You see a lot of debate on FB about the Vikings TV show, whether it is accurate, historical and so on. I regard myself as a bit of a historian and I know when the Vikings raided Lindisfarne and I know who and how the Norman empire was formed. The writers of the show have spun a yarn together that link all these characters in a gripping show, but far more important than this they are trying to show us the Vikings as a people, a culture and as Godly race, be it their own Gods.
This to me is far more important, for this gives our ancestors a face, a voice and a point of view to the world they lived in. It is in the Saga's we learn of the Norse Gods, In the Anglo Saxon chronicles we hear of their raids, All of these stories were written down by Christian monks long after the events and from a purely the church's point of view.
The original stories would have been sung by skalds in mead halls across the lands. Each bard putting his own spin on the tale, in the way it was told.This was important and so it is with this tale, we could argue about small things, time lines and relationships but what is most important is that the story is told from the point of view of the Norsemen and women. Watch , make your own mind up whether they or Christians were in the right.