The Northman | Canadian First Time Watching | Movie Reaction | Movie Review | Movie Commentary

[@john0constantine]

15:10 About the head of the draugr (undead living inside his burial hill): The historical tales are quite specific that you need to cut off his head and place it to his butt in order to break the magic that keeps him active. So yes, it's totally an authentic thing.

[@patriciajin6206]

I though he was basically tea bagging him irl or something, lol.

[@shoujahatsumetsu]

@@patriciajin6206 It's the religious precursor to teabagging.

[@patriciajin6206]

@@shoujahatsumetsu I see they were very cultured.

[@williampeter6593]

holy fuck xD

[@peterjernebring5728]

The god of erections he's referring to is Freyr, god of fertility, who's his uncle's god of choice. Amleth's god of choice is Odin, which is why ravens come to save him. Ravens are associated with Odin, who had two of them that he'd send out in the world to be his eyes and ears. The "centaur" he made out of the two bodies is actually Odin's eight-legged horse Sleipnir.

[@daveemerson6549]

Such a great insult to Fjolnir. Not only the inter-cult friction, but also a subtle dig at Fjolnir for settling down to be a farmer and worshipping a farmer's god. Such great writing.

[@arthurcamargo8416]

It seems as if Amleth is a úlfheðnar, akin to the berserker (bear skin wearer) except that he wears the pelt or cap of the wolf. A very mystic group also following Odin (same as berserkers), they were known to become "inhabited by the spirit of the wolf" by entering a trance-like state, thus becoming stronger and fearless. That would also explain why he got away with growling like a wolf to the hound, and in other parts of the movie, as well as why he could speak the language of the mystics. Since they followed Odin, it would also explain the ravens....

[@HAbarneyWK]

I guess the mother shooing the ravens (Odin) away is foreshadowing then.

[@marcusaurelius4941]

probably not the "god of choice" but a god he was currently praying to since he had to make a living by farming in Iceland

[@peterjernebring5728]

@@marcusaurelius4941 That's definitely a possibility. Although he does tell the fool "By Freyr, you slander your lord and mistress!" in the opening scene.

[@sardonicsisyphus]

"the weird breast feeding mother from game of thrones" is Kate Dickie who was also in Eggers first movie The Witch with both Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Ineson who are also in this movie. All three came back .. as did Dafoe from The Lighthouse his second film.

[@asriellian3058]

Really shows that actors see the value of working with him, they LIKE him

[@Polyphemus89]

Also, ATJ wanted to be in The Lighthouse but the only female character is the mermaid and Eggers wouldn’t let her do it.

[@KC1976fromDetroit]

Robert Eggers is such a good director, and his movies are so amazing. The Witch & The Lighthouse are MUST WATCH films.

[@pete_lind]

Studio cut and added titles between acts . Robert Eggers cut would be longer . Languages spoken , older slavic and older norse , more close to Icelandic than Swedish , that is altered by latin and germanic .

[@Yora21]

The Lighthouse has Defoe at his weirdest. "Hark, Triton! Hark!"

[@mediumvillain]

I was getting Lighthouse vibes from Willem Dafoe going so over the top

[@arcticwolf6402]

The Witch is my favourite horror movie of ALL TIME.

[@josephamoraz7990]

The witch is one of the best horror films in recent years.

[@edwardsighamony]

The burial ceremony was based almost word for word on an eyewitness account by a Muslim traveler, Ibn Fadlan in the 10th century. He saw this ceremony performed for a Volga Viking chieftain's burial in his book Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North (this is the title of the most recent translation of his travelogue).

[@edwardsighamony]

@XyZ313 he was the inspiration for the character both in the book and the movie.

[@STARGUN8687]

Although most of the time Vikings didn't stab "bride" with knife but instead strangle, sometimes even rape (of course with all respect).

[@Timeisaflat_O]

Speaking of which - I want to see SOMEONE react to “The 13th Warrior.” That movie is so good, and I think George (as a mythology nerd like me) would love it. It’s a retelling of Beowulf.

[@pinkpenzu]

@@STARGUN8687 damn i wonder whats it like to rape with respect

[@Avocado11]

@XyZ313 Based of Crichton's book "Eaters of the Dead". As most of his books are movies or shows.

[@douglascampbell9809]

The only reason this film did poorly was the marketing.

[@arisucheddar3097]

This. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I think I like it, overall, but I went in expecting more action based on trailers and friends' reviews. But of course I was wary because Eggers. There was no way it was going to be true non-stop action.

[@gualacheesesteak]

Proof that box office doesn’t equate to quality 🤷🏽‍♂️ This movie is much better then movies that made $200M+

[@robertcampbell8070]

To be fair, it didn't do well at the box office, but turned a profit due to making money everywhere else and gained a bit of a cult following.

[@goodguykonrad3701]

I'm late to saying something, but it was kind of going to fail inevitably. Eggers puts so much effort into his films that they're well loved by fans of his work, but this film is long and not a typical action thriller. Cinematography, sound design, and striking imagery is not always going to be appreciated by the masses, and it's a revenge story with a protagonist who does awful things. It's gory, long, and vague about its themes. Many people aren't going to see a film for appreciation of well made art, but to be told a story in a way they find entertaining. I like this film, but it's hardly a pleasant film, and it's just not the kind of experience the masses are after. I wouldn't ever want Eggers to change in order to appease the masses, but wanting his style comes with an appreciation of how it's different to the norm, and therefore won't have as wide of an audience. I just wish studios would focus more on making a breadth of films with many different tones so there's something for everyone, instead of pumping all the money into bland films that will consistently make money because there's nothing about them to put people off.

[@tmr3250]

You two are the perfect moviegoers to have appreciated the myth, mysticism, and sword folklore of this historical / fantasy epic. I think you would totally vibe with David Lowry’s The Green Knight.

[@benguensche]

I LOVED the northman without ever knowing the hamlet story…. That being said i was completely lost watching the green knight

[@Chaoskoch]

The Green Knight was hot doo-doo feces that tried to subvert the original saga.

[@kenlangston3451]

Nicole Kidman should get a best supporting actress nomination strictly for her monologue telling Amleth she betrayed his father.

[@ninawildr4207]

Tbe movie and director should be nominated but maybe not because its not woke

[@simonriley4131]

@@ninawildr4207 lol the Northman features a trans character in the movie, and the director prefaced all his interviews by saying how much he hates nazis. He didn't make this one for you anti-SJW stuck in 2016 crowd

[@LacoSinfonia]

@@simonriley4131 there’s no trans character in this film. What are you talking about?

[@stevenhernandeznon-profitf968]

That was metal!!!

[@etepeteseat7424]

To answer a few of your questions, to the best of my ability in a (relatively) short comment, the language they're speaking is literary Old Norse (basically Old Icelandic) with Modern Icelandic pronunciation, except for the Slavic people who get raided, who speak some kind of medieval Slavic, though I'm not sure which language exactly. The "erection" god is Freyr, who Fjölnir worships in preference to Óðinn (Odin). Despite how things are usually explained, Norse religion didn't really have the sort of "god of X" thing that the Greeks, for example, did; Freyr means "Lord" (as in nobleman) and he was associated with fertility, hence the slander. As far as the "beauty" of medieval Norse people, it wasn't so much that they were unusually beautiful, it was that they were unusually clean and well-groomed (at least for Europeans), probably to deal with lice without needing to bathe more regularly than other Europeans (so, maybe once a week or so) in such cold environs. Norse men seem to have typically carried combs on their persons as a matter of course, for instance. Beyond that, medieval Norse conceptions of "beauty" mostly had to do with men being slightly tanned and women being pale, such that they used the word "white" to mean beautiful, apparently with the implication that being physically clean and having unblemished features (as well as other signifiers of wealth, health, and social status) were their primary standard of beauty. If you're interested in the topic more generally, Dr. Jackson Crawford is a philologist and linguist specializing in Old Norse who has a very good KZbin channel which shares his name. He's got hundreds of excellent videos on all manner of topic, including a few directly on The Northman, including a nearly hour-long interview with one of the Old Norse advisors on the film. Oh, and also, the depiction of magic in the movie is entirely in keeping with contemporary ideas of magic. They just didn't have all of our preconceptions about what magic looked like. Even with the amanita muscaria, they just saw that as poison, and to them, why couldn't a poison carry intent? The conditions on the use of the magic sword, especially, are particularly in keeping with Icelandic legendary sagas and such. Heimir's head speaks in voice over because it's implied that he's speaking through the seiðmaðr's (translated in the film as he-witch) mouth.

[@shanethornsbery9484]

That ending sword fight has got to be the most metal sword fight of all time.

[@grendelz]

I love this movie so much, I saw it twice at the theater. I just got back from Iceland and its even more beautiful than portrayed here.

[@Justin_Leone]

I also went to Iceland this year, and hope to go back some day. It's a shame they weren't able to actually film the movie there (apparently due to Covid), but I noticed some of the landmarks (Reynisdrangar, Hekla, and Svínafellsjökull in particular) that they used for establishing shots and background elements.

[@klocka88]

"We did this to eachother, for thousands of years", bro, we still doing this shit to eachother

[@ShutterSnapped]

I love how the movie deals with the fantastical and mysticism aspect. It balances the history and the storytelling of the Eddas. The Draugr fight specifically embodies this I think. The movie is told like a myth would be told, or how a bard would regale a king with a story. With embellishments of battles and the mist of the god's influences and magics. If Amleth was a king later in his life and lived. The obtaining of the sword would probably be told as we see the fight but in reality he would have just grabbed the sword under the moonlight.

[@jagdtony]

My favorite thing of the movie is the transitions to a new setting. It felt like I was watching a play and I loved it

[@hettbeans]

YESSS I've been waiting for my preferred reaction channels to watch this. Saw it twice in theaters. Huge Viking age history enthusiast and Norse mythology enthusiast and thoroughly loved this film.

[@silentassason]

Before I saw this a reviewer i watched said this is similar to "The Green Knight" in the sense if you don't know the lore or mythology behind what is happening in the movie you might miss things which I'm all about. I have been in an amateurish nature studying Norse mythology and loved how it plays in this movie. Great reaction y'all so happy y'all enjoyed the movie. I can't tell if the subtitles were in the one yall watched because there were certain parts in the theater that were still subbed like ATJ's prayer on the boat and the berserker ritual

[@benguensche]

I found myself noticing a lot of details that jordan peterson talks about (the shamanic rituals)

[@AlasdairGR]

It's honestly sad that both the Green Knight and this haven't performed phenomenally at the box office, because that unfortunately makes studios believe these kinds of films aren't worth making. I really hope despite that, they still inspire a lot of studios and filmmakers to tackle more slowburn and arthouse fantasy and historical films.

[@AM-cs2vz]

The language at the end is Old Norse, which is pretty close to Icelandic.

[@TRHardware]

The Berserker scene was done very close to realism. Berserkers went do trans state of mind and fought barely naked. They were always the ones to instill fear to the enemy just before fighting.

[@silent-trouble]

I heard in an interview, eggers actually wanted some of them to fight naked, but he was not allowed to... because naked people... you know... you "cant show that"...

[@pete_lind]

@@silent-trouble They were as naked you can get and not be X rated , they were wearing thongs , Alexander Skarsgård got to keep his thongs after filming .

[@sunslap]

yeah went full trans and ran around naked

[@nitrokid]

I mean, if you see a screaming, naked ripped dude caught a spear mid air and throw it back at you, you better vacate the battlefield. Or at least soil your drawers.

[@devinwhite5064]

@@nitrokid "VACATE THE BOWELS!!!!"

[@KrazyCash]

Absolutely loved seeing this movie in theaters. It comes out on 4k release next week!

[@VilleHalonen]

Nice one! You totally got the same things out of it that I did. George's ecstatic face :chefskiss: Totally agree about the documentary feel as well.

[@Johannicus]

Did you see the possible werewolf in the family tree? If you look at the back of the family tree you see a person with a wolf head. Sure it could be a pelt like they used in the attack but it looks more like a full head than just the upper part.

[@s.p..smdness8748]

I've seen the movie 3 times in theater (only did this twice in my life) and I didn't noticed that. Awesome detail, thank you !

[@beneficent2557]

Fenris?

[@helvete_ingres4717]

24: 39 - I had a different reading of that shot, which is that he sees her run from *him* ie. a being driven by vengeance and violence, and at that moment we see him for the first time lose his combat prowess as he has some semblance of realisation that the endpoint of his vendetta is dying alone

[@StuartDootson]

The voice at the start reminded me of the band Heilung, who feature (in part) a Scandinavian throat singing - their inspiration is Norse pagan tradition, with instrumentation using bones, antlers, wood - all old stuff (apart from their amps & stacks!). Their live album, Lifa, can be found on KZbin & is a bit of a trip… kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmKlpH5_hZmoj68 Edit: apparently the film’s trailer featured Heilung - makes a lot of sense…

[@joshkresnik6402]

Heilung are absolutely incredible from the throat singing as well as Maria Franz absolutely beautiful voice and the traditional instrumentation

[@jesseashmore8426]

17:50 Vikings did used to kill each other in games. It wasn't considered murder because the player could've quit at any time. They had severe PTSD from raiding and battling that games like this very quickly turned into a blood bath.

[@ChiefAWES0ME]

Awesomeness! I watched this yesterday as well! Flippin good movie! I dig the mysticism as well. Being Native American, we have our share of it. It always makes me wonder how many cultures have similar mysticism in history when they have never met. Aweosme movie, awesome reaction.

[@honkenbonker]

Once again it is shown that there is nothing more valuable than having a flock of ravens to do your bidding.

[@4W0RD5]

8:29 "we did this to each other, for thousands of years" Yeahhhh pretty sure we still do

[@Ochnoe123]

Please watch The 13th Warrior with Antonia Banderas too eventually.

[@devlinallistair5147]

Did she finish you or bring you back to life?

[@jamesheasley2980]

The language that aren't English: the Viking chants were in Old Norse, while Anya Taylor-Joy's "curses" are in Early East Slavic.

[@somestuff7876]

Only East? I could swear I heard some Polish in there. But not much. I don't know how authentic they went with her character, cause I could understand surprisingly alot of her speech. So I'm assuming they cut corners here with interjection of modern versions of Slavic languages. She did great job with rhythm and intonation.

[@ravenwulfgar]

Starting @6:19, Amleth is not a Berzerker, he's one of the Ulfhednar. The term Berzerker comes from the word Bearsark or Bear Shirt. They wore Bear Pelts and the act you see around the fire is all of them "going berzerk" or entering into a trance-like state with the attitude of an attacking bear. The Berzerkers were shock troops. They were sent in to cause total chaos. The Ulfhednar were called "Wolf Skins" for the same reason the Berzerkers had their name. The Ulfhednar were sent in to perform surgical strikes and they were far more tactical which makes them even more scary as they had a single-minded objective. So when you see Amleth skulking around like a wolf, that's because he is in total wolf mode. Anything else you'd like to know? Feel free to ask. Love this movie.

[@morpho5539]

The lighthouse has more Dafoe, it’s another great movie by Robert Eggers

[@tomlangdonec]

I didn't know The Lighthouse was an Eggers movie, I haven't got around to it yet, but I'll be sure to now!

[@monarchisto]

I think we can mark The Lighthouse as the beginning of our current Dafoe Renaissance.

[@Aragonsdick5170]

Yeah..it's one of the most philosophical movies ever made. Plus the two characters (Dafoe and Pattinson) are reflections of two mythological characters -Poseidon and Prometheus.. constantly clashing against their powerful, charismatic personas as the underlying virtues..Eggers is such a genius in his handling of mythology. I can't wait for his next one.

[@NathanJasper]

Probably the most authentic Viking film ever made

[@starlord3496]

No No No

[@obijuankenobi5053]

Yeesh idk about that

[@Fedorevsky]

No.

[@NathanJasper]

Stop saying No and give me examples of better ones.

[@Fedorevsky]

@@NathanJasper The Icelandic Raven Trilogy Hrafninn flýgur (The Raven Flies) (1984), Í skugga hrafnsins (In the Shadow of the Raven) (1988) and Hvíti víkingurinn (White Viking) (1991) and even the Norwegian film Sigurd Drakedreper (The Littlest Viking) (1989) which is a family film about growing up as a boy in a Viking village as the son of a Jarl (Village Chieftain) are all more authentic than The Norseman which itself is pretty good in that regard. These are just the first that came to mind, I'm sure there are more. While I applaud the attempt at authenticity in the making of The Norseman it's certainly not the first time someone attempted such a task and these other films were not burdened by a large Hollywood budget and the pressure that comes with it to entertain a large international audience.

[@Codemaster1138]

I loved this movie, being familiar with the mythology and a love of this really grounded fantasy stuff makes it my favorite eggers movie

[@jacoblofthus7908]

I'll never get tired of Simone's nervous laugh.

[@thebeast5054]

I loved this movie, I was comparing it to Conan The Barbarian when the trailer came out and then the director came out telling in interviews that he used Conan as inspiration for this film. You can see a lot of scenes that showcase the similarities👏 Such a shame this movie didn't do good at the box office.

[@riveraharper8166]

it didn't? :( It was hell amazing and unique!

[@killgoretrout9000]

FWIW It actually did better at the box office that the studio expected and was the #1 streaming movie in the US for a couple of weeks when it was $20 to rent, so it's numbers should be better than just it's box office. I really want the sequel about the Slavic Saga of a Maiden King.

[@lfo784]

The language Amleth starts chanting in is Old Norse, which modern day Icelandic is descended from.

[@_Tim115]

If you liked this then Robert Eggers period supernatural horror movie the The Witch also with Anya Taylor-Joy is worth checking out. For a more modern psychological horror Last Night In Soho is worth a watch again staring Anya Taylor-Joy.

[@LoganAlbright73]

Agreed! The Witch is my favorite horror film of the last decade, and Last Night in Soho was my favorite horror film of last year.

[@EC-dz3fb]

Agreed! "The Witch" scared the bejeezus outta me! 𝐒𝐨 well done. And I read somewhere that it "delightfully disturbed" Stephen King a 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐞 amount; said it was weeks before he felt the scary fog of it finally vacate. 🙀

[@_duckington3573]

we need more films like this, but for every ancient culture on earth. be it sagas or folktales or legends, fictions or otherwise. this and macbeth (2015) is my favorite kind of visual poetry.

[@andresantiago7164]

Have you guys ever watched the movie 13th Warrior (1999) with Antonio Banderas? great suspense and nordic myths

[@joshuaciresoli2927]

I loved the inclusion of the Wolf cultism that was a fringe Norse group. The ravens were considered to be the messengers of Odinn, based on Hunin & Thunin (Odinn's ravens). There is a ton of references to the mythology of the Norse in this movie.

[@sidekicknick4152]

I would just like to take this time to point out that this fantastic movie bombed at the box office. This is why we can't have nice things

[@FullMetalB]

@@GORYGOLD hahahahaha

[@nicholaslindsey7087]

But it’s doing very well on VOD, so at least there’s that silver lining.

[@nubbin0036]

Loved this one! Absolute chaos and I enjoyed every minute of it. Reminded me a lot of The Green Knight just with Norse Mythology instead of Arthurian legend.

[@jacksonmay153]

Saw this in the theaters! it was awesome!

[@vivianele5641]

The last combat scene is super epic

[@dirufanboy1971]

God damn - George is KILLIN' it with these thumbnails.

[@john0constantine]

25:15 The sword not been able to be unsheathed is weird if you just watch The Northman. I think it's a nod to the Legend of Amleth: It is a major plot device there. Amleth pretends to be a mad imbecile at court to stay alive. So they fix his sword to the sheath because he keeps waving it around and they don't want anyone to get hurt. Later he switches it with the sword of his uncle to be able to win against him.

[@JBROisUNDEAD]

I had more than a few "spiritual" moments while while watching this in the theatre. Especially in the final act. Got me ridiculously emotional.

[@TheNeonParadox]

My reaction to this movie was mixed, but only because I can be way too pedantic about some things. It was gorgeous, well-adapted, well-paced, and well-acted, and for that I loved it. But for anyone interested in learning more about the source material, check out reviews from either Dr. Jackson Crawford or Ocean Keltoi. Both have tremendous reviews of the movie with great historical literary input.

[@rorytribbet6424]

This movie was just so good. All around just an example of excellence. It’s not like gonna go down as one of the best of all time or anything, but it is just a super quality piece of filmmaking

[@Tr0nzoid]

I barely pay attention to new movies. Yesterday, I saw a reactor I follow do a video for a "Vikings" show and I watched it even though I haven't seen the show. It just didn't feel "viking" enough for me and I came upon this movie and watched it immediately. This is the ferocity that comes to mind when I think of Vikings.

[@Smallwoodenduck]

Great vid. Wasn’t Arrival supposed to go up?

[@Kissamiess]

That bit when he takes the sword from the skeleton and it falls apart, like it was the sword that was holding it up, is very reminiscent of the Conan film too.

[@RetroRanter]

Im so glad I found this channel, I love this movie and I loved this reaction! Annnd you mentioned you watched Conan so I know what reaction I'm watching next. 🤣 keep up the good work!

[@jameshughes7946]

Fun fact, young Amleth also played young Bruce Wayne in The Batman

[@devlinallistair5147]

The last fight might be the most METAL thing I've ever seen.

[@vivalibertasergovivitelibe4111]

One thing the movie did incredibly well is clothing. Finally there were (mostly) not vikings in biker gear but they were actually wearing beautiful wool tunics over the linen tunics, coats and puttees. And lets not forget all the beautiful broaches. This movie really made my reenactor heart happy :)

[@yellowdevil8396]

watched it at the cinema with my family. it was a wild ride.

[@eh4907]

Hell yes! Thank you for reacting to this and I hope more people follow suit.

[@chrisduff503]

Wow, George loved this one! I thought it was an amazing film having seen it twice in the cinema, but maybe I'm biased as it was shot over here in Northern Ireland very close to where I live. Great reaction! And yes, The lighthouse and Witch are must sees.

[@Xenotric]

What a trip! I love how mythological it is while also showing it being mostly drug trips and BS!

[@lowellhuesers5366]

Just saw.this in the theater, an hour ago. This is THE most Viking movie I could ever imagine! I'm ready for Valhalla! ARRGGH!!!

[@riveraharper8166]

Willem Dafoe was indeed epic. "Hello Puppy!" :D

[@ThistleAndSea]

Good one, S&G! Loved this movie. Feral! Thanks for sharing it. 🙂

[@bottlecaps2741]

You should check out the music group Heilung if you like all the mysticism.

[@Primo_Luca]

Someone said that The Northman is just Conan The Barbarian for cinephiles, it just makes me love this movie even more

[@LOLWATZOR]

Amleth never quite figures out how docks work in this film.

[@marshwalker8322]

Just go and look at all the history channels that cover Vikings, most of them are saying this is the best depiction of Vikings on the big screen they've ever seen.. which is no surprise because it's Robert Eggers.

[@fancyhat6505]

Notice how this story is basically Shakespeare's Hamlet, in fact Hamlet is based off of this viking Saga. What do you get if you move the H in Hamlet to the end?..

[@kaizen5023]

15:10 Sticking the severed head between the legs of the dead -- it may have been seen as a way of ensuring that the warrior's spirit would remain with their body. Appropriate in this case so the dead warrior he took the sword from wouldn't come back after him.

[@Aaron-io8vw]

One of Alexanders brothers Gustaf played Floki, the Viking explorer who discovered Iceland on the tv show Vikings on History channel

[@mastereppsreturns6586]

This movie feels like a lot like a videogame 9:20 13:35 It's like he's interacting with NPCs in cutscenes to get him to the next checkpoint. "You must find the true sword owner" 14:54 then he has to fight the boss to unlock the undead sword

[@Josh86_925]

For Hollywood , it's very accurate to Viking history & mythology.. to the language , jewelry , armor , beliefs and rituals about as close as u can get. Even the sets. Some of the sets are real vikings towns from like the 9th or 10th century that are tourist attractions.

[@Aaron-io8vw]

Language is Old Norse, the equivalent of Old English to Modern Norwegian

[@idhunepijl1404]

Fun fact: My name is actually based on one of those Viking/Norse myths/sagas! Love this movie. Expected a little more large scale battles but it was still Great! 😎

[@idhunepijl1404]

Oh by the way as far as I understand it “dog” and “bear” are sort or like ‘ranks’ in viking military/social structure 🤓

[@Trowa71]

@@idhunepijl1404 Is Bear/wolf and Beowulf connected?

[@morendin12319]

Thats cool 👍 we have a traditional name called Idun here in norway probably from that?

[@idhunepijl1404]

Yea exactly!

[@Kuhmuhnistische_Partei]

@@idhunepijl1404 Do you have source suggestions for the military rank thing? Because I don't think they even had the concept of a structured military. Or a military. They were mostly dudes with weapons and the command structure was based on the social hierachy. Slaves (fighting for their master), free men (fighting for their jarl), the jarls (fighting for their king) and the king who was originally just a jarl with extra rights. And they would eventually further divide those groups in inexperienced/young warriors and experienced/older warriors. There were also hersirs, but they mostly existed at the west coast of Norway. They were originally wealthy farmers, but became something like military commanders during the viking age. They lead around a hundred men, plannend and organized raids and were subordinate to a jarl or king. Later after the decline of the viking age it became mostly a title for farmers with a lot of land.

[@makerstudios5456]

It’s Hamlet but his “Timon and Pumba” phase was being a Viking berserker in Russia.

[@eZTarg8mk2]

delayed watching this til i'd seen the film myself XD If you want to see Nicole Kidman similarly dark, the movie Dogville is an interesting , though not easy, movie to watch. filmed on an empty soundstage with the town marked out in tape on the floor, like a giant floor plan.

[@wonkothesane8691]

@00:25 That's called ''Stalking'', by the way...lol! It's also listed as fucking awesome! Makes the original ''Conan, the Barbarian'' movie look like an episode of ''Mr. Rogers''!

[@Kuhmuhnistische_Partei]

That berserker/ulfhednar ritual is based on a bunch of depictions, probably mostly the torslunda plates which are actually from around the 6th to 8th century, so probably older than the actual "viking age" which started towards the end of the 8th century and at least 100 years before the story of the movie. The director took a bunch of different Norse rituals and mythological scenes and kinda threw them together. It's also kinda funny that they performed the ritual we mostly know from Swedish artefacts in the land of the Kievan' Rus while the whole ship burial thing is based on a record about the Rus' vikings. Those originated mostly from Sweden, but they were quite a cultural mix between different Scandinavian people and the local slavs and probably had influences from Eurasian steppe nomads as well. The lamellar armor the "evil brother" wears during the killing of the king for example is a type of armor the vikings probably bought from Eurasian steppe people or Byzantine merchants. We have finds of that armor from Birka and some from Rus' vikings, but there is no evidence that armor was actually worn in battle. Maybe those armor sets were just wallhangers. ;) But that makes the use in the movie kinda appropiate. Because it's not really a battle, it's an execution and the guy wanted to look as impressive as possible. And I really loved the draugr scene, I suppose that's how a Dark Souls movie would look like.

[@kaizen5023]

15:40 I think this battle with the dead warrior was much like Empire Strikes Back when Luke faces vader in The Cave where the Dark Side is strongest. This is part of the Hero's Journey, "The Cave."

[@radianteclipse75]

Coming out of the movie theatre, I came out wanting to listen to Eluveitie: Uis Elveti. I know completely different nations but it just hit me while seeing them all screaming, fighting or just in general. the whole nature. it just made me think of that song.

[@terrylandess6072]

I consider this a 'director's movie' as the visuals alone are very specific. Once finished watching the simple plot moves along slowly upon reflection. Anyone interested should look into the 3 types of Vikings: Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, as the differences are not subtle.

[@kalskirata9075]

So I wanted to point out when the uncle was doing the ritual when he was bringing in the hay that was not random specs of blood he actually had the armband covered in blood just like his father did in the beginning except he was wearing the white shirt and he wasn't bare chested like Ethan hawke was... And Freya if I'm ever correctly was a goddess of fertility

[@danielfierro6694]

This is definitely becoming my favorite react channel.

[@Zseventyone]

“Eye-to-skull ratio.” Nice one, George.

[@danielwilliamson6180]

32:47 The Northman is a classic. A vengeful Viking warrior prince masquerades as a slave so he can get his revenge on his evil uncle who killed his father when he was a boy.

[@kernowarty]

Shakespeare was inspired to write Hamlet after reading this old Norsk story.

[@Laveluvcrew]

I think Abs and stuff was the working title! 🤣

[@Punkanova]

I remember seeing this in the theatres and I just kept thinking OMWTFAMIWATCHING?!

[@MortPure]

Now let's hope everything goes well for Eggers's remake of Nosferatu!

[@kyparnx]

I am literally sitting 50 meters from a real Viking village - this is so cool 😎 😎

[@Alex-vx5ql]

At the burial, vikings are buried with the things they will need in the afterlife, so slaves, weapons, horses, jewelry and misc. other items. So if you look at archeological photos from excavated viking graves you will often find those items laying next to the body.

[@richardrobbins8067]

28:25 some damn good acting I remember rewinding it to see what she says, but that's some anguish right there.

[@michellepeters7066]

Please watch "The Neverending Story"!

[@franciscoR.]

Thank god you guys enjoyed this movie, I thought I was the only one.

[@N0031inq]

the whole Scandinavians are attractive because of taking attractive thralls / slaves is pure fiction haha. 90% of all slaves taken by Scandinavians where other Scandinavians and Germanics. Also beauty is subjective ofc.

[@oz30ification]

Airsick Lowlander!!! I love the shirt, George. I literally just restarted the series for like the third time.

[@The_KlaVra]

Ari Aster and Robbert Eggers are pushing the cinema forward SO FUCKING HARD! Hereditary and Midsommar are fucking TOP tier horror movies! And he has a movie supposedly coming out this year called Dissapointment Blvd and he said On June 1, 2020, Ari Aster said his next film would be a four-hour long "nightmare comedy". And Robert Eggers with The Witch and The Lighthouse, two amazing movies, one more weird than the other AND NOIW THIS! I love this timeline...

[@aidanfarnan4683]

There are little touches in this film that I love: The costumes are not period perfect, they need to be way more colourful, but they are good for a movie, particularly the slimy older son and his nice wrap-tunic. The catch-and-return a spear was a big thing berserkers boasted about being able to do, to the point that some people switched to throwing axes for fighting against them, specifically because they were harder for people to catch mid-air. The Sword and Helmet of the Barrow Lich are not Viking but earlier Migration period weapons, implying that the guy has been there a long time. Specifically, the sword is Modelled on a Vendel period ring or oath-sword found in a ship burial at Uppsala in Sweden: Germanic kings gave rings to people when making oaths (hence why rings are still given at marriage) and at one point it became a fashion to have a ring built into the hilt of your sword to symbolise your oaths to serve your king and gods. The Valkyrie looks like she is wearing braces: that’s because the Jomsviking and some other military units in the Viking period cut groves into their teeth and dyed them blue to get this look. We’re not sure why, possibly just because it looked metal as f8ck and intimidated people. The slave about to be sacrificed and the ship burial looking over the doorway and saying she sees here dead ancestors waiting for her is based on an account of a Rus Viking funeral from the Arab traveller and scholar Ahmad ibn Fadlan, who was writing in this exact period. To be honest, while we don’t know exactly what the Norse or Slav mysticism in this period was like, this is a pretty good interpretation form the sources and material evidence we do have. Great reaction, hope to see more.

[@simonriley4131]

The costumes were colorful, the movie was just desaturated in post

[@CleanUpOnIsle7]

i believe their daughter wearing the crown is gonna be olga of kiev

[@BadWisdom523]

Anyone said how similar this is to the play Rosencrantz and Guildentstern are dead? I’m off to watch The Lion King now and then cook up some ham in a pan of whisked eggs. I call it a Hamlette .