazing.
@@markmorris7123we don’t know that yet
@@markmorris7123 Vikings is so cheesy
It kinda blew my mind the first time I learned that the historical Uhtred lived three hundred years LATER than the events depicted in The Last Kingdom. But at the same time, I think that action by the show is somewhat forgivable, because if you think about it, the Uhtred on the show could easily be interpreted as the ancestor of the historical Uhtred (“I am Uhtred, son of Uhtred”).
There’s another uthred who was born like 50ish years after the movie. He was know as uthred the bold and was ruler of bamburgh/bebbanburg and ealdormen of northumbria like the show. He died in 1016.
Maybe read a book sometimes instead of just watching a movie.
Uhtred wasnt a unique name, Uhtred wasnt just the son of Uhtred, his fathers father was also named Uhtred like his fathers fathers father, and Uhtred also named his first son Uhtred.
There isnt also not just one Julius Caesar, there were generations of Julius Caesars befor him.
It's the same with Ragnar in Vikings, there was a historical Ragnar but he wasn't taking part in all of the events from the show
@@wolf310ii hey smart guy nobody but nobody mentioned a movie here but you
@@austin8775 Seems like you arent that smart, otherwise you would had noticed that the shows the last kingdom and vikings is mentioned here.
In Vikings on the raid in lindisfarne I don’t think they were shocked that there was treasure they were just shocked that there was no one defending the treasure
Aye Rolo even goes maybe they have some magic/curses on them, no way it's so easy.
They would never attack if defended. They only attacked unarm monks and isolated sites.
@@stephenconnolly3018 I did say “in Vikings” as in the show she’s watching, they were surprised no one was defending it.
@@stephenconnolly3018 damn didnt king cnut from denmark become king of england and norway. wonder how that happen ? guess they killed the unarmed monks an became king. that easy lol u sound slow bud
I found her critiques very baseless because it seems like she didn’t do her homework at all and just watched individual clips rather than the whole show.
Fans of The Last Kingdom who haven’t yet should read the books by Bernard Cornwell. The series kind of rushes through the books (I very much liked the show but wish it had followed the books more, it would have lasted many more seasons).
Cornwell is my favorite author and creator of arguably the two most iconic characters in historical fiction: Uthred of Beddenburg and Richard Sharpe. If you enjoy historical show and movies you will very much his work.
Agreed. The actor who played Steapa must have been rather disappointed to have been killed off early, baring in mind that he was a vital part of the final battle and LIVED. Oh well...😕
Yeah, they rushed so fast and cut so much from the books, some scenes in the series doesnt even make sense anymore.
The books are great but depart from the show a little bit. In addition, the timelne in the books cover a much longer period than the shows....great entertainment overall. Cornwell has some great stuff
The books are incredibly good!!
Yeah each season was based on two books, which is why Uhtred never ages in the show lol
Norsemen is one of the best shows out there and also one of the most underrated ones.
Absolutely hilarious. It feels alot like watching a mix of Monty Python and The Office but within a Vikings setting:D
Why do you look at your wrist? Sometimes l just like to look at my wrist... I tell you...These eyes will get some use! DONT PULL THEM OUT! Don't be ridiculous! How will you sleep on your stomach?!
@@hammerstoneartifacts4986 Have you ever heard of something called phantom pain ?…Me neither :D
It was probably written that to take the mick out of the Vikings show portentiousness. Not many jokes in that show.
It's so perfect. I think what boggles my brains the most is that they films EVERY SINGLE SCENE twice. Once in Norwegian, once ALL OVER AGAIN in English. It speaks volumes to the dedication of the actors as well and their ability to deliver characters in two languages.
"All we can do is follow the sun - since the sun always points south, we just have to trust it." (continues walking in circles).
The coffin scene in real life was actually done by Bjorn Ironside and it happened at the Italian city of Luna.
I think it was Hastein who is said to have done it, but you're close because Bjorn was there as they led the expedition together. This is where my memory gets a bit murky though, I think the inspiration was something to do with Vikings believing they had ancestry to Antenor of Troy and were adapting the idea of the horse from the Iliad.
Yeah they through that it was Rome
Sources people; don't just orate stuff.
Yes its Bjorn in the Saga
@@mattjones1776 but yeah who knows for real.
Vikings will always remind me how amazing it was with Travis Fimmel as Ragnar. After that it became GoT-wannabe
It never had dragons wdym
@@BionAvastar3000 ragnar is the dragon
@@BionAvastar3000meaning drama and betrayal. Not literally the same amount of creatures
Yeah after Ragnar died it became very... Boring and irritating. His sons were the worst part of it and I could not stand Ivar's portrayal.
Damn I thought Ivar and Bjorn were the 2 redeeming parts of the later seasons @@thatpunkcatte
I used to ignore the last kingdom like most ppl than I gave it a chance and binge watched it in under a week hands down favorite Vikings tv show ever
It's the best viking show 100%
I adore all these inputs and shared knoledged in videos like this. Thank you to History Hit and Dr Cat Jarman for sharing her expertise and passion. Very appreciated.
Knowledge!
The Last Kingdom has made such an impact on my life, i am forever grateful to Bernard Cornwell for creating the novels and for Alexander Dreymon for his amazing portrayal of Uhtred and the whole cast which is just brilliant!
The Last Kingdom changed my life.
A bit of missing context on the Lagertha scene. She is retired on a secluded farm and women whose husband's died on raids started flocking to her from the countryside because they are being attacked by skogamor repeatedly with no men folk in their lives to do something about it. She rallies the ones who were shieldmaidens before and tutored them back up to speed. This is the end of the second skogamor attack on her farm where she challenged their leader.
Missing context: she is also over 60years old in the show and she is wielding a sword like she is 30 and fighting a 6'5'' younger warrior
She really didn’t like the idea of shield maidens. All the evidence and she just kept saying “we don’t know” but that coffin scene from the sagas was just so realistic
@@vippixel8942 At this point, every show reviewd here could be called Fantasy, except for maybe the Last Kingdom - however the last Kingdom has also very serious historical flaws if you ask me.
@@vippixel8942 NOT missing context: She were badly loosing the fight until she got lucky with the last attack. He went for a big show in the end, and it did not work...
@@ssu7653 she is 65 years old grandmother in a time where there wasn't any medical treatment for osteoporosis or others normal illnesses in women of her agem There is no way she could beat a 40 years old man warrior in a duel. My father is 65 years old man boxer and he could not beat a 40 years in a fight (he doesn't have the cardio or the strength of his youth)
Love how last kingdom finally shows anglo saxsons as competant warriors
Yep.
T.V and films always use a lazy shorthand to explain the success of the Vikings in this period; they're big, beefy, manly and cunning, whilst their enemies are weedy, stupid and generally made to look a bit like nerds wearing armour that they made in their dad's garage. This is part of the reason that, in the past decade or so, Vikings have acquired a bit of a chad, dude/bro incel following.
To be fair, Last Kingdom does this too at the start. Go back and look at how they make Northumbrians look in Season 1.
@Jack-xg1kg nah you're not wrong at all mate hit that nail on the head, make em look weak while they make utrids dad the only decent one
@@Jack-xg1kgthey made vikings look alot more weak tho
She's amazing, Gone medieval is my favorite HistoryHit podcast
Mine too, it’s extra fun to put a face to the voice I listen to so often lol
She is good..But she did make a glaring mistake. She said Alfred didn't use the term English... But he does use that term..He just doesn't use the term England..She also implies that the saxons practiced slavery like the vikings.. Saxos hardly ever enslaved, especially the west saxons, they called it devils work..And so yes it happened...But on a completely different scale..
@@markmorris7123 She said it happened, but didn't say it was in the same scale. So she remains correct.
@@welshman8954 Please be objective..That was at the time of the pagan saxons..But like the Walsh the saxons also had some female warriors, although they were rare..The reason the Walsh had more was because it was their lands being invaded. I live in somerset.. which in history has always had strong ties to the Britains..And as you know the Britains would become the Walsh.. And it was the Britains whom invited the saxons over in the first place.. once Wales became a place and boarders were drawn up, wessex and the kingdoms of Wales very rarely fought. So I dont know where your getting your information.. It was the plantagenists who encroached on Walsh soil, and tried to destroy the Walsh language.. And of course they were of Norman decent, they didn't even speak English..So don't hate on the saxons..Both our ancestors were subdued. Why would the Vikings bother with any of the Walsh kingdoms.. There was nothing there to plunder..I'm not being hateful,, But at this time the Walsh were very tribal..They didnt have any cities, no monasteries, nothing of wealth..The vikings were raiders...Plunderers.
@@welshman8954 completely agree with you..From the records we have it seems Mecia for most of its life was a very tyrannical kingdom.. I think they began to turn more Christian after Offas death, around 770 AD.. When the Vikings started settling there lands the religious people there, said it was gods way of punishing them for their sins against humanity...They were talking about their part in slavery.
while none of them are terribly accurate, The Last Kingdom is the only bearable one imo. In fact, I actually really like the show.
It's the most inaccurate one though, cause even if the big picture story is more historical, everything else looks ridiculous and false
@@MyCaio1997 lol the costumes look way better than Vikings most of the time
Norsemen is pretty historically accurate, actually, even though it's an absurdist comedy show. They show makers actively worked with the Borre viking museum, and there are a lot of random little historical facts in it. Probably helps that it's the only one of these shows that's actually made by Scandinavians, as we tend to learn a lot more about Norse culture and history here since they're actually our ancestors, rather than just scary invaders from another culture.
These shows either have leather wearing bikers or overuse of swords and heavy mail. 90% of a Anglo-Saxon levy or Norse fylk would be linen clad spearmen with maybe a helmet. Swords and heavy mail is something very valuable back then. A good sword or mail would be worth a small farm and would go down to sons and grandsons etc. The square shields also made my eyes bleed but I accepted it like she did as it was done to distinguish Anglo-Saxons from Norsemen and bring a "Roman" testudo effect for entertainmaint. Those shield walls were also never used like that, not even by the romans themselves. Bunch up behind your shields ssitting and proning and the enemy spearmen can just stand slowly and poke you to death :-)
@@NiobesnuppaNorsemen is not only one of the best historical TVseries… it’s also the best and funniest. … I have seen all the seasons twice now and Still I can’t get enough of it. Maybe it’s. Scandinavian thing (I’m Swedish)… but that’s my kind of humour , should attract brits as well I guess… we have quite similar humour .
Cat is one of my favourite historians; she's so knowledgable and a pleasure to listen to. Great to see her featuring more on the channel!
Absolutely love the Last Kingdom and Viking shows, Quality entertainment
Why do Vikings bascially dress like bikers in TV shows. Where did that come from?
Same place as the idea they all had sixpacks.
@@eh1702 tHE AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL LABOR ACTUAL VIKINGS DID MADE THEM EXCEPTIONALLY STRONG.
you can't even comprehend with the amount of rowing, fighting lifting and infrastructure these guys had.
Also. The first fact this so called expert have is false !
We know from the travels of Ahmad ibn Fadlan how vikings looked and how they did their hair
@@eh1702 Etter beskrivingen var ruserne et handelsfolk som oppretter en markedsplass i nærheten av volga-protobulgarenes leir. Deres kropper beskrives som like høye som palmer med rødmusset hud og blondt hår. Han beskriver også tatoveringer fra fingerneglene til halsen med mørkeblå eller grønne mønster som ligner tre eller andre figurer. Alle menn er bevæpnet med øks, kniv og sverd.
@@RegulareoldNorseBoy as opposed to the countless roman scriptures and accounts that prove otherwise? There is literally no point in having dreadlocks as a non-african, the hair structure is not made for this and you will ruin your hair. They would also not shave one side of the head, they would never shave their heads at all, since in most pagan societies, shaved heads were the sign of slaves. Scandinavians and Germanics were described by the Romans as "tall, well built with blonde/red, flowing hair, they would clean their hair regularly in limewater" amongst other things. Hollywood Vikings are a far cry to their IRL counterpart.
@@RegulareoldNorseBoy doesn’t mean they had six packs 😂. Extreme physical labour doesn’t guarantee an aesthetic physique. Vikings were probably more bulky, large backs from the rowing and big shoulders.
Reading Bernard Cornwells series is unforgetable & even better than the Tv series , I have reread the 12 novels 2/ 3 times & visited the places mentioned .
The time of the Vikings who lost to Alfred the Greats Saxon Army was a close call period for England making our history one of conflict & growth to who we are now .
Alfred, what a badass.
Patricia cornwell is also his assumed name for writing. He has written many interesting books under that moniver, you should read
@@wendyHewim sorry but that is not true , i read Bernard Cornwall and Patricia Cornwall and have done for many years and they are 2 seperate people as well as differant sex. If you google you can find bios with pictures of each . I dont know where you got that info but its incorrect.
I'd love to see someone break down just the show Vikings who's actually watched it from beginning to end because that show alone is filled with historical inaccuracies from top to bottom. Just from her first comments it's obvious she has no context from the shows perspective that this raid was indeed "supposed to" be there very first time in England
Exactly she not getting context from the producers or nothing even if she did watch it. She wasn't paying attention probably debated and commented on the whole show with a colleague as they "watched"
Yep this was depicted as the first ever raid of england for the vikings so ofc thay did not know what thay had in store DOH =P ! Vikings has so many inaccuracies that is to laugh at ! Ofc the series never said it was a historical reinactment! but the armors really pisses me off to see so heavy use of leather even it was not common use ! VIkings used linen since it was way more agile then leather ! leather kinda makes your body stiff in movement ! and ofc thay did not care about death since death ment valhal
Lots of fun, please bring Cat back for more!
I think it's really important to understand that Vikings is a mythology/fantasy show. They use historical characters, but they're clearly not really trying to represent reality. It's made pretty explicit when Odin himself shows up, like, this is a fantasy show.
Yea... But I think historical people would Imagine the charactes in their sagas as wearing clothing and Armor they themselves know/wear. Similar to medieval illustrations of biblical scenes that show the biblical characters in medieval clothing and armor a viking would imagine a legendary warrior in expensive arms and armor like the one might have seen himself. Maybe bit exageated, more golden parts, more jewels, but the basic look would be that of a man of his own time. The leather gear that looks like a teenager created his first LARP barbarian outfit from leather scraps and a bucket of modern rivets comes completely out of the blue... And without the color grading (visible in behind the scenes photos) some of it looks even more like modern leather meant for furniture and car seats or possibly even faux leather...
Many thanks Dr Cat Jarman and the History Hit team for this one. It's nice to get some insight into what was likely, unlikely and what is currently not known from these shows. Very well presented. Thankyou for sharing.
I like those history shows, know of course they are romanticised, otherwise it would be a documentary, wouldn't it? But watching always goes together with Wikipedia, looking for what really happened, which characters really exist and what is known generally about the era and people the show is covering. That is what makes it way more interesting for me
This is me every historical TV show and movie, even if I know the history or person it's about.
Yes, always, every episode with a phone in my hand
Love Dr Cat Jarman. She always seems so happy when talking about the medieval period.
She reminds me a bit of Carenza Lewis who used to be on Time Team
New concept: a whole episode of Cat talking about Norsemen.
new concept: your mum in a norse uniform running and screaming as she attacks the whole french army. Then she just craps herself and throws up before being dashed into a skip
They were called shield maidens because they stayed at home whilst the men raided..I'm pretty sure that of all the warrior graves, Only one woman was proven to be a warrior And we dont know for sure if she was a warrior or not. I'm sure there was the odd female warrior, but definitely not in groups like the Vikings show portrayed.
yer, based purely on the name, I've always thought 'shield maidens' sounds more like they would be behind the shield, supporting the men, protecting the home and children rather than actively going out to fight as warriors. Not politically correct today, but makes more sense.
@@JohnDoe-tx8lq political correctness is so odd.. I don't understand what difference it makes.. I mean why would they want to promote woman in the role of a looter, slaver and pirate anyway..Its so weird... We actually have more DNA sites with female saxon warriors than we do female Vikings..
@@JohnDoe-tx8lq It do make more sense that they were behind the shield of men fighting. There are alot of task that needs done, and woman would have been trained for other activities than fighting (keeping the house in order, treating inguries and so on).
In todays world these things are considered almost like a slight to woman, but in a time where any injury could mean a slow painfull death you NEED someone to treat wounds. Its equally important as winning the battle.
what about jarl Hakkon? Do you think there was really a black woman ruling a xity in Norway during the viking period? I would be interested to find out if they found any overweight african women buried in a royal garve
Netflix is ruining vikings valhalla (and many other shows), by putting a random black viking queen in for an ACTUAL male viking chief that truly existed. Glad this lady knew enough to just ignore how ridiculous it truly is. 🤦🏻♂️
yes it is offensive and ridiculous. The left wing are ruining tv and ebtertainment with their drive to get rid of white europeans. This will only get worse if the Labour party is elected
There was also no place called Kattegat. Who cares ? Also Non-white Vikings existed. Archeological evidence suggests this. 🫠 It was an occupation not dependent on race as there was no concept of race during the Viking age. Gtfo with the weird-ass covert racism.
Apollo 13 was remade in 2020 and Fred Haise who still alive was replaced with a black man with a back story of civil rights and confronting each other on civil rights issue , so disrespectful to Mr Haise and his experiance on the Apollo 13 flight. And the actor , to agree to twist the story to the extent they reinvent a historical event, has no integrity.
The Viking age really started 50 years before Lindisfarne in the Baltic, which out Anglocentric view of history often ignores.
nope.
The whole thing would be anglo centric as the vikings in part became anglo with several waves of settlement invluding 1066 in rality. The baltic is just a bit of side information as a few raids happened there, unfortunately in that area there were viking leaders but no large scandinavian settlements so the area remained slavic.
bit of an odd choice to discuss authenticity, the entire scene of Lagertha fighting. Surely there were many more interesting scenes to analyse in the series
Great comments, and I love The Last Kingdom and Norsemen. Not a big fan of Vikings, personally. Norsemen is such good fun and such a wonderful dead-pan take on their practices.
Norseman was such an underrated Viking show. It was the only funny one. Though Last Kingdom had some funny bits.
Last Kingdom just gets better and better each season, Vikings kindda lost me after Ragner’s death but Ivar the boneless dragged me back. And Floki’s character played by Gustaf Skarsgård was outstanding.
Absolutely love The Last Kingdom series. And the show. It just draws you in and doesn’t stop.🥰
I like to see her take on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on accuracy. Obviously not the assassin part, but rest of the story
What, the Gay bit😂?
Ubisoft were once brilliant at recreating the past. Especially AC2. But it's got ridiculous Especially the one in London... 'Nice' Mr Marx (the rapey racist) repackaged as a 21st C woke hero!
🤢🤮
When did someone sneak in another "great" king of England. Alfred deserves this because of the scope of his military, social, legal and educational actions. He didn't just envisage a united England he put everything in place to achieve that goal,including educating Edward and Aetheflaed so that they would continue his work to consolidate power across the country. That eventually led to his grandson Aethelstan, educated by Aetheflaed, unifying England for the first time. I don't see that anyone else comes close, I assume that the the reference refers to Cnut. Cnut is hardly in the same league as an english king.
Well, Cnut was King of England, and Denmark, and Norway at the same time. So.. as the leader of the "North Sea Empire" Several historians, have given him the title 'The Great'.
@@wPatrickSF To be fair to Alfred, what he laid the foundation for has lasted for over a thousand years. The country of England. What Cnut created ended with his death. The North Sea Empire was broken up and never recreated.
@@wPatrickSF Cnut was good, but if what you created ends when you died, then you can't be that great. Alfred took what were 4 seperate and disparate kingdoms and pretty much made England something.
@@simonsmith1974 4 petty kingdoms and it was not all Alfred. Alfred’s legacy is greater than Cnut’s but conquering two actual kingdoms is more impressive imo. They both deserve the epithet “the great”
@@Hollero71 perhaps they do. But unfortunately for Cnut (autocorrect doesn't like that name) he doesn't get it and Alfred does. History is fascinating isn't it?
You really surprised me with Norsemen. I mean I know it's a parody, but it was neat to learn that it was also kinda factual!
My problem with these is that they only get clips to judge. Personally, I'd rather they watch the entire movie and really go to town.
You know what.
I might just do that.
I feel like the lack of evidence for Edington just shows how determined people were back then. Swarms of Alfred's subjects probably cleaned up the battlefield in the days to come after. (Not to mention scavengers.)
In fantasy people like to compare orcs to vikings, but when you know viking's little schemes and tactics, they're at least equally similar to goblins.
The raid on Lindisfarne is in one interpretation a message to Alcuin from nearby York, the counselor to emperor Charlemagne who just recently slaughtered some thousands saxons nearby the Danish border. Alcuin wrote a letter to Charlemagne about going further north.
Norsemen was so underrated. A great show with touching moments of pathos
Viking Valhalla is pure fantasy. I found it pretty abysmal . The first few seasons of original Vikings show was fantastic and Last Kingdom is fun and well written.
Pretty sure that in the sagas it was Björn Ironside who faked death and it was in Italy instead of Paris (vikings thought it was Rome but it actually was Luna)
I've never understood the dishonesty about shieldmaidens and their likes... Why would anyone ever believe that in a time where physical attributes mattered the most, women would be great fighters?
Great analysis.
For fun, how accurate was Njorl's Saga featuring North Malden Icelandic Saga Society? Originally aired on 19 October 1972.
Wait till she sees how in season 2 Lagertha says to King Horiks wife Gunhild that she heard that Gunhild had killed Sweyn forkbeard. Then she watches vikings Valhalla, which is supposed to be 100 yrs after the death of Ragnor, and she sees Forkbeard as one of the main characters. Both series written by Michael Hirst.
I noticed she didn’t mention the immersion breaking an lack of accuracy of having black warriors and jarls in Vikings Valhalla. I’ve tried several time to watch this show but the inaccurate use of black people is too jarring. It would be like the battle of Roark’s Drift had white warriors and tribal leaders or having the film biography of Nelson Mandela played by an Asian.
She is good...Really enjoy her content .But she did make a few mistakes. She said Alfred didn't use the term English... But he does use that term..He just doesn't use the term England..She also implies that the saxons practiced slavery like the vikings.. Saxons hardly ever enslaved, especially the west saxons, they called it devils work..And so yes it happened...But on a completely different scale..
Christian Anglo-Saxons maybe but the Pagan Anglo-Saxons certainly did.
@@juliaforsyth8332 True..The west Saxons were highly religious and dispised slavery..But your right..Places like Northumbria I would imagine slavery was quite normal..But I still think general slavery is very different than sailing to foreign lands.. Stealing and sacrificing at whole villages.. Usually leaving one person behind and alive to spread fear..Anyone they took was to be sold to the east as slaves, the woman as sex slaves. And with Ireland...Well there they pretty much committed genocide..Most of Irelands people are decended from the Vikings.. And nearly all there cities are Scandinavian founded.. Scotland also has a massive Scandanavian DNA count.. Its crazy to think...If Wessex fell there woold be no English language..its why the Irish and Scottish languages vanished.. These Viking Weren't like the later Normands, These vikings wanted to destroy and eradicate the saxons as well as all Christains.. And in much of the isles that's exactly what they did.
She said they had slaves which they did, she never really went into specifics so you’re wrong
I read somewhere that the scene where Ragnar comes out of the coffin is taken from something that actually happened in Italy, I'd love to learn the details.
No it was an actual event in Paris recorded by the French and Norman’s so I don’t get it when she says it was in the sagas and it was halfdan who lead the assault
Frankish, Norman, Arab, Skandinavien and Irish sources tells that an expedition lead by Bjørn Ironside and his foster-father Hastein went to the Mediterranean in the years 859-861.
Among others they took the town of Luna which they believed to be Rome.
They where unable to breach the townwalls and came up with a sneaky plan. To gain entry Hastein pretended to be deathly ill and wished to recieve Christian sacraments, he was brought into Luna with a small honor guard.
Their plan was a succes but they where disapointed when they learned that the town was not Rome, as for the vikings no goal was to great and Hastein wanted Bjørn to become the new Roman Emperereur.
Bjorn did it in Italy in a city called Luna
@@patlambert2296 TH-cam Historians are a dangerous bet, especially when they seem to be knowledgable about such a broad topic. I dont theres there are actually "medieval historians" because that would include a timespan of roughly 1000 years. Usually "Medieval Historians" are focusing on a specific time or area.
Go learn it then.
If Alfred had lost at the battle of Edington England would never have been a country at all. It was more or less a last stand and possibly the most important battle in history to pave the way to it's solidification as a country.
As my Uncle Ivarr Runmagi likes to say: Old age and cunning will always outwit youth and exuberance every time.
If you were watching Vikings you’d know that, it was their first time going anywhere besides the west, the Viking show shows it all, in the show Ragnar was the first to sail that way and got famous because of it he was smart enough to know it was all gonna get confiscated and built a new boat with the gold he hid
Why does she keep saying Vikings came from the north? Especially in the case of Lindisfarne, it's more accurate to say they came from the east.
Or to be really pedantic the northeast. 🤣🤣🤣
What a weird thing to moan about
@@Jokesonyou123 Just trying to keep shit real, dude.
@@BertPreast love to see you give a talk about anything historical I’m sure there wouldn’t be any tiny detailed mishaps also look up the definition of a Northman so her saying north is correct as they were from the north ….
@@Jokesonyou123 Like the Northmen who came in 1066 from the err... south? Tosser.
The coffin tactics: both kings Harald Hardråde and Sigurd the crusader apparently used this way to get in to other (and smaller) besieged cities.
I'd be curious to see your assessment of Vinland Saga.
was about to comment the same
The first scene is supposed to be their first trip to Britain, which means they knew there were riches but they hadn't seen them yet, hence the expressions when they finally see what they are? Maybe I am getting it wrong, I watched it ages ago
Nah, the first season of Vikings pretty much implies that the Vikings did not fully know that there were lands to the west even though, historically, they definitely did
The Last Kingdom is such a masterpiece.
What's with the leather biker's kit? Why do art directors insist on it? Well a friend of mine was Art Director on the Last Kingdom, they were essentially told by the commercial people that historically accurate dosent sell TV series to the far east or America..they want biker gear, huge swords, snazzy action scenes... which is why thats what they do.
The Romans built London Bridge, but it was re-built and expanded by the Anglo-Saxons, Normans and Angevins.
There have been many different ‘London Bridge’ rebuilds. The current one from the late 1960s is probably the least interesting.
Excellent walkthrough. Most probable candidates for "Kattegat" in Norway I humbly guess:
Tunsberg: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%B8nsberg
Avaldsnes: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avaldsnes
Just because a woman was buried with weapons does not prove she was a warrior in life. I think historians of today really want it to be true because it fits the narrative of today. We want female warriors like Lagertha, but in reality, women stayed at home because they were more valuable than the men that went abroad. They were the ones who carried the children and kept the household stable. Stop trying to make the role of women less valuable because they weren't fighters. See their roles as valuable in itself.
sourcess about that woman not being a warrior? im assuming youre talking about that one birka grave at gotland. everything ive read makes out a consenus that she definetly was a warrior but if you have scholarly sources that say otherwise id be very interested to read those
@@missingno6216 The sources i could find (limited research i admit) indicate that she was found with "weapons ued in conflict" but states nothing that indicate she was the one to wield them. A warrior would be expect to have some indication of prior damage, in life/death battles its unlikely to never get hit in a way to cause damage. She would have to be a rare specimen to take hits that would damage the bones of a man with no evidence.
What i find most likely, is that she was the daughter, wife or mother to a warrior that decided to honer her in death the best he could
@@ssu7653 why doesn’t anyone want to cite their sources anymore😒. I WANT TO READ IT THATS WHY IM ASKING FOR A CITATON.
@@missingno6216 Cant be of much help there, jsut found a wiki article about the one you mentioned. Assume you already have some sources on that one :P
@@ssu7653 well yeah that’s why I would like sources that oppose the ones I’ve read, thanks though
SHE'S BACK!!! YES!!!!
Norsemen and The Last Kingdom are 10/10 shows
As a historian, it irks me that real Norse are never depicted correctly. No woolen trousers, wrapped lower legs, helmets, chainmail etc. Every show is a damn leather fetish. Costume designers are clueless. Leather is not good for ones heath in combat when pointy objects are being swung or poked everywhere.
Leather is cheaper and easier than making something that looks like chainmail, these shows budgets are not that high.
I enjoyed the series and would like to thank the lady for taking her time telling me how accurate it was compared to what we know it to be in history. It clearly shows that the series made some attempt to be true to life
The "coffin trick" is actually attributed to Harald Hardrada and can be found in Snorre Sturlasson's Heimskringla. It's been a while since I last read that book. But I believe the incident happened on Sicily. It was one of several castles on Sicily that Harald defeated according to Harald Hardrada's saga in Heimskringla. The trick of using captured birds and the attaching burning pitch tar to them was also used by Harald as described in his saga in Heimskringla. The idea was that the birds flew back into the castle and started fires in the thatched roofs of buildings inside the castle walls. I believe this idea was also incorporated into an episode of Vikings but with Ragnar Lothbrok using this strategy! Harald Hardrada served in the Varangian guard of the Byzantine Empire but also campaigned in various places on behalf of the Byzantine emperor throughout the Mediterranean Sea. It was through these campaigns that Harald amassed enormous wealth as his share of bounty from looted cities.
Olga of Kiev also broke a siege against the Drevlians by using the same flaming bird tactic. Apparently she told the Drevlians she would lift the siege if they gave her one of the birds of each household and returned them with burning tar attached to their feet and burned the city. Check out her story on Biographics.
Around 4:30 - Isn't there abundant evidence that Old Norse and Old English at this time were very close and likely mutually intelligible, meaning that it's not at all odd that the Vikings and Monks could understand each other?
No
Not even close yo
Yep, I'm pretty sure there's a video where Jackson Crawford and a guy who speaks Old English have a conversation with each other, although there is some communication issues.
Yep, they were. Unless the monks spoke primarily Latin, which I suppose is a possibility (although unlikely), they shouldn't have had too much trouble understanding each other.
Lindisfarne in this vikings clip was a monastery set up by St. Columba, who was Irish, so the monks wouldve primarily written in Latin, but the majority spoke either Anglo Saxon or Old Irish. But thats just the Columban british monasteries that had Irish speakers.@@Niobesnuppa
I've only watched Vikings, and absolutely loved it... reading these comments I'm realizing ANY viking show is good lol...I'll be looking into The Last Kingdom and Norsemen
No mention of the black woman leading a Norse army..ok
I really wish people would actually watch the show before analyzing them. In the Viking show scene they just arrived on the shores where they were the first ever vikings to do so. So everything they saw was the first time.
I like how she completely ignores the ridiculousness of the black viking queen....
Perhaps she ignored because, and I know this will be a great shock to you, it's not actually that big of a deal.
@@amyparker9816 she was supposed to judge the shows historical accuracy, the ethnicity of the people is a pretty big deal
The vast majority of the actors are not Scandinavian. There are also many ethnic Scandinavians with quite dark skin. Vikings spent several months each season sailing, and would have developed deep tans, even on the North Sea.
@@georgelane6350 there’s a difference between having a tan and having an African play a a northern Scandinavian king, she lost all credibility
It’s a fiction show and she’s not nitpicking every little thing
A lot of it was just “we don’t know if this is actually true” and just narrating it. What was the point of this
Last Kingdom is the Best movie hands down
Sorry but everything you said about vikings shows that you did not watch the show, Ragnar definatly aged when he is at paris, ragnar was also the first viking to sail west and find land which turned out to be england, the reason he only had 1 boat with him was because he went against the orders of his local chief who told him not to sail west.
She didn't watch the show then she definitely did in the video she could've at least waited after the scene or paused the scene before talking.
'Find land'. He didn't discover England.
@@mrdarren1045 I never said he discovered england, saxon and angles people already got there before them, not to mention the romans, ragnar was the first however to sail against orders to the west and he found to them new lands, which they always said wouldnt be there. He proved them wrong.
It is the same as nowadays, farmers having to diversify. Then it was murdering monks, now it is glamping.
just binged the last kingdom, again... and the movie again...... guess i'm gonna have to start vikings....again !
My biggest pet peeve about vikings is that they clearly portay kattegatt as being in Norway, but Kattegatt is no where near
yup, and ragnar was a dane.
The Vikings raided Lindesfarm in 793, the Normans conquered England 273 years after that and prior to that English was much more similar to other West Germanic languages which in turn were closer to the North Germanic ones of that era than they are nowadays, so even without training the Norse and English of that era could most likely conduct a basic conversation without too much of an issue, similar to an Italian and Spanish speaker.
They weren't left in peace in Ireland . More monasteries in Ireland were ravaged by the Irish themselves than be the Vikings in these times .
And Dublin was one of the biggest Viking cities
"Expert" again cannot tell difference between wolf pelts and bear skins. Ragnar coffin scene is stolen from Harald Hardrada who actually did it while serving in Varangian guard. Fun fact - spent few nights camping on the same field where nithing pole was filmed. That could explain my misfortunes.
Of all the things that could be criticised in these shows she neglects the most obvious, the black viking queen!!!!!!
I find it weird how they idolise vikings in these show's. They were extremely brutal that even Anglo saxons wers shocked.
Norsemen is my absolute favorite. I howled.
For a tv show called vikings the depiction of vikings is horrendous. They weren’t tattooed, scruffy nor did they wear leather armour. Also Lindisfarne for a Viking raid as she pointed out what far too slow paced it should’ve been a lot quicker
Vikings is my favorite among these because... its the first one I seen. Couldn't stand TLK...
The Viking law about not losing honor and being legal if for the "active party"in homosexual sex had quite chilling implication, espcially in the light of th vinking being a slavery culture.
Funny how she doesn't says a word about lagertha being over 60 years old and 5foot fighting a 40years 6'5'' warrior.
Why would she?
@@thecage2580 when the show stars she already has a son of 12 years old (if she got pregnant at 16). She is already 28 years old. When ubba is Born she at least 31. At the end of the show Ubba is at least 30 to 35 years meaning lagertha is over 60
@@vippixel8942 ok??
@@thecage2580 60 year olds don't exactly fight a lot. And given that life expectancy in the Viking age was around 45, she's probably in pretty rough shape.
I’m not sure why she would?
Re the "timewarp" between Lindesfarne and Paris in the Vikings TV show, there was an approximate 12 to 15 year gap between those events in the show as was evident by Bjorn's ageing
It feels like the historian is missing context for some scenes.
The Lindisfarne one is especailly perplexing since this woman asks why they're seemingly unprepared and so forth, if she knew what particular raid it was, she could probably critique is more accurately.
She talking over the scenes instead of letting them play out. 😂 I bet she did take ot out of context. Watch/listen then comment. Or pause and comment Luke regular reaction videos.
A lot of the comments she’s making about Vikings could be answered if she really watch the show. Like the reason, Ragnar’s coffin is being carried, and has shields on it. 😂
In the books Uthred was over 6ft tall with blonde hair and beard. And Finan was small and skinny. Unlike the actors - which is where I lost it for the series.
I honestly think it's impossible to like TLK if you've read the books or even if you just like ACTUAL history. TLK butchered Uhtred's character in so many ways, both visually and personally. And all the rest looks horrible. Monty Python's armors look better than TLK's. The armour Alfred was wearing on this clip is an abomination. And that shield wall we just saw... holy shit, what a ridiculous thing to show in a historical viking show. With Vikings, even if the big picture history is inaccurate, at least the costumes and tactics were historical and plausible.
@@MyCaio1997 Last Kingdom’s budget in season 1 wasn’t huge and it never had Vikings budget and yet it had a good story until the end. Viking fans agree that the show didn’t end well.
Yeah, they always do that when they make a show/movie adaptation of novels.
I've never seen that Vikings show, but it seems to be incredibly slow, boring and not a little bit stupid just from the clips shown. That scene in the monastery - like what? You can see them taking the coffin past armed spearmen and guards inside the church. They'd just be bum-rushed the minute that weirdo came out of coffin. Nobody seemed to react like a normal person. Also, it managed to make even such a big bombastic moment massively anticlimactic. Everyone in the scene just looks vaguely bored. I'm kinda glad I've seen it on here rather than wasting my time watching it irl.
You couldn't be more wrong with your assumptions
So, it's depicting the Siege of Paris, and it is almost completely ahistorical. The scene you mentioned is actually something Bjorn Ironside may have done in Italy. The tv show justification is that the siege has gone on for a while and both sides are tired, the Viking king is dead and had converted to Christianity to honor a friend of his. So when the French offered the Vikings tribute to bugger off, one of their conditions was a Christian burial for their king, unfolding like we see here, and the girl he takes hostage is the King's daughter. It's complete nonsense, as much of the Vikings tv show was. The main character is an apocryphal Viking, Ragnar Lothbrok, and in the show his brother is apparently Rollo, or Rollon, a real historical figure, and the ancestor of William the Conqueror.
Hey, whaddya know, Vikings looked exactly like 21st-century paleo-bros.
Seems like a fair place to say this.... I have binged the Vikings series (Vikings and The Last Kingdom) maybe 8 times each. Ivar The Boneless' portrayal and that actor were FANTASTIC! A guy that had to be evil and terrible because he had no legs and if he weren't that way, he would have been dead long ago.... And that scene where Ragnar (his father) left him as an infant next to that tree and he still found himself alive shows that he was meant for greatness. On top of all the evil stuff, he showed many times over that he had a heart. The ONLY thing that pissed me off (SPOILER.....).
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Was the very ending when he died and he cried in fear! WHY?! Why did they do that!!?? I did read that there was awriting that-that is what happened. Other writings said that he went down and right before he last breath, he took out one more. They didn't have to go with the crying / scared bit for his ending. So mad at that.
The Alfred Uthred scenes in The Last Kingdom was 10/10.
David Dawson absolutely killed it. In my mind, he was Alfred, period.
How Dawson and Dreymon never got Emmys I’ll never understand
You need to actually watch the whole thing instead of a short blurb.
Yes it’s fake but it’s interesting
Vikings, although highly non historical, was the best show concerning vikings
At least it look good, instead of some others who don't even try (looking at you, TLK)
Lol Last Kingdom was a thousand times better
I think Dr Jarman is overthinking things a bit. This was supposed to be the FIRST Viking raid to the East, they may have heard about Christianity and England it was still their first time there and a smart warrior is a cautious warrior.
She didn't watch the show😂 she probably talked during it played like she is now. Hence why she is missing points and context of the show. They need to put subtitles on for her lol.
It doesn’t matter about factual accuracy. The Last Kingdom is the dogs bollocks! I’m hoping for a season four!
Really? There are already 5 seasons plus the movie.
got nothing on the books
@@thomash6933 anything by Mr Bernard Cornwell is 10/10
I wish you'd give the people reviewing the scenes the context of the scene in the episode
I watched all these already, but I was trying to re-listen/watch. They should've paused it when she started talking.😕