11 Historically Inaccurate Details From History Channel's 'Vikings'

Rollo’s character is based on the Norwegian Viking Gange-Rolf, the man who became the first ruler of Normandy. He is recorded as being the first Norse leader to settle in Frankia, and he continued to reign over Normandy until at least 928 CE. His descendants became known as the Normans, lending their name to the region of Normandy in France. He is also the great-great-great-grandfather of William the Conqueror, also known as William I of England, which means that Rollo is one of the ancestors of the present-day British royal family.

He was born in 846 CE and died in 930, so not only was he not Ragnar’s brother (he also didn’t know Ragnar in real life), but he also gets included in historical events that occurred before he was even born. 

Any true fan of Vikings should feel relieved about the fact that Michael Hirst (the writer of the series) doesn’t present that ridiculous stereotypical image of the raiders wearing those funny little horned helmets, which it has been historically proven the Norsemen never wore in battle. In reality, those horned helmets were only used in religious ceremonies and for display.

However, Hirst falls into another trap and depicts the Vikings as fighting without wearing any helmets at all, which is simply wrong. Considering that most combat fatalities come from head wounds, the helmet has been the single most precious piece of armor for pretty much every warrior in history, and that doesn’t exclude the Vikings. One could claim that Hirst probably does this in order for the main heroes to be easily recognized by the viewers during a battle scene, but it’s still a historical inaccuracy since the famous raiders wore fighting helmets made from leather or iron.

During the Viking Age, the people of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden spoke a language called Old Norse, but there’s no historical evidence that they used the word Viking to ethnically identify each other. This, despite the fact that viewers see them proudly calling each other a Viking throughout the series. There are various theories as to how the word Viking came to be, but there are no credible historical sources that verify what the Vikings called themselves.

What scholars know for a fact is that the people the Vikings invaded, such as the Saxons and the Franks, usually referred to them as Nords, Norsemen, Northmen, or Danes. In reality, the word Viking became popular worldwide for the first time during the Romantic era in the nineteenth century, when the study of Viking-age history became fashionable. 

According to the Old Norse poetry and sagas from the Viking Age, the real Ragnar Lodbrok was the son of the Swedish King Sigurd Hring and a relative of the Danish king Gudfred. Logically, he probably lived in Sweden or Denmark. However, in the series, Ragnar’s kingdom is located in a deep fjord that looks exactly like the ones you would find on the west coast of Norway. What complicates things even more is that Denmark and Sweden do not have fjords like the one in the series.

In the eighth episode of the first season, viewers see Uppsala for the first time, and the temple of Odin is shown as a wooden stave church in the mountains. In reality, the temple was actually situated on flat land, while stave churches were a hallmark of Christian architecture from the 11th century onward. After spotting these geographical inaccuracies, the fact that the Vikings refer to the British Isles as “England” when this name didn’t even exist at the time shouldn’t surprise anyone. 

Sorry to disappoint you guys and gals, but the whole concept of the “shieldmaiden” is based on Scandinavian folklore and myth, since there’s not even a single credible source that proves the existence of a group of Viking women who had chosen to fight as warriors. Sure, there’s archeological evidence that proves a number of women took part in some raids and battles, but this was a rare occurrence, and most historians speculate that their role in battle was limited.

 So they could never have compared to Lagertha in terms of fighting skill. In reality, Lagertha is likely pulled more from Scandinavian myth as a representation of an idealized female figure in Viking culture.

It’s an undeniable fact that the Vikings left very few images and written descriptions of their clothing and general fashion. What makes things even worse for people trying to recreate their clothes for TV is that archeological evidence is extremely limited as well. Thus, historians and researchers examining the evidence usually come to different conclusions. However, they would all agree that the Vikings didn’t dress with the kind of leather biker outfits that the show often depicts.

Instead, they probably constructed their clothes from wool, using surprisingly complicated patterns with many pieces that needed to be cut out of the fabric and sewn back together. Also, they definitely didn’t limit their choice of color to black, brown, and gray as the show presents, but they instead loved vivid colors like blue, red, and yellow.