the new show “Vikings: Valhalla”, the first of which on netflix on Friday, pairs history with drama to tell the Viking adventures of more more than 1000 years ago, from with a revenge mission against the throne of England.
The production tells the stories of Nordic numerals like the explorer Leif Eriksson, his headstrong sister Freydis Eriksdotter and the determined Prince Harald Sigurdsson.
“It was great to dive into the living legend in these sagas but stripping it back down and really tell a human story”, actor Sam Corlett, who plays Leif, told Reuters.
The plot follows Greenlanders Leif and Freydis who trip to Kattegat on a personal vendetta, but it is soon drawn by Harald (Leo Suter) and King Canute (Bradley Freegard) to avenge other slain Vikings in England.
Meanwhile, Freydis, played by Frida Gustavsson, is taken under the wing of Kattegat female leader Jarl Haakon, played by Caroline Henderson, developing a strong bond also shared by the two actresses.
“It was amazing to work on a show Where you have space for two strong female roles who work together,” Gustavsson said.
“That’s not a walk in the park… long, long, long days… we were freezing and we were tired… It’s not easy but I think the work the ethics we had together and the friendship with the rest of the cast too just really helped,” Henderson said.
the series features many of sailor and bloody battles. This also looks at the mistrust between pagan Vikings and Christians.
“He follows these characters through reasoning of … where did they get their motivation to do this? And me found that was really exciting,” showrunner Jeb Stuart said.
“There are several of them of history implied in that but that’s also a gray area than a historical playwright like myself can actually play in without doing anything up it’s outside my neighborhood.
Asked about enduring popularity of “Vikings,” Suter said, “We always talk about them, don’t we? They did amazing things. King Canut glued together a North Sea empire. Harald Hardrada was a fierce fighter. who traveled across Europe, Leif connected Europe and America.”
“So the feats they accomplished were historic… They were legends of their time.”
