Random Historically Inaccurate Details From History Channel's 'Vikings' (11 items)

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  (#9) Pitched Battles Were As Rare As Chinese Cuisine For Vikings

  In the show, viewers often see Vikings lining up on the battlefield, facing their enemies, and running at them like the ancient Greeks and Romans would have done. In reality, however, this way of fighting was very uncommon for them, as they’d rather go raiding and take their adversaries by surprise. Their war philosophy was based on speed and effective ambush, which was the main reason why they wouldn’t send many ships on their first raids and made surprise attacks.

  So, in order to move quickly during a raid, they did not wear much armor - as the show correctly highlights - and used long swords and axes for weapons. Of course, that doesn’t mean the Vikings never engaged in pitched battles; they did, but just not in the way the show often portrays.
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  (#3) The Vikings Didn’t Call Each Other “Viking”

  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. 
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  (#2) The Vikings Wore Helmets That The Show Totally Ignores

  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.
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  (#1) Rollo And Ragnar Probably Never Met And Were Definitely Not Brothers

  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. 
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  (#5) Lagertha Probably Wasn’t As Badass As The Series Portrays Her

  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.
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  (#7) According To The Show’s Timeline Ragnar Should Have Invented Time Travel

  Fans of the series probably remember Ragnar and his crew raiding a monastery on Lindisfarne, a tidal island off the northeast coast of what is today England during the first season, a real raid that took place in 793 CE. For the record, this is seen by many contemporary historians as the beginning of the Viking Age.

  Then, in Season 3, Ragnar and his crew haven’t aged a tiny bit and attack Paris, a historical event that took place in 911 CE, nearly 120 years after the sack of Lindisfarne’s monastery. In other words, Ragnar and his fellow Vikings were either vampires, or they had invented a time travel machine that the history books don’t tell us about. 

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