The Northman (Norse Expert's Thoughts) 

It's so weird having a Cowboy teaching you about Vikings.. but the good doctor does appear to know what he's talking about

Jackson had a really difficult time trying to explain that he's not a viking weeb

I know it pained you to descend the mountain and enter a movie theater, but thank you. Love your takes on this stuff.

I was incredibly saddened by what you said there at the end. Your work does matter! It was what got me into Old Norse history and saga literature, which I’m currently studying on a study abroad programme in Norway. Not only that, but your content was also one of the first things I discussed with my partner that made us bond (my first gift to him was your translation of Havamal) so it also has a personal significance to me. All I’m saying is, your videos and your books have had a huge impact in popularising the linguistic/literature side of the Viking Age, and it’s a lot better content than any tv show or movie would be.

I gotta say, I find your take on not just this movie, but pretty much any Norse related mass media to be incredibly refreshing. The fact that your not drawn to this era by weapons or armor definitely or by fetishizing the period is one of the main reasons I watch your channel.

I was attending UCLA when you were teaching classes there. I was a dual major in Archaeology and Film, and had some elective credits to spare in both my senior year. I had to choose between your Old Norse class to go towards my Archaeology electives, and one on the American Westerns to go towards my Film electives. I chose the Western and my final was presenting a detailed criticism and analysis of filmmaking, themes, and cultural context of The Searchers. Ever since finding your RU-vid channel I've thought about how I should've taken your class instead, but now I think John Wayne's Ghost might've punished me as well.

I disagree. You have a great impact on people's understanding of these things, maybe even greater than a movie like this. You do a fantastic work.

As a swede, it makes me so happy to hear an american say ”Alexander Skarsgård” properly! The ”Å” is very important

One thing I often tell my friends when discussing historical media is whether or not it feels *authentic* rather than historically "accurate". To me there's a big difference between these terms; something can feel true to an aesthetic or theme without having to cling desperately to the reality of the past as we understand it. This is why I really enjoy things like The Northman, or HBO's Rome, or Apocalypto - I know that experts can tear them apart like this, but they really do feel like the creators were deeply inspired by the eras in which they're set. For me that's often enough to enjoy something.

What makes me happy is that there were like 15 Viking/ medieval experts on set at all times. Robert wanted to make sure it was as accurate as possible (with a few changes like haircuts)

I loved this movie, but I have no interest in living like a viking, or seeing violence up close. I actually enjoy laughing at people who fancy themselves modern day vikings. I think the best things about the movie for me were the mystical, surreal bits. The visions, hallucinations, the draugr, and so on. The ravens at night were clearly an allusion to godly intervention, to me; the main character 'controlling dogs' seemed to be some supernatural trait of a berserker. In the end what matters to me is the artistic experience. I don't think you're bitter or jealous, and I appreciate your video. I watched the whole thing and I think it's fine to have different opinions on the movie.

Thanks for giving in and doing this review, Jackson. I think I speak for many of us when I say I was extremely curious to hear your thoughts about this movie, given Robert Egger's attention to historical detail. (Not just in this, but also VVitch)

Honestly, I paid 3 times to watch the movie and I'd pay more, it's amazing and I love it, so well made and directed with a good artistic vision, but I respect and appreciate your review and opinion Dr.

I found the "Dancing Odin" scene with them around the fire to be brilliant, even if there was a lot of interpretation going on with gaps in our understanding. I'm unsure how much it would have been common at that time period, but in any case it was a nice nod to the Dancing Odin cult that has probably been around Scandinavia since Bronze age times. The "War Band" or "Mannerbund" or "Koryos" is a common thing among ancient European people from the Norse/Germanics, Celts, and even in early Hellenic and Italic peoples as far as I understand, as is dressing in bear and wolfskins during raids etc... It was a tradition going all the way back to at least the late neolithic on the Pontic-Caspian Steppe where it was practiced by people who spoke Proto-Indo-European languages.

This movie was amazing and a total gem in an otherwise sea of garbage cinema that we have received in the last few years. Not everything in a film has to be historically accurate and expecting as much is ridiculous.

I don't think there was any mention of "pure" blood or anything regarding race. I think the line was "Safeguard your familial blood." meaning "Keep your family safe.", which makes sense in the context of Amleth being literally shown a vision of his family tree at the end of the scene, and which sets up his duty toward the end of the movie to go back and finish his revenge on his uncle in order to keep his children safe. I think it was a pretty fair value to teach him as a kid, considering how dangerous, cruel, and savage the world was in the movie, especially since Aurvandill specifically comments on noticing Amleth's innocence in the scene before the coming of age ceremony.

"what sacrifice do I have to make to the ghost of John Wayne!?" was not something I was expecting to hear when I started this video. Also, I think a film (or series) based on a Saga like Egil's saga would be really cool and interesting. Personally, I loved the movie. I didn't think it would be all that true to the original saga or any other saga, I expected it to have its own story to tell in the way Eggers & Co. wanted to tell it, more "inspired by" than "based on" the sagas. I do appreciate you going through the effort of making this, though I can tell you don't much care for doing so.

The last time I was this early, Odin still had both of his eyes....

This is exactly what I have been waiting for! Thank you, Jackson, for always providing great educational content. Postscript: now I’ve watched all the way to the end, you won’t be forgotten. Your work is completely valuable. Your videos have inspired many, including myself, and my writing. You have left here a legacy that will endure.

I got very strong Beowulf vibes during Amleth's nightly raids on Fjolnir's settlement, with Amleth the Berserker taking on the Grendel role. I have to think that was deliberate.

You have more reach and impact than you think mate. 200k + subs is nothing to sniff at. Thank you for your well informed and excellent top notch historical content!

A lot of scholarly types hate movies giving false information on history but for me I've always thought of it as a great gateway to learn about a particular period. I watch a movie and then I can look into the actually history later and the movie can function as reference for what was authentic and what wasn't

Listening as I type. Your work matters a great deal. If you reach 100 people, 100 people will spread the word. You deserve your rightful place in schools or colleges teaching these valuable lessons.

After seeing The Lighthouse I was expecting something supremely weird from Eggers, and I don't think I was disappointed. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of research and time taken overall to create an overwhelming environment and immersed feeling. I'm definitely one of the people who like that they got the clothes, and the weapons and tools correct. The rituals in particular of the Sedier and drinking the hallucinagen, and the fire in the woods ritual (which looked like a Beltane ritual with the crowns,but there wouldn't have been group sex normally) her finding the amanita moscara mushroom in the forest ( which may not have grown in iceland but definitely did and do in baltic areas) driving home that she's a witch or a shaman. Right off the bat with the pre battle ritual with the wolf skins and the dancing and chanting around the fire is a lovely portrayal of the Ulfhednar. They got so many things right when they could have just Hollywood-ized it and made it surface pretty. I very much enjoyed it

I think Rob eggers is a really thoughtful director in terms of him wanting his period pieces to be as authentic and realistic as possible. Now of course not everything is going to be like that with limitations of knowledge and experience, but overall the feel and tone of the film fit within what we know of Norse Vikings. Also just in terms of the norse afterlife we got probably the best visual representation of valhalla we will ever get

You mentioned that it didn't always look like Norway/Iceland - apparently most of the scenes were filmed in Ireland/Northern Ireland!

You were quite right Jackson, it was filmed here in the north of Ireland. Thanks for the video though, I have been eager to hear your thoughts on it.

I'm honestly surprised the language was as off as you've explained. Getting language right for both The Witch and The Lighthouse were a really big thing to Eggers, makes me wonder if that was studio involvement. It's kinda funny, the "I want to be a viking" people I know cried inaccuracy to a number of the things that were historically on the money. I don't know of this movie was entirely for that crowd either.

I remember reading, regarding Hrafnsey, that that was supposed to be a ficticious island in the northern British Isles, i.e. somewhere around Orkney, Shetland, or maybe as far southwest as approaching Ireland. At least I think the point was that it wasn't too close to the Norwegian mainland, but rather a remote settlement

Fantastic movie, my soul is roused by the story and setting. Thanks Mr. Crawford for helping us to further our understanding of this section of the world and the time many of us are enchanted by, though our reasons differ slightly it seems. Much appreciated. I'm also glad my suspicion of the brutal sequence after the village is conquered was echoed in your video. The viking age seemed rough enough as it was. Though for an exaggerated movie effect I think it may have served a purpose showing just how far Amleth strayed from his fate.

Been waiting for this, thanks for taking the time!

the annotations expanding on the original video show integrity and really make me a fan. just ordered your books, a couple videos and I'm impressed and delighted to have found your channel.

The stuff with the ravens and the fox were more magical elements- Which given your comments on how you're not looking to be enchanted, makes sense! The ravens were meant to be Aurvandil's shade visiting his brother and wife and Amleth, and the fox was meant to represent the he-witch Amleth visits- I watched with the commentary, and that was Eggers' explanation.

i really enjoyed The Northman and thought it was an excellent depiction of the period and the people even fi it still takes dramatic license especially when compared to other modern depictions of Hollywood Vikings. Also i thought the burial mound scene was a nice little nod to Conan the Barbarian

Just found your channel after wanting to know more about the film. Looking forward to checking out the rest of your videos.

I seriously love your videos. Amazing backgrounds. Phenomenal delivery of knowledge. Incredible.

I know this might seem insignificant but the movie made me interested in actual old norse history and language, so you could say I found your channel because of the movie. Don't be so pessimistic about it.

Thanks to your lectures, I was able to understand the movie. My friends who didn’t know the background couldn’t understand it. This is really a movie for which you need a basic understanding to enjoy it.

Never stop. You are a treasure and do a fantastic service. Thank you for your hard work.

I never saw this movie but I am glad I watched this video anyways because I enjoy your content, and for what it's worth, I think a fair number of people appreciate how much you inform them about these topics. I certainly appreciate the honest way you talk about this stuff. There are too many people who misrepresent or misuse Old Norse culture, myths, language, etc., so you taking the time to educate people with good information on these subjects is very helpful. We need more people like you with expertise in this stuff who don't have an agenda and who want to help others understand Old Norse. Thank you for all the work you do!

I loved this movie, and I loved your take on it. Always a treat to hear you rant about modern miscalculations and expectations in how it relates to the past in pop culture.

Thank you for making this video. I was searching for an academic review of the movie and feel lucky to have found your page. While watching the movie, I felt so many things didn’t ring true (even as a regular ol’ pleb who is uniformed about Old Norse anything). I think it was the lack of humanity that you articulated so well. The end of your video made me so sad though… maybe you won’t reach as big of an audience as The Northman, but you certainly reached me. Thank you again.

Dr Crawford you have a very large impact in my life. I have decided to to go to school in old norse language and study the sagas as you did. I have bought all the books you have written and translated. One day I hope to meet you. So please know you have reached people with the years of study you have diligently subjected yourself.

Thank you for this video, I had hoped you'd comment on the film somehow and this was way more in depth than I dared to hope for! I'm an English language focused linguist and my knowledge of Old Norse topics is mostly limited to whatever overlap those have with the history of English, so I often find myself geeking over runes but not being able to appreciate the deeper nuances, so I'm very glad both to hear that the runes in the film are good and that this film doesn't necessarily expect too much of its audience but still has some 'shoutouts', as you put it. Thanks again!

Dr. Crawford, from 37-44:50 thank you for clarifying the grimness and lack of morality the movie seemed to portray was excessive. As a history buff but not a formal scholar in this area I was very suspicious. Everything seemed too grim to be plausible for a society that appeared to have a strong sense of humor (even if it was weird/twisted/strange by modern standards) and wit. Even Egil's saga appears to have a bit of twisted humor as he tells the slavers his name before burning them alive as a final courtesy.

The ravens at night were sent by Óðinn

Thank you for your movie review, Doc! I appreciate your thoughts about the language, runes and story line! After hearing and viewing your serious side - I LOVED SEEING YOUR HAPPY LAUGHTER AND SMILE while contemplating your interaction with John Wayne's ghost! What a wonderful segment! Tack så mycket !! :)

Dr. Crawford, you published your books. I am confident they will live longer than this movie in terms of influencing our understanding of this period and culture. Really enjoy your materials and look forward to reading the translations you've made.

I'm glad you've said your piece and helped people think more about the film, even if I disagree somewhat with your personal opinions. But that's the thing with personal opinions, everyone has their own. Your professional opinions are very informative though!

You mentioned the talking skull as a big nod to Hamlet's Yorick, but another detail that I can't see as anything but a blatant reference is the large woven "screen" in his uncle's sitting room. The way Amleth hides behind it, and then later prepares to strike behind it assuming Fjolnir is hiding there seemed like a callback to Hamlet's Polonius being slain while hiding behind a curtain.

great video, thank you very much! I agree completly!

I imagine elder furthark was used on the sword deliberately since the helmet indicates that it’s a vendel era chieftain. Which doesn’t make sense in its own right since the Norse had not colonised Iceland at that stage. But the runes seem deliberate.

Speaking of the cross-pollination between archaeologists, historians, and linguists, you might have a chat with Mary Valante. She's a historian in terms of the academic affiliation, but has done archaeology and works heavily in material culture of the Norse in Ireland specifically, but she also has the linguistic background to have both conversations.

Thank you for a well balanced and realistic opinion of The Northman. I learned a lot from listening to this. Love your channel!

Amazing video, thank you Crawford!

Thank you for your thoughts. Much apperciated.

The John Wayne skit sent me. Made this entire video worth it, in spite of how much you hate the whole movie-review thing. Thanks, Jackson :D

I feel you articulated my thoughts about this film better than I could. Nice video. On a side note, have you seen the icelandic film Útlaginn? There's another video idea if you are willing to endure yet another viking movie.

Love this honest review- from the heart- what could be better?? I think you have more influence than you realize, not to worry!! Be true to yourself professor Crawford, thanks for your work🤠

Thank you for giving your input. I really appreciate your opinions on these things.

Sometimes you certainly have to separate yourself from your academic background to enjoy media, though it can be very difficult. I find myself eye-rolling constantly at poor representations of biological science, and though I only took Greek Classics as electives, its still hard not to be frustrated by adaptations that just butcher the material. However, one of my Greek profs in my final year of undergrad had watching parties of I, Claudius, and even though it took quite a few liberties (notably with Livia's involvement in the deaths of multiple heirs) he relished the dramatic display of the characters brought to life. It helped me recognize the merits of material better, even if its not perfect it still may be appreciable in the cinematography, acting, atmosphere, etc. That being said ignorance really can be bliss as it's so much easier to enjoy something from a field you don't understand and don't constantly notice glaring holes within.

Interesting that the linguistics doesn't "cross pollinate" with the Anthropology and Archelogy fields as you would think that those fields (aspects of living) would directly impact the formation and use of language.

Found your channel after looking for videos about Konsteki 11 (a prehistoric site with wooly mammoth 🦣 remains located in Russia). Love your stuff, looking forward to watching your whole "catalogue". Greetings from Ecuador 🇪🇨

Yes!! I wanted to know thoughts from this channel! This is perfect timely!

The movie does allude a lot to what/how people believed back then. The gods ever-present just out of sight. When I saw the ravens gathering around the window to draw Amlóði's attention to Guðrún it definitely felt like it was supposed to be supernatural didn't feel weird at all, same thing at night. Someone or something is tampering with the tapestry of fate and ensuring a certain outcome, nudging Amlóði along towards his ultimate death. In the end he is his own undoing, he is beholden to his oath and his fate. The subtitle of the movie 'conquer your fate' turns out to be ironic.

On your closing remarks, I want to challenge your outlook. The level of expertise you've attained isn't because you spent the amount of time to make a movie, but because you've made it your vocation. The fact that you've invested the time to truly learn about this culture impacts our ability, and the ability of the world, to remember. For people to truly understand Norse history would take such an incredible amount of time to balance alongside other commitments, not to mention Norse history is competing with every other period of history, as well as present events, fictional worlds, physical vocations, and a multitude of other things. However, by making videos like this, by doing deeper research, you enable people who have an interest to use the internet to find out more in the little free time they have, and for this information to be preserved throughout time. Movies exist as self-contained stories to entertain for a few hours and no more. They are extremely valuable, but the ability to teach people about these cultures is limited. They can satiate a very surface-level interest but for those who want to know more they won't scratch that itch. Because they are more contained and have a dual purpose of simply entertaining, they can reach a wider market, but more detailed information that you provide impacts in a different way. It's like fast food versus a restaurant. Fast food can provide a break from the norm but a restaurant will provide something a lot richer and more interesting. In terms of the number of patrons and revenue, fast food will win out over restaurants, but that's not to say that fast food has more impact on people's impressions of food. If you value knowledge, whether it be in science or history or anything, an investment of your time into learning more is always worth it, and documenting this information ensures the impact is more substantial and will continue to be impactful, directly or indirectly, into the future.

Thank you for the insights

Wonderful contextual setting in that you're talking about The Northman and we can actually watch it start snowing as you speak. Your words clearly carry great power, Jackson; use this power with care.

Always important to remember with films like this: historical accuracy and a film's quality are *two separate and distinct things*. Just because a film has historical inaccuracies does not make it "bad".

Thanks for the info and I would love to see straight up adaptations of the norse sagas and mythos as films or even series, I enjoy a lot your narrations of them and agree some of them would work marvellous as these art forms, I dont understand, Hollywood likes rehashing every famous franchise but they have 1000 years old stories to adapt for free and completely ignores them. Btw John Wayne ghost was really mad lol, took down your cam and brought the heavier snow lol

You'll never be forgotten

Dr. Crawford. You are amazing. Keep going. You keep the light of ancients alive. I love your stuff.

Love this honest take on a cinematic piece by an academic. Funny enough, I too noted the nocturnal raven activity and thought that was a bit uncharacteristic. Otherwise, I enjoyed the film for what it was, a nice entertaining piece worth a few hours of my time.

I am admittedly a massive fan of the film, it's become one of my favourites for various reasons but I will say, as a writer myself who enjoys creating norse themed works, your channel and my own personal study into the literature of this period inspired by your fantastic work has been far more valuable than The Northman will ever be to me. You're 100% right that we focus too much on the violence and depravity of the past these days and forget the humour and love that has always been present and makes us equally human, and that mix, a mix that is ever present in the sagas and eddas is something I will always try to capture, almost entirely because of how your work draws attention to it with these videos and the way you approach translating the literature of the era and region. So basically, while yes, the film has had an influence on me in how to present a darker tone so to speak, thanks to your work, it's something that I know wasn't all that the viking age people were about.

Excellent insight! Thanks

The John Wayne bit genuinely made me cackle hahaha, and I must say I really appreciate your perspective. I feel I've learned a lot from you and your channel. Thank you so much for sharing your take on this film, Jackson.

I think this video hits on what a lot of people who are interested in the Viking Age miss when they say they want things like historical accuracy, or less Hollywoodization: the material culture is only one of several facets. Where's the poetry? The deep musings on life and society brought to song or stanza? The humor? The quiet spaces of everyday life in between all the superhero Michael Bay dramatization? Contemporary English instead of "old timey" English? These films are intended to shock, titillate, or feed bloodlust, and give an inaccurate portrayal of what actually made life both extremely difficult and worth living during this pre-modern period of our existence. An addendum: There is no reason to suspect that the Vikings, if they had drums at all (which we have no evidence for), would have used said drums in exactly the way that they've been used by Hollywood for the last fifteen years in every action movie. Also, digital film is overly saturated with false color, it's too dark, and ironically, even though that's supposed to add to the atmosphere, it pulls me out of the experience, because true atmosphere comes from emulating a familiar space from the real world and making the viewer feel as though the movie scene matches something sensual from reality that the viewer can relate the scene to. More sun, more color, more light! This doesn't mean that we can't show the dreary, rainy weather that might have been characteristic of some of these locations for parts of the year, but a real rainy day is not a dark blue color, like something out of a video game. Digital coloring destroys visual nuance.

I think most of the language things where people were saying things differently was because the cast and the people working on it behind the scenes were in large part from the nordics as well. For Alexander Skarsgård saying Valhall when he is Swedish makes sense because he knows the actual word in Swedish. Also his character has been hanging out with swedes raiding eastward for a long time so it even kind of makes sense in character. We know that icelandic is probably the closest to what old norse sounded like, but considering danish and swedish are on a different branch than norwegian and icelandic, it's not necessarily true that the pronounciations that we think are right for the sagas are the way all the people in the nordics spoke the language at that time. So while I agree it was confusing. I as a person from the nordics understood why they all had such different accents even though it didn't make a lot of sense.

This stuff is cool. I think I'm going to snag a few of those translations of yours.

Maybe I will see the movie. I find your descriptions and the spoken word from your mouth helpful in identifying the feeling tone of Old Norse. Had never heard the language, so I dont have a comparison, but I find it hypnotic. Thank you for opening the window. Most helpful.❤

Wouldn't you all consider it a problem that the dark & gritty world view is supposed to represent the Viking age now? If I told people that Zack Snyder's MAN OF STEEL represents Superman, that would certainly be a misrepresentation.

Outstanding and honest. Rare these days. BTW I love this movie.

Great thoughts, and comments both on then and now!

That comment/ metaphor comparing questions of accuracy to asking about the weather of a continent is actually the most genius way I've ever heard that put to words... how a statement can likely be accurate for one place, but not everywhere, and it especially over a timeline. I wish more people approached life, cultures, and human nature with that in mind!

Very informative - and hilarious. To be fair to the movie though Jackson, I feel like you were taking it a bit like it was an attempt at realism, but I don’t think it was at all. It was meant to be Legend or Myth. That’s why they spoke in Old Timey language, not modern vernacular. It wasn’t supposed to be like a fly on the wall view of real time events. It was supposed to be the telling of a tale of ancient times, with magic and gods. More Lord of the Rings than Game of Thrones. That’s why I don’t think they were bothered about being geographically accurate with locations in Iceland, or Norway, or whatever. You were trying to map it out to the real world in your head, but I don’t think that was what they were trying to achieve. It was supposed to be mystical and mythical, not real. The same with the ravens being out at night. It wasn’t supposed to be about real ravens and what real ravens really do. It was magic. Great to get your insight on the runes and language and all fella. Thanks! Edit: Wow - that was some existential shit at the end man. I think you actually have more influence on the understanding of this era than you give yourself credit for. Yeah, you won’t hit the masses in the way popular culture will. But anyone who is interested enough in finding out about it to hit RU-vid and watch some specialist videos will be directed to your channel. That’s how I found you - being referenced on other Viking focused channels. So people who care more will quite likely see at least some of your stuff.

What sets the movie apart is that they have tried to root it in primary source material and hired (and listened to) specialists to get the trappings right. Most viking or medieval movies feel more like a kind of generic fantasy based on popular myths and prejudices. I think a big reason why a lot of people are hung up on material culture is that so few movies get it right. We're not talking about nitpicking either, because a lot of movies will miss by several centuries or use generic stock equipment that has nothing to do with the period at all. It would be an immersion breaker to everyone if you're watching a movie about Napoleon and the trooops are wearing WW2 uniforms. The only difference is less people will notice when you do this with medieval movies due to a simple lack of knowledge. Of course getting the material culture right is not more important than getting the culture and mentality right. A lot of medieval movies will have the characters dress more or less accurately but think and act like modern people. That's where drawing on the literary sources comes in handy and it's clear when watching this movie the people behind it did some reading or at least consulted people who have done so. One reference that's not mentioned by Crawford here is the animalistic ritual Amleth goes through in the beginning. I'm pretty certain this is taken from the Volsunga Saga, which describes a similar ritual where the characters are wearing animal skins and acting like wolves.

Well, like others stated here, I am glad I get to learn about those times and languages from you more than from those movies (that I don't take seriously anyway). Was cool to see your take on a movie for once though :D Feel bad I missed that stream on May 1st though. I should log into Patreon more often or something.

Interesting comments. I love the reflectivity. I really appreciate your thoughts on modern sensibility and morality imposed on movies and the audiences desire to be immersed in a different time period.

The Northman is an awesome movie!

Thank you for the review. I am just a history buff and a fan of the Sagas, not an expert in those fields. I however think this movie was a wonderful ode to the Sagas and I am not sure we are going to get another major movie that is truer to the Sagas than this one, at least any time soon. Yes there are liberties, errors and some things are not in the spirit of the Sagas, but there is a lot that was done right. With the references to what we see in the Sagas, like the knattleikr, the seiðmaðr, the spear catching, the haugbúi and the magical sword with the strict rules and themes like revenge and the rigid fate, we saw a Saga on the big screen. It was not perfect, I f.e. found it cheesy that they went to the volcano for the final fight. In the end though, if you don't like a movie you don't like a movie and I like a good western as well.

You are one of the best I mean the best people who know the ways know the information of the old stories and it’s amazing. Regardless your human and you just should know brother your amazing at what you do, and only do it if you love it.

I could not stop hearing every H you pronounced after you showed your notes on “Where”. Awesome video thank you!

As a person living in scandinavia i miss the acctual nature of scandinavia in many depictions of the middleages in scandinavia. Its always so dramatic or dark or gloomy. But if you acctually look at the areas where the most of the settlements where like the Oslo area or Uppsala area or Uppåkra its rather flat and pleasent areas looking like the Shire ot something. Green hills. Birch and Ash trees mixt with pine. Flowery meadows. Thats what it looks like.

I'm no expert but I believe him calling himself "Bearwolf" is just him taking on a fake name based on him being a Berserkr, as they were associated with Bears and Wolves. Obviously I could be wrong, but I don't believe that one was a nod to any sagas or anything that deep.

Dude this video had way more of an impact on me than the actual movie. Thank you for making it.

Mate, I thought the same thing!!! You incurred the wrath of The Duke - nice one, love what you bring

I agree with and enjoyed your take here. As an archaeologist, I found some of The Northman fascinating and well-researched but overplayed and contrived in its bid for 'immersion'. I've upset a lot of folks by saying this on TikTok and my own RU-vid review of the film on Archaeodeath. Thanks for doing this.

I enjoyed the Northman. There were some things I didn't really like, but overall I enjoyed it. Not very often there is a major motion picture made specifically about an Old Norse tale, even if they changed some things. I think those of us who are heavily entrenched in Old Norse and Viking culture should enjoy it for what it is.

Sir, I respect your honesty.

Man, this is such an honest video! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.