Vikings Historical Accuracy and Season 4 Predictions

[@grindstone4910]

"There was this one viking called 'Child-lover'..." Oh shit "because he refused to kill babies." Oh, whew. Also, 13:49 Good image.

[@jasoncarto]

+Grindstone Because sexual acts of any kind are far worse than horrific torture and killing. We are a horrendous species.

[@grindstone4910]

***** Pretty awesome, huh?

[@OttoVonGarfield]

I love bait n' switch comedy

[@annamelissa607]

i thought that viking was a pedo.....

[@richardroberson2564]

Mount and blade

[@MsAnimelady]

OK, so you did this one in 2016. But the series is almost over now. Would you be willing to do one recapping the entire series?

[@alexman378]

He said he probably will after it wraps up completely with S06b

[@alexman378]

Bárnel Mercedes The show never pretended to be 100% accurate, Hirst was saying it from before S01 even aired.

[@Shelly-lz9tm]

They better be doing more seasons....haha

[@patrickmcglonejr8163]

Yes plz

[@Bassmasterwitacaster]

When I was little I jammed poo poo down my PP and its been closed shut since

[@brendan9868]

Norsemen didn’t really “discover” Iceland as Irish priests had been living there previously. Also Norsemen weren’t illiterate. They carved Runes, they just didn’t write on parchment.

[@Henrik_Holst]

This exactly, mostly runes where carved on wood which is why they have those sharp lines. And the very fact that they even changed from the elder to the younger futhark around year 800 when the rest of the Europeans had changed to the latin alphabet tells that the written language meant something to the Vikings.

[@alexman378]

They did this correctly in the show though. Floki found that cross in the cave, indicating Christians got there before him.

[@torrace12]

strange that he missed that vikings had a very accurate written down history with lots and lots of storys about so many things i cand list them out here bet they are very accurate ive read a lot of them

[@firstname4097]

also he did call vikings a society, although it was a profession, so I suppose the term for them would be Norsemen

[@evillimey6965]

@@torrace12 I thought all the sources from that period came from other cultures, like Saxons and Frank's.....etc, as the Norse had an oral tradition, the norse sagas are not very accurate or reliable as they were wrote a few hundred years after.

[@Gurzbujar]

The Icelandic sagas are quiet complex poems, which means that if you tell it wrong, then the poetic structure and rules would not add up. That way a story could be retold over and over without really changing.

[@Trailerglotzer]

Which may explain why they loved poetry so much. Clever folks.

[@ryanboggs8685]

Oral history can be quite accurate. It was a big deal to memorize it perfectly and recite it perfectly. Native American stories have only recently been written down, but the remembering and retelling of those stories were sacred.

[@bfure1]

@@ryanboggs8685 It annoys me that he equates oral tradition with simple stories. Not just anybody was allowed to tell the history in these societies. You had to learn the story from an elder and prove that you could repeat it perfectly before you were seen as worthy of repeating it to the masses. The idea that something so important to a group of people as their history and ancestors would be treated the same as a children's game is pretty insulting.

[@abhijeetdave33]

@@bfure1 you can be trained as much as humanly possible, but at the end of the day, we are still human, and we have imperfect brains. Then we can add on how we like to over embellish and romantacize the stories and people we love, and demonize the "villains", whether it be native Americans,Hindus, Vikings, pagans, what have you.

[@your_belief_vs_everything]

Dude clearly discounts the viking culture as illiterate therefore his depiction of the Sagas makes them appear like fairy tales. Insulting.

[@OCRay1]

Travis Fimmel’s portrayal of Ragnar Lothbrok is one of my all time favorite characters. He was awesome! It would be pretty cool though to see Leif Erickson brought into the fold and open a whole new era of the show. Since Ragnar died I have lost a lot of interest in the show and that could really revive it. The casting of Leif though would have to be as perfect as it was with Ragnar to pull it off

[@stephanreichelt1960]

Leif is in Vikings Vallhala

[@franciszaldivar337]

@@stephanreichelt1960 yeah and they take waaaaaaay too many liberties with him (even more so than what they did with Ragnar), nicknaming him "Leif the Lucky" after the Battle of London Bridge (1014) (which he was never at) when in reality he got the nickname because he discovered what is now present day Newfoundland, Canada

[@stephanreichelt1960]

@@franciszaldivar337 that's Hollywood for you...

[@franciszaldivar337]

@@stephanreichelt1960 yeah I mean considering what they did also with Jarl "Hakon" that's just adding modern identity politics, not to say there weren't people of mixed heritage, but the fact that many are that accepting is just ignoring history for the sake of "diversity" and "representation" (the KZbinr Metatron does a much better explanation than I can here about why it's problematic)

[@stephanreichelt1960]

@@franciszaldivar337 same with the tattoos; seems like every character has plenty and modern day quality too

[@Hipst3rMax]

The whole point is that they condensed the story of Ragnar's sons in the Icelandic sagas into a drama. They did a bleeding great job.

[@rodolforamirorivera]

That’s

[@Bassmasterwitacaster]

You are a gay boy

[@ronpaulssecretary]

The tale of ragnar lothbrok isn't very long though? They did the exact opposite of condensing it. They expanded it and added ragnar to historical events he wasn't at. I don't think you know what the word "condense" means. If they actually condensed the story, it'd barely be 1 season. Ragnar marries thora, has his first 2 kids, she gets sick, he marries kraka, has more kids, his kids go raid shit that has never been raided before. The end. It'd be a very short show.

[@muffinman5741]

"Hey guys let's not brutally butcher newborns..." "....ha....haha...HAHHAHAHAHAHAH" just viking things

[@alexman378]

“What a pussy”

[@heehoohehehe1267]

"simp"

[@kelrogers8480]

We laugh, but Oz, NZ and the US have just made full term and during birth abortion fully legal, and basically on demand. In the case of the twelve percent of late term abortions where the babies are accidentally born alive, the infants are not allowed to be rescued. They are left to die. Both Biden and Obama voted for this. So we may laugh at the Vikings, but what we do as modern humans is far, far worse!

[@vysharra]

@@kelrogers8480 literally none of that is true. It’s also completely irrelevant to this video. Go take your politics somewhere else

[@kelrogers8480]

@@vysharra Oh, so nasty Kitty. And so intelligent of you, lol. Let me school you in some basics, dearie: It's my right to share my politics and my opinions when and where I want to. You have the right to disagree. If you don't like that, then YOU be the one to take yourself elsewhere. Hateful individual!

[@CaptainHaddocck]

there are no mountains in Denmark, the highest is around 140 m.

[@Stale_Mahoney]

what is your point? or lack of pointy hills xD

[@mikaelbergstrom8419]

I can answer this. The home of Ragnar is supposed to be by the sea of Kattegat, they mention this several times in the series. But there is no mountains or fjords in that area. That sea is between todays Sweden and Denmark and its all flatlands. But in the show there are huge mountains and fjords...

[@DoDaDaDaDaCaDa]

+Mikael Bergström Film magic

[@artyom1724]

Also Hedeby was in south of sleswig. It is not near Kattegat.

[@MihaiRUdeRO]

Yeah the scenery is actually filmed in Western Canada lol

[@russby3554]

Please do Last Kingdom next. I love how in the beginning it's pretty accurate to the times and in the books the author even says what parts are real and which he took creative liberty with. Plus you were using video from Last Kingdom so I'm guessing you're probably (hopefully) entertaining the idea. Thank you for your time and keep up the amazing work!

[@wongjefx980]

The Last Kingdom. The Viking's or Danes in England at the time of Alfred the Great. On Netflix.

[@oliverewarthopkins7818]

Yes, that would be so much yes.

[@your_belief_vs_everything]

Much better than Vikings

[@PokePresto]

Norsemen. A acutal good take and at the same time funny of viking life and culture compared to the bs that is last kingdom and vikings.

[@boozycruze7679]

that show is more historically accurate. more so than Vikings but Vikings is a much better drama.

[@rhysmalavioson4260]

As well as one called Redbad

[@MissVasques]

Not you too, another claiming something not really true. Being a Swedish girl who have lived close to different Viking burial sites and the like, it always Bugs me when it is claimed that Vikings didn't write things down just because it wasn't on parchment. The viking Runes, learned a tad of in school as a kid here... Yes, most was on wood that had rot and became dust over time but there are still lots of Stones ingraved with viking runes. Why are these not mentioned? It was the same in that british/american viking documentary showed before one of the Viking seasons. The vikings obviously could read and write, they just didn't use it an everyday way to create books and such. But otherwise, interesting and great vid;):D

[@Murf181]

I don't know if all vikings were fully literate at that time but I agree with you. The viking should have clearly identified that parchment as writing medium because that wrote as well but on wood and stone.

[@derdingsreturnsnochmal5177]

Wasn't it told in the Havamal that runes shouldn't be used lightheaded. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think norsemen believed them to be magical, some sort of gift from the gods and where used for religious purposes only. So apart from Gothis, norsemen where analphabets.

[@omarsig9814]

Im from Iceland and I can inform you that we did write on Papyrus around 1100 A.C At least, if you come to Iceland and to Reykjavik you can go to Arnastofnun 100meter away from Nordic House you can actually see these old books, but if not then I know a guy who actually is as a quardian over the books and I can help you to see them, but not all of theme, most of the books are kept in a safe place in a right temperature and I think in a basement under the foundationhouse called after a man who had this name : Arni, we fleed the king Haraldur around 850 or near 900 and made our own colony and we later discovered Land we called Greenland, the name of that viking was Eirikur the red because he had red hair, his son went to the west and found a land called Vineland, you call it USA, he name was Leifur the Luck, but I will not say anything more now, we have a big history and we publice many hundred books every year, we aer called the natoin of books, we read so much and educationstandard here is very high, everybody here can play chess and the children learn to talk Danish, Swedish and Norwegian and English and in after 16 year they learn French, saga of the Vikings is underestimated, still. I lived in Malmo 1989 to 1991 and that was a great time and beeing able to got to Kobenhavn several time in week was amasing, for me as a Icelandic man.

[@derdingsreturnsnochmal5177]

ómar Sig Euh ... well Papyrus? Not parchment? And was Iceland still pagan in 1100 or christian? And I know of Eirikur and Leifur ( I know them as Erik and Leif, but I guess that's a regional thing) and as far as I know Vinland describes New Foundland and Labrador, which are canadian.

[@Hafer_]

By 1100 the viking age was already over, so I really doubt you can refer to those who wrote these books as vikings or even pagans. They were probably written by monks since most of the population of that time was illiterate

[@basement-dwellingvirgin7099]

I like The Last Kingdom better. Idk if it's historically accurate or if it's authentic, but I like it because the pacing and characters. The show is very fast paced, something is always happening, but somehow I never felt lost. King Alfred is my favorite character in the show.

[@shadwdiamnd5291]

After season 3 the show became a bit boring, but i cant wait for season 5!

[@IkarusKommt]

The characters are your typical americans, with no trace of actual medieval mentality.

[@rc59191]

I just wish they'd use the actual shields and tactics that the actual Saxons used. Their weapons, armor, and tactics, were very similar to the Norsemen and they didn't need that dude to teach them to fight in a shield wall formation they already did.

[@wargattack8837]

the last kingdom is historically accurate

[@gnomecano687]

23:00 uses scenes from the last kingdom. Tryed to pull a fast one on me nick, but I see what you’re playing! Now you have to do an episode on that show

[@KaladinVegapunk]

??? What do you mean? He straight up says it's from Last Kingdom hahah But yeah, same exact time period and setting but different characterization I love uthreds arc and alfred's better in LK, it's funny how different Ubba is in both

[@puneetmishra4726]

I personally believe TLK is better than Vikings. It is more accurate, more intriguing and more nuanced.

[@itstriplem2069]

@@puneetmishra4726 yeah I like more than vikings, both are good though and I like the fighting scenes in Vikimgs a bot more than TLK, but TLK is way more interesting

[@tillsatt50]

The name Ivar the boneless, derives from the fact that he was often so drunk that he couldnt stand on his feet.. We still use the term today where I come from. "Benlös" or "beinlös"... Ergo - boneless, when someone is really drunk and stumbling around. Well thats just my own theory :)

[@arielmetamorphosis]

tillsatt50 where do you come from? Sir?

[@MrBrutalicus]

tillsatt50 yea thats a good theory. 👍 i mighty have heard benlös sometimes.

[@OttoVonGarfield]

Ivar the Radical, Ivar the Totally Tubular, Ivar The Skateboard Kid.

[@nmarbletoe8210]

How about Eystein the Fart, 8th century king of Norway? Mentalfloss website says, "The epithet “Fart” is usually taken to mean that he was a busybody or loudmouth, although no definitive explanation has yet been found."

[@Gitarzan66]

I must be a descendant King Eystein the Fart. In my youth I was also known as "The Boneless" In my old age I am know as "The Boneless" as well or "The Old Fart"

[@srnigromante9214]

King Alfred is my favorite character in The Last Kingdom, id love if you did a video about the show, i know its mostly fantasy but id love to know how faithful the historical parts are

[@Hotasigva]

A couple of things you brought up is wrong. Scandinavia is far from covered in ice and snow, only during winter and thats only northern sweden/norway, we rarely have much snow in southern sweden and denmark. You spoke of it being authentic yet you did not mention the huge flaws in scenery. 1 Kattegatt didnt excist by name until 17th century(also a dutch name) and it is only a piece of water, not a town. 2 Kattegatt isnt connected to any Fjords as are shown in the series. 3 Hedeby is shown to be close and surrounded by mountains. There are no mountains in denmark, at all, nor any hills near the real location of Hedeby.

[@launderedsilvrr2110]

Manadiart you're responding to a year old comment...

[@simongillaspie3265]

Isn't Finland also part of Scandinavia?

[@stephenbanks9543]

Simon Gillaspie Actually not, they are considered Nordic.

[@chatteyj]

I also assumed 'Vikings' was set in Norway. Where is it suppose to be set?

[@kentnielsen8034]

@@chatteyj denmark ,ragnar is an old danish king from the myths

[@henkvanessen2908]

Another theory for Ivar's agnomen "The Boneless" was that he was very flexible and moved his way through everything during fighting

[@yassir2824]

Another theory is that when ordering at Wingstop, he preferred the boneless wings to the bone-in

[@vicioussteamengine7089]

Na he was LBTQ and have no Boner!

[@wendyHew]

Well he certainly didn't have a chariot

[@cyberspinosaur1145]

I watched one of your videos out of sheer curiosity, and I am HOOKED! You're incredibly knowledgeable, thorough and dedicated to your research, and you explain everything in a way that is easily understandable. I've been binge watching your videos and I'm having an absolute blast learning about all the subjects you cover, I can't get enough! Thank you for your dedication to the channel and sharing the fascinating information you've learnt with us, and I can't wait too see what you review next P.S The snakes in the pit are adorable! They're all constrictors, though, so completely harmless. Obviously they couldn't use real poisonous/venomous snakes, though it'd be funny to see him in a pit full of Western Hognoses, the most adorable non lethal venomous snake on Earth (in my humble opinion. They're tiny little sass noodles)

[@Erikaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

I get irrationally excited when i see a history buffs video in my subscription box.

[@HistoryBuffs]

I get the same excitement when I see comments on my videos :)

[@innesfinlay8932]

+History Buffs Vikings has come!!!!!! Yes. Also can I fight you in total war?

[@skyleonidas9270]

+Jen'Ari-Asha yup

[@innesfinlay8932]

+Sky Leonidas Who are you

[@innesfinlay8932]

+Innes Finlay Is that your steam name?

[@VERTiiGOGAMING]

Would love to see you review HBO's ROME

[@SultanTrk]

+VERTiiGO GAMING Verts!!

[@mipoorboy1478]

Omg!!!! So true!!! Please do it!!! Rome is still my fav show of all time!!!! If u want history, character driven plots, beautiful and gory fight scenes, gorgeous women and men, treachery , men and women fighting morality (the definition of morality being Roman of course) and so so so much more. Plus it has Kevin McKidd. PleAse do it!!! I'll be waiting for this!!!

[@jonathanbaago5312]

Agreed

[@philipofmacedon4403]

agree. love rome

[@Don1ci1cio]

i guess he wont. sigh. i love the show rome

[@SolarDragon007]

I would LOVE if History Buffs reviewed "The Last Kingdom".

[@kristopherriemer4807]

Please this!!! I want to hear a good analysis of that show's historical accuracy! The Alfred in it is so interesting, I hope he's at least based on his historical counterpart.

[@mrhaz8939]

@@kristopherriemer4807 Good news for you, The Last Kingdom are incredibly accurate on Alfred, he was considered to be a fair and just character (as shown) and was the only king to be referred to as the “great”. Even when it appears he is harsh to Uhtred, it is only because he goes by the law. He was acted superbly and it showed the impact it had on everyone once he died, showing the importance that his work would continue on. His dream of a United England was also very true, and the battles (especially in season 1) are extremely accurate, especially the one that’s at the end of the first season. Even against all odds Alfred overcame the Danes in a decisive victory.

[@mrhaz8939]

@@kristopherriemer4807 Also, when Uhtred was alive (the real Uhtred) he did indeed work for the Ethelred, also known as Ethelred the hopeless, because as accurately shown in the show, he had no redeeming qualities as a king. Uhtred himself does actually marry a dane and was the rightful heir of Bebenaburg. He was actually the ealdorman of North Umbria and owned lots of land all over England. Of course not everything is accurate in the show, including the timeline, however many things are surprisingly true.

[@thekolchak7243]

Also I'd like to point out because this annoyed me: Vikings:- Norse raiders Norse:- The ethnic group living in Scandinavia in th 8th & 9th century. Meaning that there were no 'Viking women' or Viking settlements'

[@ethanruigrok7946]

well, some women were viking

[@katrinepetersen2566]

The Kolchak Exactly! It's like if Everyone in the 'pirate era' would be called a pirate, or if we called all japanese people for yakusa. I don't know if This is entirely correct, but I Seem to remember from my school time, that most viking where looked Down upon (You know, due to making a bad reputation for scandinavian travellers)

[@Trailerglotzer]

as were all men under arms back then. what do you think warparties of christian kingdoms did to restock supplies in foreign territory or to gain a little extra? Yep, they raided. And also murdered and raped in the process. That's not a heathen exclusive thing, you know?

[@YABBAHEY1]

Hey Davey, You have any English, Irish or German blood in ya ? They live on in you bub.

[@Brickcellent]

They're all cucks now so who cares

[@JakkieSinner]

This review actually got me into this show, and now its one of my favorites. So thanks for helping me get into Vikings, and also I love the reviews you do. I don't know if you will see this request but I would like to see you do a review on the 1963 film Cleopatra

[@jeanwillemse2662]

On the Ivar subject... They have definitely for sure found the bones of Ivar the boneless... They were massive... So it's now thought he couldn't walk because of severe giantism.

[@davehoward22]

you should do rome

[@Williamstanway]

Rome was my favourite show ever , I love Titus and lucious.

[@Caesar_Himself]

+dave h 1st season - Awesome. 2nd season - meh

[@Williamstanway]

+Caesar Himself yeah the second season was to rushed due to the cancelation of the show, so the plot was shoehorned into one season, I feel it could have gone on longer, but the sets and the accuracy of that show has been hard to surpass , which is probably why it was cancelled because it cost so much . great show and I still thoroughly enjoyed the second season.

[@Caesar_Himself]

William Stanway Yep. It lost its way entirely in the 2nd. Too many uninteresting new characters and odd plotlines that went nowhere. It still had its moments though. Shame there were not more battle scenes as they were very well done.

[@Williamstanway]

+Caesar Himself I also think it was probably James purfoys best role he was great as Mark Anthony and has never really hit the nail with slot his other stuff, the first battle scene really drew me in, it really felt authentic.

[@Palora01]

Viking this, Vikings that, not everyone was a Viking, in fact most people in Scandinavia weren't Vikings, what with all the "Norse-speaking farmers, fishermen, carpenters, and cheese-makers, who spent between none and very little of their time carrying out sea raids."

[@armoredp]

+Palora Correct, Viking was essentially the description of your job. But most people still think it is a nationality or ethnic description.

[@atomiicpunk]

+Damir Pryce Theres some really old runestones in Sweden, where the word Viking is used, as a description of pirates.

[@danishviking8002]

+Palora Well I cant really agree 100% with you guys. This is the way I see it. First of all, here in Scandinavia every single person from the lands of Scandinavia in the viking age (792-1035) are considered vikings. Thats the term of a viking, at least here. Viking - Scandinavian person from between 792-1035 even if it was a farmer, a fisherman or what so ever. Well, the english language is brutally speaking made by latin and old norse. Of course not every word but many of them, fact. I have actually made a dictionary with a sh*tload of english words coming straight from Scandinavia. One of the "words" are -ing. Lots of cities and small towns around here has a name with -ing and the end, or inge. It seems to be that ing has more translations but the most certain must be that it means something like what/where you are coming from, who you are. Since im danish and I know the scandinavian words I cant see how "vik" cant mean nothing but a shore. Some shallow water, coast area. So my conclusion is that the word viking means man/men someone of the shore/ coming from the shore/sea in other words someone in his boat preparing to go on land. And its hard to believe that this has nothing to do with raids but even so viking is the term of all the Scandinavian people living in between 792-1035. Sorry for my bad english.

[@atomiicpunk]

Danish Viking Here in Scandinavia, we don't consider every person who lived in Scandinavia during the Viking age, as Vikings. That's just pure missinformation.

[@danishviking8002]

I work at a viking museum under the danish national museum. Its not "missinformation" at all. But if you mean that the term viking doesnt mean scandinavian person between 792-1035 then what ? Then you mean that there were people that we consider people and others we consider vikings living side by side ? Thats ridiculous. I think everyone allready understands that vikings were not only raiders, but also fishermen, hunters. craftmen, farmers etc... literally everything you could be at that time. So who wasnt vikings in the viking age (792-1035) ???

[@kroninn]

Duke Rollo is one of my Ancestors and great grandfather of mine went with William the Conqueror to England in 1066. We are them. Remember where you come from.

[@lurpakshakur2230]

Lel the M&B artwork

[@15andersh]

+Valdemar Gaardsted Less talk more raiding!

[@MrFjordbak]

that's a nice head you have on your shoulders

[@Biczeschlappe]

+Valdemar Gaardsted It's almost harvesting season!

[@lurpakshakur2230]

My LORD!!!!

[@lourenskaufmann7639]

+Valdemar Gaardsted Dead men tell no tales.

[@itsmetramp]

Great work dude, I am a huge fan of vikings also and love reading the history and stories and such and this was presented perfectly! You deserve more credit :).

[@Luboman411]

At 15:00. Fun fact--the predecessor to the fabulous Louvre Palace in central Paris was first built by the successors of Charles the Bald in the 900s AD to prevent Viking attacks on the city. The Louvre is placed on the narrowest approach along the Seine River leading up to the Ile de la Cite, the heart of medieval Paris. The placement of the Louvre looks northward and westward, the two directions from which Viking raids would come barreling down to Paris.

[@MarekUtd]

13:49 Mount & Blade: Warband game cover.

[@ilyaXshuffler]

Hey, we have to drink from skulls somehow.

[@UrethraCaveDiver]

THAT'S A NOICE HEEAD YOU HAVE ON YOUR SHEWLDERS

[@Aragonstar]

It's almost harvesting season!

[@Potatosteam]

You better not be a manhunter.

[@warwatch]

My lord !

[@madeyouwatch6990]

I think the show doesn't have the Vikings wearing armor because it would be hard to tell who's who

[@andrewofblighty1497]

+Jumping horse productions well there isn't actually much evidence from what Vikings wore, something like only one actual helmet has been found (they found a few rusted to shit ones also), and its the same with mail, even then they are dated to be from like the 900s... they did however have gambeson and leather but like leather was rare because I think it was hard to make, there was also scale armour, which was also dated in like the 900s i believe. but its recorded that Vikings did scavenge armour from battles and used that so yh.

[@andrewofblighty1497]

+Jumping horse productions and that from what i remember so it may not be 100% correct, however we cant actually know for sure anyway because nobody today was alive then

[@prismadew]

There are a ton of helmets. Also, pretty much all art and carvings involving warriors had them all wearing pointy helmets.

[@andrewofblighty1497]

prismadew I did research after this, 1. There isn't a tone of helmets, there are few as I mentioned and 2. Where did you get this carvings had Viking warriors with pointy helmets ? Seeing that there is near to no Norseman carvings with helmets at all, and most if the carvings of Norseman warriors (if you do your research) actually have no helmets at all, most Norseman carvings are of their gods and just story's in runes. I'm not denying helmets existed, just saying there is extremely little evidence of them, that's why there was this horned helmet belief for so long, because they didn't have much evidence. Even the helmets they did have were obviously rare as iron itself was actually expensive during the Viking age, hence why the majority of Norseman used axes, that they would also use for wood.

[@Gilmaris]

+prismadew There has only been one helmet found which dates from the Viking age, and that's the Gjermundbu helmet. From the same find is also the only fragment of maille which can be reliably dated to Viking age as well. The Germundbu helmet is a crude version of a helmet popular in the preceding Vendel age, from which we have numerous finds.

[@Lysander45]

So this was made three years ago, and it'd be interesting to see how you feel about the show given its current stories.

[@geoff2204]

One point about the geographical accuracy of the show. The 'Vikings' this series purports to depict were surely mostly Danes. Yet the scenery of their homeland is decidedly Norwegian. There are no steep-sided fjords or snow-capped mountains in Denmark.

[@TotallyLostSoul]

Despite it's faults, I love Vikings. It's one of the best things on TV at the moment and I'm hooked!

[@meirzamsky]

i heard that the nickname boneless came from him being sneaky like a snake and even tho snakes have bones its not hard to imagine people calling them boneless

[@alriktyrving5051]

Most of the regions of Scandinavia are not marked by "deep water fjords and mountains". Only Norway is. Sweden and escpecially Denmark, where the "real" Ragnar supposedly came from, are quite flat and would at the time have consisted of mostly plain woodlands. Most of the vikings coming to England were actually people from Denmark and what is now southern Sweden, yet vikings in English and American recostructions are almost always portrayed as coming from Norway?! What is that all about? I know, fjords and mountains are beautiful and all, but you have to let it go if you want to be accurate. Ragnar is not based on ONE historical figure but probably at least on two. A Swedish prince of the eighth century namned Ragnar Ringsson and a Danish raider called Reginherus. In the sagas he is therefore described both as the son of a Swedish king and as a Dane. His oldest son Björn the Ironsside supposedly inherited the Swedish kingdom after Ragnars death and became the founder of the old Swedish dynasty, while a younger son named Sigurd Snake- in-the-Eye, inherited Denmark.

[@e.rudsar1633]

Well Sweden had “stormaktstiden”, and Denmark basically annexed Norway for 400 years, so I’ll say we just give it a pass

[@charlesxll7925]

As long as they don't have bloody horns on their helmets it's good enough for me!

[@YABBAHEY1]

Too bad no one told them that they would be depicted w/horns accompanied by Vaugner , bet they would've loved that.

[@CarlosAlbertoZalazar]

Mister Hodges, I used to like learning aboot world history. After watching your videos, I do not like it anymore. Now, I do love it! As soon as I get off my massive credit debt, your channel will be the first one to receive my monetary support. Cheers. I enjoy you channels enormously.

[@AslanW]

Ragnar Lothbrok is what Swedish historians refer to as a "sagokung", which literally translates to "fairy tale king". As far as I know, there's disputes over whether or not Ragnar Lothbrok even was an actual person that existed. Even if he existed, most historians seem to agree that his accomplishments have both been "supplemented" with the accomplishments of other people from the same era; an amalgamation of a multitude of people into a singular character, as well as with completely fictive accomplishments more akin to fantasy. His "sons", however, did exist with absolute certainty, but there's no way of knowing if their father actually was Ragnar.

[@shelbybrown8312]

I read that the French used to end the The Lord's Prayer with "and free us from the Norseman" lol

[@ХристоМартунковграфЛозенски]

Kinda like later in central Europe, where they prayed God to "save us from the arrows of the Magyars".

[@ChaosToRule]

I once sailed on a wooden boat built back in 1904. With all the sails set and favorable conditions it could "only" make 11.5 knots. Great video

[@tavuzzipust7887]

Only started watching Vikings recently. I like it well enough as entertainment. But the portrayal in the second episode of Season 1 of the Celtic monks of late 8th-century Lindisfarne dressed (and tonsured) in the manner of Franciscan friars founded in early 13th-century Italy is a real howler and shows little care for historical accuracy.

[@pierdurin]

+Tavuzzi Pust I thought exactly the same. There isn't much care for showing a good reconstruction of the costumes and location of the christian peoples and the clergy back then. They just seem to make efforts trying to present a familiar and stereotyped image of the christians, instead of of an historically accurate one.

[@dylantennant6594]

Tavuzzi Pust Those were not Celtic priests, they were Saxons. While the Celts lived in England prior to the Viking age, they were driven out by the Saxons into Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The closet place in England that was Celtic, was Cornwall in the south.

[@LazyPeanut01]

14:10 this fucking scene, i swear to god is the best scene in the entire series. That terryfying smile goddamn Ragnar can be terrifying.

[@schishne7546]

True,that was realy terrifying,but also badass

[@camcamcam48]

Watching this after everything happened really made my jaw drop.. you were legit SPOT ON with your predictions...

[@MrAWG9]

How can you expect Hollywood to get Viking dress portrayed properly when they continue to make dinosaurs without feathers and velociraptors over 2m tall?

[@Verdunveteran]

A great Review! But...i really have to question your description of Scandinavia. Deep fjords and mountaineus terrain miht be true for the majority of Norway, but certainly not for Denmark and Sweden. Denmark is almost as flat as a pancake! It's highest natural point above sea level is Møllehøj that is 170,86 meters high. So no mountains there but there are a few fjords. Here in Sweden were I live we do have a few mountains, the highest beeing Kebnekaise at 2099 meters above sea level. It's part of the Scandinavian mountain range running along the border of northern Sweden and Norway. But for the rest we really don't have much mountains, especially not as high and impressive as seen in the show Vikings. Sweden was then and still is a mostly wooded country with a rolling landscape and a few great areas that are very flat. And when it comes to your description of our climate here it's a bit off aswell. Scandinavia is not completely frozen in or snowed over in the Winter, especially not in the southern third of Sweden and in Denmark. I live in Skåne, the most southern province of Sweden and I can tell you that we are lucky (or unlucky depending on ones point of view) if we have one or two continious week with more than 10 cm of snow in a year here. When we get snow it usually rains away whithin hours or days. We actually have so little snow here in southern Sweden and in Denmark that it creats kaos every time we actually recieve a fair amount of snow because there are no real preparation for it so all road or train traffic becomes HUGE problems. And during the Viking era our climate here was actually warmer than it is today so that frozen Scandinavia really depends on were in Scandinavia you lived. In the South of Sweden and in Denmark you would have about the same climate then just as today as in the UK or worthwestern Germany or the Netherlands. In northern Sweden and in Norway however they would have got plenty of snow back then, just as they do today.

[@eskilsolver5102]

Skåne e redigt najs

[@chatteyj]

Indeed I thought the same as he said it, southern Scandinavia is a very similar climate as much of England and also during the Viking era the climate was warmer hence why Greenland is so called. Its something anti climate change people do not like to acknowledge.

[@duder6666]

I stumbled across your videos about a month ago and have been binging them ever since. Fantastic work you're doing.

[@martinemouth-breaker1939]

You should totally review the Last Kingdom!

[@Thriftxxxx]

“Never going to touch on characters like Leif erikson” 5 years later... Vikings Valhalla info showcasing Leif erikson.

[@BergenDev]

"I slayed a dragon to win her hand" Translation; I showed her my slong to win her hand. :P

[@Vairy_2972]

BergenDev He probably killed a crocodile or some such similar giant scaled beast

[@alexman378]

Radman Kurze There are crocodiles in Scandinavia?

[@wolfthornnholtzklau4913]

@@alexman378 maybe maybe not

[@alexman378]

WolfThornn Holtzklau It doesn’t really seem like the go-to environment for crocodiles...

[@seniorscouse3346]

I showed her my slong then put it in her hand

[@madamwinnifer4666]

Thank you for the recommendation. I must check this out. To be honest was expecting wank like Ironclad. Any show that has the balls to make the main characters horrible people, especially in the name of authenticity, has to at least be worth a go. Also that Child Lover part went a completely different direction to what I was expecting.

[@matheusb.dambrowski4639]

ikr

[@revinaque1342]

I just started watching Vikings on his recommendation, and it is fantastic! Normally, I don't have much patience for TV series, but I've been watching 5-6 episodes a night! I'm going to run out of episodes before the week is through. Lol. Totally worth it. Like Sherlock, it's a series that doesn't underestimate the viewers' intelligence.

[@matheusb.dambrowski4639]

Revina Que Yep

[@marypigott5213]

+Revina Que Same here. I started watching last week and am half way through season three..I love historic shows and this one is one of the best I've seen.

[@tonyprimera4308]

can you do Netflix's Marco Polo????

[@MultiB2D]

I'm a Mongolian and i love history, Marco Polo was a good series in my opinion, it got many things right but it got many things wrong too. The cool thing is during the series the background characters are sometimes heard talking in Mongolian for example the guards can be heard saying things like "make way peasant", "the king has arrived". The biggest gripes i have with the series is how Mongolian wrestling is shown, my god is it horrendous, its showing 2 people basically just slapping each other back and forth. In actual Mongolian wrestling, you get up close and personal with one another and try to drop the other to the ground whether it by sheer power or by using techniques. The other thing is that Khublai Khaan never executed his brother Arig.

[@centurionyt4472]

Peter it’s a shame it got cancelled I really liked it

[@ConsortiumOfTheBrain]

Why did it take me so long to find this magnificence, you deserve so much more subs

[@Figgy5119]

have you seen The Last Kingdom? it's another Viking age of England story, but from the point of view of the Saxons, namely Wessex, aka the last English kingdom.

[@rmmario3396]

Whoa...good info to share...I just brought it up and will check out its first season. It got great ratings and it looks like season two is on the way. Thanks for sharing...

[@dartholiver]

here is one review :D /watch?v=vCJUDdEirco

[@sean668]

He even uses clips from The Last Kingdom in the video.

[@elpresidente5767]

1-i will watch the serie 2- the englsih kingdom was created in 1066 by guillaume le conquèrant :3

[@tobiaslindblom2187]

Also known as William the bastard. His great-great-great-great grandfather was Rollo (featured in the Vikings Series).

[@hannahrozenberg3411]

I follow a channel that focuses on Norse Magic and Beliefs, and I learned that the shield-maidens were not like the shield-maidens seen in the show. They were women who actually stood behind the shield walls and held the shields, and of someone lost their shield, they’d run out to give them a new one. The Vikings greatly valued the lives of women, children and the elderly. They never wanted their women to go into battle.

[@ravespartalive6496]

The music ( Ragnars vision -season 4 episode 6) is absolutely outstanding!!

[@BOBBYRIF1]

There may have been inconsistencies...but you gotta admit..it was a badass series!!

[@HammeringHen]

11:00 "Brother Maynard, thatch the holy hand grenade"

[@appendixpower5538]

13:50 oh the mount and blade main menu guy is "the child lover"

[@itchykami]

Vikings got me listening to Fever Ray. That alone won it lots of points.

[@Nana-vi4rd]

I am a descendant of Rollo, and of William the Bastard, I loved this show but no longer can watch not having a TV and can not afford to rent or buy it not even to stream it. I wish someone would make a show about William the Conqueror as well as a truthful one about Edward Long-shanks. His portrayal in Brave-heart could have been better. But then they couldn't have him out do the Hero of the movie could they. Thanks for your upload, can't wait to hear about your opinion once you have watched the next season. Will be anxiously waiting to watch your commentary. Thank you once again.

[@davidmchugh4962]

Ask your grandfather Rollo has he got loot left over for a TV

[@thenickseditious]

dude Athelstan was about to be killed by Rollo and Ragnar told him no this one is mine so yes Ragnar did indeed tell his men not to kill an unarmed priest

[@HistoryBuffs]

The only reason why Ragnar told him not to kill Athelstan was because he could speak Norse. Athalstan's knowledge of England and other western lands were extremely valuable. He didn't save him out of the kindness of his heart. Remember he wanted to sacrifice Athelstan in a later episode

[@thenickseditious]

+History Buffs yea but u said that he didn't try to stop a single priest from getting killed. regardless he did was my point

[@HistoryBuffs]

I said, "We don't see Ragnar step in and stop his men killing innocents," as in more than one person. He let the Vikings kill anyone else except Athalstan who he took as a slave. That hardly counts as him saving his life. My point is that he didn't have that bullshit scene of him being a good guy that we see in every other movie.

[@thenickseditious]

+History Buffs no we didn't have that bullshit I agree and its why I love this show.

[@caesarsalad44]

+History Buffs at first ragnar took Athelstan to use him at his own advantage but than ragnar respected Athelstan and did not wanted his death. so yeah Floki made a wrong decision by killing him.

[@RepublicOfUs]

....Just from this intro, I feel like Nick saw an alternate-reality version of this show.

[@dragob7780]

I'm so glad I found this video AFTER I watched season 4 of The Vikings. Mr. Hodges, your predictions proved to be true!

[@RaccoonAvenger]

I have only one comment. There are No moutains in Denmark. Hedeby is flat, area around Kattegat is flat. Denmark is flat

[@ZigZag-mw9ir]

Kattegat is in Norway... Yes Ragnar was king of Denmark, BUT also Norway. Plus it is in mountainous region.

[@RayB1656]

Kattegat is not a city !

[@mikkellorentzen4301]

I like how you’re showing inaccuracies of the show while still being respectful to its creators.

[@AtlasNL]

When watching the show, I was so surprised that I could understand the when they spoke Anglo-Saxon (?). As it was very similar to old Dutch! Very nice details!

[@davidmchugh4962]

Going even further back Scandinavia ( named after Scania in Sweden) is an area known as the womb of nations along with the Altai mountain region so all Germanic languages and people's originate there

[@tomurg]

Could you please doa review of The Last Kingdom??

[@wishiwascooler]

I thought some of the footage looked like it was from that show! I may have been mistaken though. Love that series so far and the books are phenomenal!

[@tomurg]

wishiwascooler How many of the books have yo read??

[@wishiwascooler]

I think there are 2 or 3 out now that I haven't read, I need to get back to them. He is a fantastic writer and his trilogy of books based on the King Arthur mythology is some of the best I have ever read.

[@panjul-g9h]

lindybeige has review it, go watch it! it's funny

[@tomurg]

+World's Future Leader Seen it, Loved it.

[@snakey934Snakeybakey]

Excellent Video, just a few things to add. Shieldmaidens were never a thing outside of stories. There is no evidence to suggest that Alfred the Great was born out of wedlock. There is no evidence of the English Christians using mutilation as a punishment for adultery. The Christians certainly never used crucifixion as a punishment, they saw it as a noble and saintly way to die. And something very pertinent to seasons 4&5; Bjorn was not the son of Lagertha, but one of the 6 sons of Auslag.

[@Henrik_Holst]

Shieldmaidens was most likely a real thing. We have several graves from the Viking age here in Scandinavia where Women are buried with weapons. And then you have the accounts of Saxo Grammaticus and e.g the Siege of Dorostolon. Scholars are divided on the issue, but "where never a thing outside of stories" is so far not fact either.

[@irishsaint89]

People of status were buried with weapons. The huge gap in physical strength and importance of women for keeping the civilization alive , wouldn’t make sense for them to fight. Think about it, the strongest women to exist are right now bcz of steroids women take. They didn’t have that back then. Women would get get bulldozed. I’m in construction and most women can’t lift jack hammers let alone wear armor and fight men. We need to stop judging history with our values and understanding

[@lakkakka]

this reminded me to check for s5 of vikings, which is apparantly already completely done. Which is awesome because I can bingewatch the whole thing.

[@Swindondruid2]

As a former Viking re-enactor I was so upset at the historical inaccuracies in the first couple of episodes of Series 1 that I never watched any other episodes. But then, I am notoriously petty and pedantic. Looks like I might have to see a few more episodes.

[@Trailerglotzer]

I also have this inner conflict. :D

[@elsakristina2689]

About how in the sagas it says that Ivar the Boneless was born without any bones in his legs, if the theory about him possibly having brittle bone disease is true, then the people writing the sagas and telling the stories by word of mouth before they were written down probably just thought that Ivar did not have leg bones because his legs would have been deformed and twisted from the breaks healing improperly and maybe also from disuse (it is common for sufferers of the disease to break a lot of bones just while being born, and if a person, especially a child, goes without using their legs for years at a time, and also if those legs are broken, the leg or legs will become deformed and atrophied from disuse).

[@pupintheturdiii]

You watched a super cancer Documentary. That fucking Dwarf was a sad little man.

[@shmee123ful]

I just love that part of the review around 14:14 when nick starts talking about Viking terror traits and we see the long boats sailing up the river adorned with mutalated body's and heads. Then we hear the drums and that cord of music that gos buzz that's some pants to be darken moments right there

[@tuxino]

At 11:05 Of course the priests would be killed. They were calling out strange incantations, attempting to summon the assistance of their foreign god(s).

[@lunda2222]

I have to disagree on the "slaughter everybody" thing. Sometimes they raided, other times they traded. But here's the thing: The main commodity they got on their raid was slaves which they sold. The biggest slave port at the time was Dublin. Killing everybody would simply put be wasting money.

[@azm01]

Well 8 years later and leif erikson is the main protagonist in Vikings Valhalla

[@SputnikRX]

The biggest inaccuracy is that there is no such things as "Viking civilization" or "Viking peoples"

[@twitchypaper1391]

SputnikRX it never said so and in fact the characters in the show use the term viking as a term for raider or raiding.

[@myplane150]

This was good. I would love to hear what you think, Nick, about the way the story has continued in season 4. I, personally, hated that they skipped 10 years of so and killed Ragnar this season already. Obviously, they wanted to get on with the stories concerning the sons but, damn, I miss Ragnar.

[@fredlmadatt3846]

Found a new favorite channel

[@ethanriley77]

I love your channel, it's really a pleasure to listen to your reviews. However, I don't understand how you can be so kind with that serie. Especially when the whole story is so messed up: events happen in the wrong order, the main character is some kind of legend, some people coexist with people who should not be alive anymore / born yet. Cities which should not be taken at that time are taken. And most of viking cultural elements are false or unproven. You have doomed to hell certain movies for the same reasons, but here rearranging History is acceptable... Anyway, congrats for your channel!

[@Heidenspross]

like east anglia belonging to wessex... horseshit (and i'm being kind)

[@kwameadu0075]

I 100% agree. It's no better than Braveheart but he trashed that film.

[@ajwestgate3066]

nick you should do a HBO rome review

[@benarmstrong3858]

“This show will never cover famous explorers like lief erikson “

[@robstjw]

Love this stuff! Would love to see you review the accuracy of Netflix’s “The Last Kingdom”. Maybe it’s already been done and I missed it? Anyhow, The Last Kingdom is like Vikings on steroids! I saw that you used some clips, and got excited! Please!!?

[@PointlessSillyName]

"Norsemen" - the Norwegian (mostly in English) comedy series about Vikings on Netflix. I'm sure it's highly inaccurate historically, but it's hilarious to watch Norwegians take the piss out of their own heritage!

[@miccarter1403]

Great use of The Last Kingdom which, brother, you would have a blast going through... A fictional protagonist during one of the coolest parts of history 👌👌👌 I want to see you do THAT show

[@caseyhinkson9043]

I noticed you have a lot of clips from "The Last Kingdom" in this video. I love that show/ book series. Could you review that one please?

[@hemmingwayfan]

Spoiler alerts for stuff that happened 1200 years ago

[@nicolavanrhyn1726]

I was visiting Ecuador and the hotel manager was Swedish and married to an Ecuadorian woman. He used to tell the Viking sagas to his children. He said that he found the accuracy of this series to be phenomenal. Yes, some license used but someone who holds tightly to his heritage, he was so happy to talk about this show. He bought me a book to read about the Vikings but written in Spanish for me to exercise my limited vocabulary. I found it incredible that he tells the sagas to his kids. Pretty violent stories but he wanted to preserve his culture.

[@borrburison648]

Kind of ironic to tell the sagas to his non swedish kids lol

[@Jacob-ge1py]

@@borrburison648 That's not ironic

[@borrburison648]

@@Jacob-ge1py it is though

[@jakelowe4128]

Regards sends his Carmine

[@robertmccutcheon4103]

one slight inaccuracy vikings were not 100% illiterate they were illiterate by choice in that they did not believe in writing down there history and believed that all stories, religous edict and traditions must be told orally. there is some written documents from the vikings but it is only like trade manifests saying so and so has ordered 15 bags of grain he is to deliver x amount of gold in 9 days or something.

[@Trailerglotzer]

Thanks for pointing that out.

[@Heidenspross]

also the norse didn't invent the longship... the saxons used them to get to england in the first place... the norse perfected the longship but didn't invent it dammit!

[@r0b0saurusrex80]

You sir did not disappoint. Great Video! I love this series and have been watching since season 1. Accurate enough for me and while some commenters dont like the depictions of the Vikings I do appreciate the brutality of the Vikings. We living in present day have no idea of what it was like to live back then, to have death at your side always.

[@ritamargherita]

Love your channel, such a nerd fest! Have you thought about doing The Last Kingdom, since you already used material here? :)

[@gilbertotoledo1421]

Where did the moors get Greek fire from? I thought Greek fire was a very closely guarded secret of the byzantine empire.

[@tobbcittobbcit8899]

They did not had greek fire, but they got those cool ulfberth swords

[@gunengineering1338]

On your point about using the sun to navigate. I live in Alaska which is obviously in that northern latitude. The sun behaves completely different up here than further south. In sted of rising in the east, going mostly straight across the sky and setting in the west, the sun spins around the sky at a slant, dipping below the horizon. In the summer it's only below the horizon for a few hours but in the winter it's only above the horizon for 6 or 7 hours during the solstices. And you can also easily tell which month it is by the day and night cycles as they differ considerably every month. So it makes sense that this would be especially useful to ancient people in this part of the world.

[@hammsbeerbearshootingrange3716]

the last kingdom are you going to review that?

[@MrBomasBalloons]

How about "Turn: Washington's Spies" ?

[@gewitterhund3164]

When i started the show i stopped after two episodes. But not for historical incorrectness. I stopped for the language. For example: They depicted as heathens and yet they use words like "January". They used a different calendar until the 12th century. And that is just a small example which rubs me the wrong way. I am fussy when it comes to language...

[@SuperOverlord94]

Not only are your videos interesting to watch, but they give me suggestions on good movies and shows to watch. Now I really need to find a site to watch Vikings. Any ideas on where I can find it?

[@Erikaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

+SuperOverlord94 HBO!

[@jesztheralano3595]

+SuperOverlord94 couchtuner.ch

[@judahlicharowicz5437]

If you have Amazon prime you can watch all the seasons.

[@CleliaSarai]

Hulu

[@675walker]

+SuperOverlord94 putlocker.is all seasons on their

[@whiteoctober4582]

Am I the only one who got pissed when they killed Sigurd Snake-in-the-eye

[@monroecorp9680]

nah sigurd was annoying n dweeby. Dunno what it was, the way he held himself was just... worthy of getting axe'd, y'know? Ivar's way better

[@emillonnqvist5164]

Yeah but he was supposed to become the king of denmark

[@Heidenspross]

@@emillonnqvist5164 and was probably the grandfather of haraldr fairhair...

[@balduran.]

I didn´t mind, after Ragnar died, I knew I am not watching season 5 anyway. But yeah, out of the brothers, Sigurd and Ubbe sometimes were the only interesting ones.

[@thenewenglandcultivator6243]

Yes only 1