Warfare is a way of life, but it's not all there is to life. Like Vikings did for Ragnarr, Valhalla goes out of its way to show that Eivor and her crew are not merely killing machines. When Eivor isn't decapitating bandits and looting monasteries, she spends time chatting up the denizens of Ravensthorpe, sprucing up their accommodations, and playing games of wit and skill. The other is made of various symbols of domestic life. The signature V in the title card for Vikings was described in an interview with EW as showing the duality of Norse life during this era. The characters in each also break down certain staid Viking stereotypes in similar ways. This melodic connection, more than anything, unifies the mood and feeling of these historically-inspired works so strongly that they sometimes seem like they might exist in the same universe. Vocalist Lindy Fay Hella cries out across the game's freezing fjords as you scale a sheer mountaintop to sync a high point, just as she lends her unmistakable keening to some of the show's most emotional beats. Wardruna founder Einar Selvik's deep, resounding tones underscore moments of battle in Vikings and Valhalla. In this case, that technical edge came mostly from ingenious breakthroughs in ship building. Much of the Vikings' success was really owed to things the Hidden Ones of Assassin's Creed know well: speed, stealth, and technology. But the elite, highly-trained specialists of each culture were probably not so different in their fighting ability. With a more decentralized society and a much smaller population, this was almost essential in Scandinavia. The average Norwegian adult was more likely to have a basic competence in warfare than a random Saxon farmer from the same time period. Jackson Crawford, an Old Norse specialist from the University of Colorado, points out that the Viking Age Norse were " Fighters All, Soldiers Few". If you got your ass kicked and your wallet stolen in a bar fight, you'd probably want to make the guy who did it seem really big and scary, right? The monks of Lindisfarne did just that. They were practical, not ostentatious.īoth adaptations also indulge in the idea of Vikings as superlative warriors, a narrative likely inspired by their literate enemies trying to save face by playing up the outlanders' prowess and ferocity.
Historically, a Norseman's battle kit in this era wouldn't be nearly as dramatic or embellished, usually consisting of a chainmail shirt and a steel nasal helm with some padding underneath and a lightly decorated tunic over the top. They often wear rugged, primitive-looking garb with lots of jagged leather and bristly fur, proving we haven't fully gotten away from the image of the Viking warrior as a bestial northern barbarian.
They shave the sides of their heads and braid whatever hair is left.
When an early quest in Valhalla mentions negotiating an alliance with the Sons of Ragnarr, fans of the show will instantly have some idea of who they're dealing with.īoth Vikings and Assassin's Creed Valhalla present a moody, stylized vision of the era. Now, names like Ragnarr, Lagertha, Ubbe, and Rollo are recognizable to many.
If you asked someone who hadn't studied medieval Northern Europe to name just one famous Viking before Travis Fimmel brought the legendary Ragnarr Lodbrok to our screens, they would probably have had a hard time. Assassin's Creed Valhalla clearly owes a lot to the show’s depiction of the era.