Vikings: 10 Major Flaws Of The Show That Fans Chose To Ignore

Despite being a production of the History Channel, Vikings isn’t all that historically accurate. But what are the biggest errors that fans ignore?

You Are Reading :Vikings 10 Major Flaws Of The Show That Fans Chose To Ignore

Despite receiving criticism for being historically inaccurate in terms of physical culture and set design, the fans of the show Vikings have let the errors slide in favor of the intense drama and gore. But some flaws are of course, too difficult to ignore in a show this elaborate.

For instance, the costumes on Vikings have often been criticized for being too modern and stylized for the early Norse period. Even some architecture and dates do not add up, and yet fans simply chose to move beyond it. Here’s just a few glaring errors that fans did not notice on the historical drama.

10 The Vikings Never Called Themselves Vikings

In Old Norse, a ‘víkingr’ is a person traveling for adventure, while ‘víking’ was a verb that referred to the activity of traveling. However, the term ‘Viking’ in reference to a populace was only revived in the late nineteenth century to refer to the sea-faring Scandinavian Norse people.

The etymology of the term ‘Viking’ has been widely debated by scholars over the years, however, there’s no evidence that the Vikings referred to themselves as Vikings, and the show possibly used the term to communicate with its audiences more effectively.

9 The Characters Use Modern Quotes

It was obviously not possible for the writers to stick to bona fide Norse vocabulary, but the show relies too much on modern phrasing. Lines like ‘You give the gods too much credit,’ or the common quote ‘waste your time,’ are all post-Shakespearean inventions that sound odd in a show set in the late 8th century.

It’s also important to note that the show follows Swedish Vikings who will go on to establish themselves in modern Russia and Belarus, so their Anglicized vocabulary does not make sense at all.

8 Gets Thor’s Mythology Wrong

Thor’s mythology has been modified quite a bit so he could be styled like a comic book hero; in the MCU Thor can actually channel his powers via his hammer Mjölnir. But authentic Norse mythology and Viking history is very clear on how Thor’s powers were perceived and how he created thunder. Which is why it’s really weird why the show got it wrong.

The show states that ‘thunder occurs when Thor smashed his hammer into an anvil,’ which is really inaccurate. According to Thor’s backstory, which has been confirmed by several researchers, Vikings widely knew that Thor traveled in a chariot drawn by goats named Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. It was the wheels of the chariot that made thunder.

7 There Was No Russia In 9th Century

This error was a rather glaring one, because a simple Google search can tell anyone that Russia’s modern name was only coined in the 15th century. Originally, the term Rus, which is a Greek word, referred to the people and regions of the Kievan Rus.

In season 6, Ivan the Boneless is planning to head to Russia, and the country is mentioned several times on the show, which is quite bizarre because Russia is clearly a modern name. The Old Norse word for the region which the show was referring to would be Garðaríki.

6 Their Mode Of Attack Was Very Different

The Vikings have a reputation for their prowess in warfare and battle, however, Norse men were believed to work in well-organized, stealthy attacks and not full-blown rampages as shown on the show.

The Vikings usually relied on planned ‘raids’ to ambush the enemies; since Vikings raided a lot of monasteries and religious houses, a coordinated ambush in the dead of the night was their go-to tactic because no one saw it coming and they could plunder a lot of booty. The show depicts the Vikings as out-and-out warmongers who were big on pitched battles, which is not entirely accurate, they were used to bloodshed but weren’t all that rudderless about it.

5 The Inaccurate Helmets

Combat helmets were a big part of the fighting suit during the time when the show is set. However, the show doesn’t get the headgear detailing right. On the show, the Vikings, firstly, do not wear any headgear at all, which is quite strange because Norse fighters usually protected their heads during battle or raids.

Moreover, the soldiers of Wessex were seen wearing Spanish-style Morion helmets, which are an upgrade on the Spanish kettle hats, but hadn’t been made till the late 16th century.

4 Crucifixion Was Not A Thing

In the second season, the Christian monk Athelstan is captured and crucified by orders of a Christian bishop in Wessex, but there are no historical records of Christians using this form of execution at this time or place.

This was a particularly glaring error, because history largely suggests that Emperor Constantine officially outlawed crucifixion in the 4th Century, so not only would it be unthinkable for Christians, but by the 8th or 9th century a crucifixion was considered rather anti-Christian. So, it’s possible that crucifixion was introduced on the show purely for dramatic purposes, and weirdly enough most fans didn’t think it was inaccurate when the episode was first aired.

3 The Costumes Were All Over The Place

The costume department clearly got a bit too carried away with the possibilities of the grunge Viking look; the problem with the clothes on the show is that it tries to fit into an aesthetic and not into history. For instance, many characters were seen wearing leather pants that were styled quite modernly.

Leather breeches weren’t a thing until the 18th century when it was widely made a part of hunting attire. Even some of the capes and chain mail armor were styled to be flashy and stylized and not accurate historically, and surprisingly the fans are for the most part, quite indulgent with this aspect.

2 The Usage Of The Term England

The show makes several references to the English isles and actually uses the word England, however as it is widely known, the term England was coined much later.

The land known as Brittania, which literally means ‘land of the Britons’, was known as Anglia according to late tenth century texts. In the 5th and 6th centuries, Anglo-Saxons lived in many fragmented small kingdoms and the countries of England, Scotland and Wales corresponded to boundaries of the earlier Roman Britain, and most importantly, England wasn’t a unified country at all.

1 The Buildings Are Too Elaborate

The buildings and fortifications on the show are simply too elaborate for pre-Medieval Scandinavian architecture. In spite of being designed like Norse structures, the buildings have too much work going on.

Early Norse structures were mostly simplistic single-room halls, with a central fire pit and most importantly, the concept of different rooms wasn’t a thing in regular households, since fragmentation based on privacy wasn’t prioritized. Ragnar and Lagertha’s house appears to have more than three rooms, and even a separate room for children, which is really inaccurate considering their home was quite humble.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/vikings-major-show-flaws-fans-ignore/