For the people wondering why the Valkyrie is wearing ''braces'', it's a kind of teeth tattoo. It's something they actually recently discovered, some Vikings were filing their teeth creating one or two horizontal lines and they filled it up with tree resin.
Fascinating! Could you please send the link for where you found out about this? The only reliable source that I can find about life in the Viking age is overly sarcastic productions haha
@@MegaGun2000 I don’t know a specific article, but I know it’s been only found on male Vikings. For some reason their teeth had engraved horizontal line (filed) with tree resin filling.
Corridor crew did a video about A.I. Face/Lip replacement for multiple languages. Their was some german film where they did face/lip replacement for english. (Actors re-recorded their lines but not their physical performance.) it could be possible if they decided to!
@@mountainofsound that would probably be VERY costly. So there’d need to be a HUGE outcry for it. It’s just sad that studios don’t trust artistic expression over simple-mindedness
@@TheZapan99 As atom noted, it wasn't just training. They weren't used much, if at all, on the battlefield, but as a personal self-defense weapon, they were used a lot, because a buckler is small enough to hang on your belt and carry with you all the time, where a full size shield would not be.
The fact that There were parts of this movie that were not necessarily enjoyable or rather pleasant to watch speaks volumes to the fact of their accuracy. This was true Viking
i've been to many lectures by professor neil price, and it was always a treat. awesome to know that he had a part in making one of my favourite movies of all time!
eggers himself admitted that the most popular hair style was something similar to a "bowl cut" but he chose not to show this because it doesnt look as cool.
Amleth has a pseudo-bowl cut in the latter half of the film - they had a hard time making it not look terrible as the traditional style, so they cheated a bit. Regarding the rest of the film, though, you're absolutely correct.
Thats not actually true. The bowl cut is popular when Amleth was written, it wasn't popular in the viking age. The large amount of combs found in mens graves suggest that they had generally long hair. While in the 12th century on they don't have many combs because shorter hairstyles were more popular, like the stereotypical medieval bowl cut seen on christian art. Even at that time I don't think you'd find many farmers in the middle of Norway or Sweden cutting their hair like that. It's more of a posh style.
Glad he actually mentioned Freyja along with Odinn when talking about the Valkyrjur ferrying the battle fallen. Freyja has first choice, before Odinn, of the Einherjar. They go to her realm, which is called Folkvangr. Odinn's is, of course, Valholl.
As a Icelander I was surprised how accurate this movie was. the only thing I can say could have been done better is the lending in Iceland, most settlements were along the cost and still are. they lend the Ship in the middle of nowhere and walk across the highland to get to the only town in Iceland, this was a bit disappointing. Iceland was fully settled at the time of the movie. I would have loved to see more farmsteads and people in Iceland it would have been more accurate. and the volcano was a bit to much for me but a good movie nun the less.
@@Carcosahead thay did. Walking across the country but there no one there haha. Iceland was fulli built by this time and thay would have stayed on other farms on the way to there farm but all we see is touristy places.
I really liked his comments on the film portraying Viking raids properly. One can easily forget that the victims of these raids were human beings, with their own lives and families and hopes and dreams that were all destroyed. Portraying the Vikings as they actually were rather than a white-washed and romanticized version gives some modicum of justice to those victims. The film did all this without making the Norse out to be comical villains either, and also showing the beauty of their aesthetic (even if their behavior was reprehensible, even by the standards of their own time).
@@kaleoarnold3709 Absolutely - a lot of Viking media portrays them as good guys and heroes, which was not the case at all. They were cruel even by the standards of their own time.
@@Greencheez-y That probably means you're spending too much time on the internet. It's a word that has been commonly used for many years, with a meaning that has nothing to do with race.
It is thought that the vitki/seiðmaður ('nordic shaman' if you like) would wear a ceremonial head-dress with horns on them. The Norse wore simple practical helmets for battle.
I saw the movie when it came out and being a Viking fanatic I LOVED this movie my friends (who didn't fully knew about Vikings) enjoyed it aswell. love the suddle hits of mythology.
I went to see the movie with a heavy bag of expectations and was disappointed. In terms of cinematography it is a beautiful film. However, it is all form but no substance. They took a great story (why not follow the example of Shakespeare like Disney did), and removed all the conflict. The hero is both single minded and lack any depth. Shame
The viking period axe isn't a very heavy weapon - it's just top-heavy. Still, you can do a lot more with it, than just hacking. Sadly - you don't see them in reenactment as often as swords, because axes are a lot more dangerous to use in reenactment fights.
I do Viking reinactment in Norway and the ax isn't more dangerous than the sword. It's actually encurraged to start with the ax, as it's a much easier weapon to handel than the sword
@@MarkFilipAnthony I'd take serious issue with that. I have a "blunt" replica of the Birka 644 axe, and striking with it is essentially like thrusting with a sword - a big nono. Also - I don't know what rules you guys use, but a sword blade gives you much more leeway when striking at the helmet, while an axe coming up "short" will go into your face. not to mention that it is a much more powerful impact weapon, due to concentrating the force on a smaller area.
@@jakubfabisiak9810 we have few rules, accept for blunt weapons. we don't hit the head unless somone has a helmet on, but we wear full padding and shield and hit each other with full force. we dont hit somones backside if their foolish enough to turn around, we tap it instead. yeah and we dont thrust each others eyes out however a hit is a hit, ur dead if ur hit on areas a sharp weapon would do proper damage.
I think what’s really worth appreciating with this movie is that it’s based on the Norse sagas, not necessarily Norse life. You see a lot of the common threads like long blood feuds, a wronged child (usually a prince) fleeing and becoming a super soldier, and a typical tragic end to the hero who couldn’t give up on revenge. That last one might be a bit influenced by Christianity, since much of what we know about the Norse is through a Christian lens.
I know. I have been telling everyone I know to watch it, but too many people are like "Eh, I watched Vikings on the History channel, Valhalla on Netflix, I watched the Last Kingdom, I even watched the Norsemen, I'm Vikined out". And I get that. But this Movie is totally different than all those other shows. It's kind of like telling people to watch Black Summer (A Zombie Show) and trying to convince them, it's really actually much different.
Liked Neil's comments? Then read his book 'The Viking Way'. Archeology on Seiðr, burial rituals, sacrifice, sacred rites, shamanism, animism in the viking age. It's awesome! Also 'the children of Ash', his lectures on this book right here on TH-cam. Go check!
Absolutely incredible film - one that’s worth watching again - well done too all involved. This is what real cinema should be - thank goodness for a couple of gems this year (including Dune and The Batman) as an antidote to endless churning out of (you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all) MCU repetitions - basically kids films (or for adult babies that only think they know sci-fi)… but I digress. Loved Björk in this film (especially as she’s a real life Viking… as is Skarsgård of course). Had no idea so much research into the details of actual Norse mythology and history… also, I’m glad they showed the Berserkers ‘bear’ rather than ‘bare’ (I understand there’s some dispute among historians). Either way - utter masterpiece and beautifully dark both in lighting and theme.
"Spear" is really to all encompassing. There is the throwing spear (that really should be called a combat Javlin) and the hewing spear which you DON'T throw but rather use like a sword and staff combo (sword on a stick). One would never throw their hewing spear unless it was in a no other recourse/last resort situation. They don't throw well as they are blade heavy.
what i dont understand is how the vikings managed to climb the walls. they would have all been poked to death by the defenders on top the walls by spears and arrows
@@visceraeyes525 It's a film. Not a recreation of a historical account. Poetic license, and all that. However, using a hatchet like that to scale a palisade isn't totally unreasonable as I believe it is mentioned in some works relevant to the period. Realistically charging on a wall like this with such small number of men would've been suicidal. Perhaps they'd have to kill the guards on walls first. Sneak up on a settlement at night. Some other options. But the movie doesn't have time to make that another sub-plot, because how they scaled the wall is not the point of the scene. The fact that they raided the village is. And that's what is shown here.
@@visceraeyes525 did you miss the main character dodging a spear? Most of the defenders seemed off guard especially with how many more of them are still ground level even when alerted
This is an awesome video, Always found Vikings cool, However the minute I played the video game “For Honor” made by the developers Ubisoft, I absolutely became obsessed with Vikings.
That's funny cuz For Honor got me into them too, even though my grandfather was full blooded Swedish I never really felt much of a connection to the history. But the Warlord character in the first few seasons was my bread and butter
I would question the weight of the Axes. Tools could be heavy but Battle Axes were thinner bladed Axes that were a lot lighter but no longer able to be used as a tool because the blades wouldn't stand the treatment of chopping wood. A hand Axe might only weigh a pound but they could still go through a shield or deep into a body.
However the weight of an axe is at the end of the weapon, unlike a sword where the weight is kept more close to the hand and the guard. Therefore the weapon would feel heavier in the hand and give a more weighted blow.
@@Nickelback8469 It's amazing what damage a one pound head can cause but a pound weight is easy to recover if you miss your target. Normal Axes are heavy for splitting logs but logs don't move. A hand Axe is an easy weapon to learn to use especially if you use a wood chopping Axe every day. Also if you can't afford a weapon and you have a tool that kills, you'd use that.
Ive heard in school that viking slaves was more like "pets", they worked like slaves but was taken care of rather well. And slaves working to death was fairly uncommon.
Also want to point out is that the Vikings were just as brutal as any other European and also where is the armor they wouldn’t go into battle shirtless.but the weapons are good
This was a raid, not a battle lol. They knew or must have had intel that this village wasn't crazy armed. Hence why there are only like 15 beeerkers rather than a fleet...
According to Jackson Cawford the runes on the sword are sadly not entirely accurate. The runes are older than the time period it plays in, which is fine since the sword is supposed to be old, but then the word isn’t correct for the time period the sword is supposed to be forged in.
Maybe... If the sword's name would be "ᛞᚱᚨᚢᚷᚱ". But it was "ᛞᚱᚼᚢᚷᛦ". So, it seems to be an early Old Norse language, that represented by the late elder fuþąrk (about VII c. AD).
I figure that the 'Axe' was a favoured weapon throughout the ages. But it seems to be a weapon of choice with the Vikings. Is it because it has its usefulness to cut trees for wood, when not engaged in battles?
It's cost of production. A sword needs more metal to be produced and was reserved for those who could take it or pay for it. The most popular weapon was actually the spear. It was the cheapest to make and had the longest reach. Before the invention of the gun most people fought with spears.
There were a few points to consider: One, as mentioned previously, swords were expensive. There are historical accounts of swords being valued at whole castles in the later Middle Ages. Another point to note is the ease of use. Fighting axes, unlike those used for splitting firewood, are very light and easy to handle. (I recommend looking up Glima which is reconstructed Viking Age axe fighting as a reference.)
No, it was to give it a direct reference of use. A seax was a style of blade of the time and it’s size and use varied. So saying “battle knife” is accurate because it was not always a seax blade.
05:30 I absolutely loved this cause we've already seen too much of romanticising Raids and Wars ( and i mean raids and wars of every single "population" on this Earth ).
Some may wonder why Amleth isn't wearing any mail or padded armor. Simply put, his abs are in fact much harder than tempered steel. So there was really no need for additional protection.
Have you ever thought of that the vikings also were projecting their believs on how their forebears were just like we are doing to them with their tails and entertainments some things never change.
Hello one question How historically correct is the Viking priestess outfit? That "crown of feathers" that looks like an Aztec plumed crown really existed in the viking world????
Adorning yourself with feathers is actually a really old form of accoutrement. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was since birds have been a symbol of Viking mythology and religion for centuries. Hugen and Mugen being the chiefest of examples (aka the two crows that roost on Yggdrasil and are Woden/Oden’s companions)
@@mikahina3909 Mike. Thank you for telling me about this book , “Children of Ash and Elm.” I just finished the audio book and enjoyed every minute. What a ancestral heritage and amazing time in history. Thanks again 🍺☘️
@@driverjoelonghauler2881 happy to hear you read it! I especially loved the part on the social lives of the vikings! If you are more interested, there is a great TH-cam channel called ‘Norse Magic and beliefs’, all religious part of the Viking age based on the sagas and other known facts. Have a good weekend
@@TheSilentOne50 I could see that being the case. It's less of I don't want to watch to movie and more of I'm not aware of it being on Hulu or anything.
That's what people are naturally supposed to look like, they're by no means bodybuilders but their lifestyles make it impossible for them to be skinny or fat.
They ate clean protein at every meal. Spent the whole day, hunting, training, fighting, or rowing. Drank only water which was then pure and unpolluted. I firmly believe that was the best time to be a man at its core.
Well I am a but confused regarding the armour tho well I guess specialised armour channel like the metatron may have an idea whether or not this is accurate
Haven´t watched it yet but in the trailers i've seen accurate depictions of historical armour such as gambeson underneath mail and helmets, wich was the most common in the 10th century along with lamellar armour, im guessing the main character and his ''unit'' are berserkers, supposedly were warriors that ran into battle high on hallucinogenic mushrooms. its unclear how historical they are but its part of the legends and viking sagas
Berserkers wouldn't have amrmor, they were a specific elite trained soldiers that used 'the power of the animal' through the animal hide while fighting. It's an actual historical thing.
There were berserkers and ulfhednar. The former worshipped the bear and the latter the wolf. They wore different skins and were different types of warriors.
She has teeth carvings. Look more closely at them. She has two horizontal lines on each tooth. There's no rectangular component in the middle of each tooth.
Regarding slavery, it was normal and accepted in every single society during that time, and of course before and after. So it's unfair to call the Viking society "bad" for normalizing slavery. Even the Greeks who "invented" Democracy had normalized slavery, disguised as "servitude", which is the same way the Romans and the British used it as well. Slavery officialy ended only "recently". But i would dare to say that it never ended. We're all slaves now, we just don't realize it because we "vote"....for our "owners".
It interesting to note the they turned Knattleikr into a gladiatorial sport in this film. This sport was played by kings as much as anyone. They really just wanted to stir the prejudice pot and make a means of showing brutality were there was none. I think The raid was bad enough, you don't need to reinvent a sport to be racist.
Honestly this helped me want to watch the movie. Accuracy aside I was a huge fan of the show Vikings, but its depiction does come off as more romanticized.
I think, it is essential that we should distinguish between Old Scandinavians and vikings proper. Not all Norsemen, even warriors, were vikings. Vikings were a sort of pirates. And we should not capitalize the initial letter, for viking is no nationality or ethnicity.
The movie is full of historical blunders. The Norse really attacked Slav villages to take slaves. But the name Rus (Ros) applies to those Vikings, NOT to the Slavs! And the name Olga is not a Slavic name, it is (a Slavic way of pronouncing) the Scandinavian name Helga. And neither Slavs nor Norse were Christians at that time, as mentioned several times in the movie. It is truly amazing that "historical consultants" do not know all these things!
Absolutely incredible movie. It drives Me absolutely insane hearing all the smooth brains complaining about it “eYe tHot iT wUZ gUnnA bEe Lyke gLadeeAteor!!”
For the people wondering why the Valkyrie is wearing ''braces'', it's a kind of teeth tattoo. It's something they actually recently discovered, some Vikings were filing their teeth creating one or two horizontal lines and they filled it up with tree resin.
Fascinating! Could you please send the link for where you found out about this? The only reliable source that I can find about life in the Viking age is overly sarcastic productions haha
Just like Tekashi 6ix9ine?:)
@@MegaGun2000 I don’t know a specific article, but I know it’s been only found on male Vikings. For some reason their teeth had engraved horizontal line (filed) with tree resin filling.
We need a scientific paper, published in a credible journal for reference.
Cool
The director wanted this film almost entirely done in Old Norse, as did Skarsgård. I'm sad it didn't. Would have been amazing
release the Eggers cut!
I thought this very thing the entire Ike I watched it
Corridor crew did a video about A.I. Face/Lip replacement for multiple languages. Their was some german film where they did face/lip replacement for english. (Actors re-recorded their lines but not their physical performance.) it could be possible if they decided to!
@@mountainofsound that would probably be VERY costly. So there’d need to be a HUGE outcry for it. It’s just sad that studios don’t trust artistic expression over simple-mindedness
Woke fuckin joke!
2:20 something about the iron boss basically being a steel boxing glove in case your shield gets destroyed is incredibly badass
it also places the hand at the center of mass making the shield easier to use. that's the main point of it
@@TheZapan99 Not just training, it's a general self defence thing
@@TheZapan99 As atom noted, it wasn't just training. They weren't used much, if at all, on the battlefield, but as a personal self-defense weapon, they were used a lot, because a buckler is small enough to hang on your belt and carry with you all the time, where a full size shield would not be.
@@TheZapan99 during combat my friend.
its not used as a boxing glove its used as a parrying shield
The fact that There were parts of this movie that were not necessarily enjoyable or rather pleasant to watch speaks volumes to the fact of their accuracy. This was true Viking
You can tell that they took his advice at least somewhat seriously because the Vikings are wearing tunics and not biker gear lol
@@ThumbSipper Not as uncommon in history as you think. Ask the Spartans.
or a bunch of mohawks with smokey eye
@@MrRizeAG Or any tribal warrior culture
@@MrRizeAG Vikings and Spartans both wore shirts and armor
@@ismu34 Not always.
i've been to many lectures by professor neil price, and it was always a treat. awesome to know that he had a part in making one of my favourite movies of all time!
eggers himself admitted that the most popular hair style was something similar to a "bowl cut" but he chose not to show this because it doesnt look as cool.
based
Amleth has a pseudo-bowl cut in the latter half of the film - they had a hard time making it not look terrible as the traditional style, so they cheated a bit. Regarding the rest of the film, though, you're absolutely correct.
Amleth as bowl cut after he went to iceland.
Thats not actually true. The bowl cut is popular when Amleth was written, it wasn't popular in the viking age. The large amount of combs found in mens graves suggest that they had generally long hair. While in the 12th century on they don't have many combs because shorter hairstyles were more popular, like the stereotypical medieval bowl cut seen on christian art. Even at that time I don't think you'd find many farmers in the middle of Norway or Sweden cutting their hair like that. It's more of a posh style.
@@vergil8833 don’t care plus your white
Glad he actually mentioned Freyja along with Odinn when talking about the Valkyrjur ferrying the battle fallen. Freyja has first choice, before Odinn, of the Einherjar. They go to her realm, which is called Folkvangr. Odinn's is, of course, Valholl.
Of course.
Don't forget if you drowned at sea Rán could claim you and drag you down to the bottom with her net.
They never mention it by name tho....
Put me off that they didn't mention the Einherjar by name at the very least.
I can highly recommend prof Price's book, Children of Ash and Elm, which is the best academic book I've ever read regarding the Viking age.
Thank you for the recommendation!
I second this recommendation!
I'm really glad that they had him as a consultant and actually did heed his advices.
Fellow Historian here. The book IS great. I second this recommendation!
Thanks for the recomendation its important to read books with proper academic background specialy for such fascinating subject
As a Icelander I was surprised how accurate this movie was. the only thing I can say could have been done better is the lending in Iceland, most settlements were along the cost and still are. they lend the Ship in the middle of nowhere and walk across the highland to get to the only town in Iceland, this was a bit disappointing. Iceland was fully settled at the time of the movie. I would have loved to see more farmsteads and people in Iceland it would have been more accurate. and the volcano was a bit to much for me but a good movie nun the less.
The movie was filmed primarily in Ireland, not Iceland.
@@edg3818 but the Iceland shots were in Iceland.
They probably didn’t had a lot of locations to film
@@Carcosahead thay did. Walking across the country but there no one there haha. Iceland was fulli built by this time and thay would have stayed on other farms on the way to there farm but all we see is touristy places.
@@gumunduratli579 ooooh that’s disappointing
I really liked his comments on the film portraying Viking raids properly. One can easily forget that the victims of these raids were human beings, with their own lives and families and hopes and dreams that were all destroyed. Portraying the Vikings as they actually were rather than a white-washed and romanticized version gives some modicum of justice to those victims. The film did all this without making the Norse out to be comical villains either, and also showing the beauty of their aesthetic (even if their behavior was reprehensible, even by the standards of their own time).
Hm? How can you white wash ,white people plz dont bring Twitter politics into this masterpiece
White washed?
@@kaleoarnold3709 Absolutely - a lot of Viking media portrays them as good guys and heroes, which was not the case at all. They were cruel even by the standards of their own time.
@@CatastrophicDisease I've never heard white-washed used to describe anything other than casting white people to replace people of color..
@@Greencheez-y That probably means you're spending too much time on the internet. It's a word that has been commonly used for many years, with a meaning that has nothing to do with race.
I am glad that Prof. Price recognized that both Odin and Freya received warriors for Ragnarok!
A small addition , at the map on 4:26, they had also settled in The Netherlands with a lot of archeological sites found in the Northern parts
Also Greenland and north America
And Ireland. In fact they named Dublin.
I like how this map shows a part of the Netherlands that was still under water at that time, called 'Flevoland.'
@@mancpaul01 well pretty much the entire UK was settled, save for some spots.
I really enjoy seeing all the experts weigh in.
How to annoy historians that study Vikings? Just asked them:
WHERE ARE THEIR HORNED HELMETS?!
It is thought that the vitki/seiðmaður ('nordic shaman' if you like) would wear a ceremonial head-dress with horns on them. The Norse wore simple practical helmets for battle.
I don`t agree with any of this. vikings wore horned helmets. stop destroying my life you maniac :)
@@antestanic2964 😂😂😂😂
I dont vikings are portrayed with horned helmets anymore i think they have largely been replaced by leather biker gear.
They did, like displayed in the movie. The shamanistic germanic war dancer would wear a horned helmet or hat during certain rituals.
as a dane who is very into the old history of the vikings, I am glad that a movie like this has been released
Good to see them not glad in leather.
Robert eggers shows you can be accurate and make a great film
I saw the movie when it came out and being a Viking fanatic I LOVED this movie my friends (who didn't fully knew about Vikings) enjoyed it aswell. love the suddle hits of mythology.
I cried in the theater, lol.
subtle* 😉
suddle haha
As you can see my typing is doodoo
Gotta watch this movie now. That Valkyrie @8:00 is beautifully portrayed.
I went to see the movie with a heavy bag of expectations and was disappointed. In terms of cinematography it is a beautiful film. However, it is all form but no substance. They took a great story (why not follow the example of Shakespeare like Disney did), and removed all the conflict. The hero is both single minded and lack any depth. Shame
ahm have you notice her modern teeth brace though?
@@valpercinabanalan8576 its a kind of tooth tattoo
Those existed, it's scratches filled with resin
@@Akuryoutaisan21 yup. I had to research those too.
Can we get more Viking/Norse movies like this? I always been interested in seeing their lores and myths and like to know more!
Have you seen the last kingdom and Vikings?
@@tmatthews0007 Vikings yes. The Last Kingdom not yet.
@@tmatthews0007 Neither of those shows are nearly as authentic as this movie though
@@MitchJohnson0110 yeah they are the only thing we got though. I haven’t seen the movie yet
This movie bombed...so nope. Unfortunately not. We live in a time when the market only lets superhero movies get big time lore.
My friend and I keep repeating to each other "Their god is a corpse nailed to a tree" :'D
That line was so good lmfaoooo
And a Jew.
@@HroduuulfSonOfHrodger what? How’s that relevant?
@@darko-man8549 If you only knew. Maybe one day you'll figure it out.
@@HroduuulfSonOfHrodger you have a particular problem with Jewish people?
Eggers is a giant when it comes to film quality and historic research. The only thing I wish we could have gotten is a true Director’s cut!
The viking period axe isn't a very heavy weapon - it's just top-heavy. Still, you can do a lot more with it, than just hacking. Sadly - you don't see them in reenactment as often as swords, because axes are a lot more dangerous to use in reenactment fights.
Even their two handed axes had quite a slim blade
I do Viking reinactment in Norway and the ax isn't more dangerous than the sword.
It's actually encurraged to start with the ax, as it's a much easier weapon to handel than the sword
@@MarkFilipAnthony I'd take serious issue with that. I have a "blunt" replica of the Birka 644 axe, and striking with it is essentially like thrusting with a sword - a big nono.
Also - I don't know what rules you guys use, but a sword blade gives you much more leeway when striking at the helmet, while an axe coming up "short" will go into your face.
not to mention that it is a much more powerful impact weapon, due to concentrating the force on a smaller area.
True if you see a heavy bladed axe it’s wasn’t made for fighting it was for chopping wood. The ones used for weapons were light and wide.
@@jakubfabisiak9810 we have few rules, accept for blunt weapons. we don't hit the head unless somone has a helmet on, but we wear full padding and shield and hit each other with full force.
we dont hit somones backside if their foolish enough to turn around, we tap it instead. yeah and we dont thrust each others eyes out
however a hit is a hit, ur dead if ur hit on areas a sharp weapon would do proper damage.
This has been my favorite movie that I have seen 6 months into 2022. The movie is amazing.
This movie was so good, I want to watch it again.
I think what’s really worth appreciating with this movie is that it’s based on the Norse sagas, not necessarily Norse life. You see a lot of the common threads like long blood feuds, a wronged child (usually a prince) fleeing and becoming a super soldier, and a typical tragic end to the hero who couldn’t give up on revenge. That last one might be a bit influenced by Christianity, since much of what we know about the Norse is through a Christian lens.
God this movie is a gem. Can't believe people didn't want to watch it.
I know. I have been telling everyone I know to watch it, but too many people are like "Eh, I watched Vikings on the History channel, Valhalla on Netflix, I watched the Last Kingdom, I even watched the Norsemen, I'm Vikined out". And I get that. But this Movie is totally different than all those other shows. It's kind of like telling people to watch Black Summer (A Zombie Show) and trying to convince them, it's really actually much different.
Insane. And, lots of people that saw it thought it was absolutely trash. Blows my mind.
I liked how the Berserkers were portrayed.
I love how the magic draugr sword can only be unsheathed at night.
I absolutely love this series WIRED, thank you so much!
Swords with names, the Hound is not impressed.
Jokes aside, great video! I'd listen to professor Price all day!
Liked Neil's comments? Then read his book 'The Viking Way'. Archeology on Seiðr, burial rituals, sacrifice, sacred rites, shamanism, animism in the viking age. It's awesome! Also 'the children of Ash', his lectures on this book right here on TH-cam. Go check!
And The Viking World. I have them both. I need to get Children of Ash and Elm. It's in my cart.
Watching this makes me appreciate the movie more than I did at first.
It has it's flaws, but it was more than what we've ever got, It's an amazing balance of history and fiction in my opinion
Absolutely incredible film - one that’s worth watching again - well done too all involved. This is what real cinema should be - thank goodness for a couple of gems this year (including Dune and The Batman) as an antidote to endless churning out of (you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all) MCU repetitions - basically kids films (or for adult babies that only think they know sci-fi)… but I digress. Loved Björk in this film (especially as she’s a real life Viking… as is Skarsgård of course). Had no idea so much research into the details of actual Norse mythology and history… also, I’m glad they showed the Berserkers ‘bear’ rather than ‘bare’ (I understand there’s some dispute among historians). Either way - utter masterpiece and beautifully dark both in lighting and theme.
Glad to see a Dane axe also
"Spear" is really to all encompassing. There is the throwing spear (that really should be called a combat Javlin) and the hewing spear which you DON'T throw but rather use like a sword and staff combo (sword on a stick). One would never throw their hewing spear unless it was in a no other recourse/last resort situation. They don't throw well as they are blade heavy.
what i dont understand is how the vikings managed to climb the walls. they would have all been poked to death by the defenders on top the walls by spears and arrows
@@visceraeyes525 It's a film. Not a recreation of a historical account. Poetic license, and all that. However, using a hatchet like that to scale a palisade isn't totally unreasonable as I believe it is mentioned in some works relevant to the period. Realistically charging on a wall like this with such small number of men would've been suicidal. Perhaps they'd have to kill the guards on walls first. Sneak up on a settlement at night. Some other options. But the movie doesn't have time to make that another sub-plot, because how they scaled the wall is not the point of the scene. The fact that they raided the village is. And that's what is shown here.
@@visceraeyes525 did you miss the main character dodging a spear? Most of the defenders seemed off guard especially with how many more of them are still ground level even when alerted
Love these break downs.
he's right about spears, Odin even had 1 :Gugnir which could never miss it's mark it was said
such a good and rich story action movie, i don't get why people complain about the plot being wasted its all in the story
People who didn't like this film clearly don't know anything about the Norse world and its religion. they just see it as a "Viking" film
Amen Dude, I agree 100%. And many of them are just "Vikings" serie fanboys, which is so sad.
One thing that got me into Old Norse and ancient Viking practices and such was Heilung. Big thanks to Heilung for that.
Amazing band. Hope to see them live one day.
I gotta give it to Wardruna for that
Just watched the movie, pretty solid film. The movie played out much differently then i expected. I recommend The Northman.
This is an awesome video, Always found Vikings cool, However the minute I played the video game “For Honor” made by the developers Ubisoft, I absolutely became obsessed with Vikings.
I got obsessed with Vikings after playing hellblade: Senua's sacrifice. Have you played assassin's Creed Valhalla?
^^same about Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, started the Viking journey and learning it’s history for about 2-3 years now.
That's funny cuz For Honor got me into them too, even though my grandfather was full blooded Swedish I never really felt much of a connection to the history. But the Warlord character in the first few seasons was my bread and butter
I would question the weight of the Axes. Tools could be heavy but Battle Axes were thinner bladed Axes that were a lot lighter but no longer able to be used as a tool because the blades wouldn't stand the treatment of chopping wood. A hand Axe might only weigh a pound but they could still go through a shield or deep into a body.
However the weight of an axe is at the end of the weapon, unlike a sword where the weight is kept more close to the hand and the guard. Therefore the weapon would feel heavier in the hand and give a more weighted blow.
@@Nickelback8469 It's amazing what damage a one pound head can cause but a pound weight is easy to recover if you miss your target. Normal Axes are heavy for splitting logs but logs don't move. A hand Axe is an easy weapon to learn to use especially if you use a wood chopping Axe every day. Also if you can't afford a weapon and you have a tool that kills, you'd use that.
You are right. Battle axes were not heavy. This expert is wrong saying axes were very heavy.
they often used tools as weapons
Awesome film !!! Best Viking movie historical representation ever
Saw this in theatre, awesome film, thanks Neil for your input!
Just watched it for the first time and I can't wait to watch it again
Ive heard in school that viking slaves was more like "pets", they worked like slaves but was taken care of rather well. And slaves working to death was fairly uncommon.
Nordic peoples by law were required to take care of their servants.
Thank you, this is so well done.
Also want to point out is that the Vikings were just as brutal as any other European and also where is the armor they wouldn’t go into battle shirtless.but the weapons are good
Sometimes they did go into battle shirtless. It's historically accurate depiction.
@@jelenajs5017 but fully equiped heavy armoured vikings are also historycally accurate and we don't have a bunch of those sadly
@@aitoriri1 that's because there weren't any battles in the film.
This was a raid, not a battle lol. They knew or must have had intel that this village wasn't crazy armed. Hence why there are only like 15 beeerkers rather than a fleet...
There wasn’t a battle my guy lol
I've got so much more appreciation for this film now - A+
According to Jackson Cawford the runes on the sword are sadly not entirely accurate. The runes are older than the time period it plays in, which is fine since the sword is supposed to be old, but then the word isn’t correct for the time period the sword is supposed to be forged in.
Maybe... If the sword's name would be "ᛞᚱᚨᚢᚷᚱ".
But it was "ᛞᚱᚼᚢᚷᛦ".
So, it seems to be an early Old Norse language, that represented by the late elder fuþąrk (about VII c. AD).
such a good movie. can't wait to see it again
That movie was really amazing. I gave it a 9 out of 10 .
I figure that the 'Axe' was a favoured weapon throughout the ages. But it seems to be a weapon of choice with the Vikings.
Is it because it has its usefulness to cut trees for wood, when not engaged in battles?
It's cost of production. A sword needs more metal to be produced and was reserved for those who could take it or pay for it. The most popular weapon was actually the spear. It was the cheapest to make and had the longest reach. Before the invention of the gun most people fought with spears.
the favoite weapon in the ages was always the spear
You wouldn't cut a tree with a battle axe. They aren't made for that.
There were a few points to consider: One, as mentioned previously, swords were expensive. There are historical accounts of swords being valued at whole castles in the later Middle Ages. Another point to note is the ease of use. Fighting axes, unlike those used for splitting firewood, are very light and easy to handle. (I recommend looking up Glima which is reconstructed Viking Age axe fighting as a reference.)
Mostly due to convenience, the two handed dane axe was used for slaughtering cows before the vikings used then as weapons.
He had to call it a “battle knife” because Seax would have confused the audience 😂😂
No, it was to give it a direct reference of use. A seax was a style of blade of the time and it’s size and use varied. So saying “battle knife” is accurate because it was not always a seax blade.
Can anyone tell me which bladesmith/cutler forged the Draugir "Nightblade" hero blade prop? the pattern welding is exquisite.
Look forward to seeing it.
I just watched this movie and its amazing.
Not only swords were named. Tambar was the mighty bow of Einar Tambarskelvi in the ballad of Ólav Tryggvason, Ormurin Langi.
I cant wait to watch this i love vikings civilization
05:30 I absolutely loved this cause we've already seen too much of romanticising Raids and Wars ( and i mean raids and wars of every single "population" on this Earth ).
As a Viking, I find this video to be accurate.
Vikings are rlly cool.
viking? lol
Minnesota?
@@Passions Jupp.
As Swede, I find it more accurate than most portrayals, but there are some liberties taken.
Just watched the movie and I loved it no drama just pure depiction of what was then awesome 5/7
Some may wonder why Amleth isn't wearing any mail or padded armor. Simply put, his abs are in fact much harder than tempered steel. So there was really no need for additional protection.
Have you ever thought of that the vikings also were projecting their believs on how their forebears were just like we are doing to them with their tails and entertainments some things never change.
love love love this video. thanks
Hello one question
How historically correct is the Viking priestess outfit? That "crown of feathers" that looks like an Aztec plumed crown really existed in the viking world????
Adorning yourself with feathers is actually a really old form of accoutrement. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was since birds have been a symbol of Viking mythology and religion for centuries. Hugen and Mugen being the chiefest of examples (aka the two crows that roost on Yggdrasil and are Woden/Oden’s companions)
Also that is wheat, not feathers
When you say "Battle Knife" are you referring to the Seax?
Any recommendations about books to read/study about the Viking era? Thank you.
Get Scandinavian books because they will tell you more
Children of ash and elm by the professor himself, came out last year, long but good read, it’s a good audio book.
@@mikahina3909 Thank you. I will check it out. 🍺
@@mikahina3909 Mike. Thank you for telling me about this book , “Children of Ash and Elm.” I just finished the audio book and enjoyed every minute. What a ancestral heritage and amazing time in history. Thanks again 🍺☘️
@@driverjoelonghauler2881 happy to hear you read it! I especially loved the part on the social lives of the vikings! If you are more interested, there is a great TH-cam channel called ‘Norse Magic and beliefs’, all religious part of the Viking age based on the sagas and other known facts.
Have a good weekend
You forgot to mention the atgeirs present within the movie
Just Amazing info, thank you!
I've never seen the movie, and I don't have plans to particularly soon, I just clicked because I read the words "Viking Expert".
You're missing out
@@TheSilentOne50 I could see that being the case. It's less of I don't want to watch to movie and more of I'm not aware of it being on Hulu or anything.
excellent thank you, how would you rate the series vikings?
Really cool video!
but he couldn't let go of the blue filter and the mud - which are sooo wrong - there were so much colours back than and not just mud....
Did nobody else see the shot at 5:30? He swung at nothing and hit nothing but killed the guy there.
Just watched it. Amazing!! 😃. Loved that it is very cultural accurate 😃
It’s interesting to know the Vikings were professional body builders as well.
You mean how they don't have rolls of fat? People aren't supposed to have rolls of fat.
That's what people are naturally supposed to look like, they're by no means bodybuilders but their lifestyles make it impossible for them to be skinny or fat.
No most people where shredded back then because of hard labor
They ate clean protein at every meal. Spent the whole day, hunting, training, fighting, or rowing. Drank only water which was then pure and unpolluted. I firmly believe that was the best time to be a man at its core.
@@MrEmb007 pure and unpolluted water? lmao Really?
I'm very happy for the correct pronunciation of Ragnarök. The "ö" is not an "o".
I’m honestly impressed by the time and effort you put into these videos, Keep it up!💛
Begone BOT
Well I am a but confused regarding the armour tho well I guess specialised armour channel like the metatron may have an idea whether or not this is accurate
They would have worn thick cloth, leather, fur etc. and those who could afford it wore chain mail as well.
Haven´t watched it yet but in the trailers i've seen accurate depictions of historical armour such as gambeson underneath mail and helmets, wich was the most common in the 10th century along with lamellar armour, im guessing the main character and his ''unit'' are berserkers, supposedly were warriors that ran into battle high on hallucinogenic mushrooms. its unclear how historical they are but its part of the legends and viking sagas
Berserkers wouldn't have amrmor, they were a specific elite trained soldiers that used 'the power of the animal' through the animal hide while fighting.
It's an actual historical thing.
@@MarkFilipAnthony but they are not berserkers. They are wearing wolf pelts and thus are ulfhednar, odins chosen.
it was good seeing Berserkers wearing Wolf Pelts and not bear ones
There were berserkers and ulfhednar. The former worshipped the bear and the latter the wolf. They wore different skins and were different types of warriors.
7:59 is that Valkyrie veering bracelets ?
She has teeth carvings. Look more closely at them. She has two horizontal lines on each tooth. There's no rectangular component in the middle of each tooth.
@@231-isntthisalotoffun4 I knew
I just found out today sorry 😄
Regarding slavery, it was normal and accepted in every single society during that time, and of course before and after. So it's unfair to call the Viking society "bad" for normalizing slavery. Even the Greeks who "invented" Democracy had normalized slavery, disguised as "servitude", which is the same way the Romans and the British used it as well. Slavery officialy ended only "recently". But i would dare to say that it never ended. We're all slaves now, we just don't realize it because we "vote"....for our "owners".
It interesting to note the they turned Knattleikr into a gladiatorial sport in this film. This sport was played by kings as much as anyone. They really just wanted to stir the prejudice pot and make a means of showing brutality were there was none. I think The raid was bad enough, you don't need to reinvent a sport to be racist.
2:30 i understand the boss much better now
Honestly this helped me want to watch the movie. Accuracy aside I was a huge fan of the show Vikings, but its depiction does come off as more romanticized.
Watch as soon as you can. My favorite movie of the year so far.
I think, it is essential that we should distinguish between Old Scandinavians and vikings proper. Not all Norsemen, even warriors, were vikings. Vikings were a sort of pirates. And we should not capitalize the initial letter, for viking is no nationality or ethnicity.
You should see Peter Johnsson's ''THE VIKING SWORD WHAT IT WAS AND WAS NOT'' But read the newest comments First.
The main character in this movie is literally a viking by trade so what are you yapping on about
The movie is full of historical blunders. The Norse really attacked Slav villages to take slaves. But the name Rus (Ros) applies to those Vikings, NOT to the Slavs! And the name Olga is not a Slavic name, it is (a Slavic way of pronouncing) the Scandinavian name Helga. And neither Slavs nor Norse were Christians at that time, as mentioned several times in the movie. It is truly amazing that "historical consultants" do not know all these things!
the first half of the movie was hype.
Whole thing wym?
@@mord0 my opinion bro, what you mean by what you mean? it was pretty predictable after the second half.
4:27 Vikings were also in Spain 🇪🇸 Just saying.
Absolutely incredible movie. It drives
Me absolutely insane hearing all the smooth brains complaining about it “eYe tHot iT wUZ gUnnA bEe Lyke gLadeeAteor!!”
He missed the depiction of the Atgeir in that one scene 😭😭
Finally a good viking movie. It felt empowering to watch and a great representation of Nordic paganism. HAIL Odin!
Amazing!
Movie makes sense as vikings more than the Netflix vikings
Where is this movie playing?!
I would love to see this expert review the historical aspects of AC Valhalla
Its not accurate at all fantasy vikings like in the vikinds tv-show and last kingdom
I thought about "Ulfberht" when they talked about a special blade/sword...