History's Vikings will surely be remembered as one of the most sweeping historical epics
of all time. A whole lot happened over the course of the show's six seasons and keeping
track of dates can be a little tricky, which is why we're breaking down the entire Vikings
timeline.
We know that the first major on-screen event in Vikings happened in 793, because it's based
on an actual raid that took place that year in history. The first real-life Viking attack
on Anglo-Saxon soil actually unfolded four years earlier, when three longboats landed
on the coast of Wessex and murdered the king's reeve, but this raid was on a different level.
When a band of bloodthirsty Vikings plundered St. Cuthbert's Church on Lindisfarne and slaughtered
the defenseless monks they found there, they surely made their presence known throughout
England. That's exactly what happens on History's Vikings, though in the TV show, the Lindisfarne
raid is led by Ragnar Lothbrok.
A simple farmer with lofty ambitions, Ragnar gained the respect of his people by uniting
them with a common cause. When he returned from England with foreign riches -- and Athelstan,
a monk slave who would later become a trusted friend -- interest in returning to the Saxon
kingdoms was high. However, Ragnar's chieftain Earl Haraldson wasn't thrilled with Ragnar's
rising popularity, and attempted to have him killed. When his assassination attempt failed,
he accepted Ragnar's offer of a duel to the death, which, of course, he lost. Armed with
the knowledge he gained from Athelstan, Ragnar began organizing a large-scale attack, and
the age of the Viking-Saxon wars began.
Ragnar sailed westward again around the year 800, this time with the aid of his last remaining
superior, King Horik of Denmark. Their combined forces landed further south this time, coming
ashore not in Northumbria, but in the kingdom of Wessex. Their plundering of the monastery
at Winchester quickly got the attention of King Ecbert, who was eager to speak with Ragnar.
When the ruler of Wessex discovered that Ragnar simply wanted to create a farming settlement
for his people, they got to talking terms. Unfortunately, discussions were derailed when
Ragnar received word that Jarl Borg had attacked his home, Kattegat, in his absence.
Dealing with Jarl Borg wasn't exactly straightforward, but he ultimately outsmarted the Swedish usurper
with the help of his former wife Lagertha and now-grown son, Bjorn. His elation was
short-lived, however — Horik soon arrived, informing Ragnar that Ecbert attacked the
fledgling Norse settlement after he left. With Lagertha's help, Ragnar and Horik returned
to Wessex, though the latter's increasing paranoia over Ragnar's natural leadership
cost the Norsemen the battle. The king attempted to have Ragnar killed upon their return, but
loyal friend Floki tipped him off -- which resulted, of course, in Horik's brutal death.
Afterwards, Ragnar took the crown for himself.
The newly crowned King Ragnar returned to Wessex in around the year 803, ready to reopen
a dialogue with the Saxon kingdom's learned leader. Athelstan had him well-versed in the
ways of Christianity by that point, and he would ultimately form a bond with Ecbert based
on mutual respect. In order to seal his resurrected alliance with Wessex, Ragnar was tasked with
helping Ecbert's ally, Princess Kwenthrith, take the crown of neighboring kingdom Mercia
from her uncle.
As the most sexually charged character in the show by far, it seemed inevitable that
Kwenthrith would eventually pursue Ragnar. Though we did not get to see it actually happen
on screen, it is heavily implied that the two did the deed. Eventually, Kwenthrith gives
birth to a baby boy, Magnus, and proclaims that he is Ragnar's son.
"I think you may know him: Ragnar Lothbrok."
Ragnar never acknowledged this to be true, but nobody could doubt his dedication to the
Viking cause — as he would later die fighting with his Norse brethren.
Next comes the great Siege of Paris -- based on real events that occurred in the mid-to-late
ninth century. Spanning the eighth, ninth and tenth episodes of season 3, this made
for one of the most engrossing battles of the entire series.
A challenge like nothing they'd faced before, Ragnar and his huge Viking fleet struggled
to breach the walls of Paris, an island city at the time. Both he and his son Bjorn suffered
serious injuries, and it appeared as though Ragnar would succumb to his. He arranged a
meeting with the Franks, but when they offered him gold, he refused — he told them he was
dying and wanted to be baptized before he passed. Ragnar requested that he be buried
in the city, and his relieved enemies agreed, which, of course, was a terrible mistake.
The sly Viking king leapt from his coffin once inside the city's cathedral, slaying
the bishop of Paris in front of the terrified Emperor Charles.
It was Ragnar's cunning that led to the successful sack of Paris, but when he returned to the
Frankish stronghold a few years later, he came up against a formidable foe in the form
of his own brother. Rollo volunteered to stay behind and keep charge of a Viking camp near
Paris after the first raid, and when Ragnar returned home for the winter, Charles decided
to reach out. The meek emperor offered Rollo land, riches, and his daughter's hand in marriage
if he switched sides and protected Paris from further raids. Having already caught a glimpse
of Princess Gisla during the siege, Rollo gladly accepted the emperor's terms, something
his bride-to-be was far from thrilled about.
Rollo had a very hard time winning the headstrong princess over, though his actions during the
Second Siege of Paris proved where his loyalties lay. Using his knowledge of Viking warfare
to prepare the city for an attack, Rollo urged the Franks to build more ships. Ragnar's rabid
forces gained the upper hand at first, but the battle took a turn when Rollo killed one
of his own soldiers for cowardice and delivered an inspiring speech to his shaken men. The
Vikings were forced to retreat, and Rollo returned to Paris as a hero. A defeated and
shamed Ragnar sailed away and began his years of exile.
Ragnar Lothbrok vanished for years after his humiliating loss to the Franks. When he returned
to Kattegat around a decade after his disappearance, he was no longer the strong, fearsome warrior
the Western world once knew him as, but it didn't matter — since none of his sons were
willing to fight him for the throne. He announced that he planned on returning to England, but
his son Ivar the Boneless was the only one of the brood willing to journey with him.
Ragnar's crippled son was still living in the considerable shadows of his battle-hardened
brothers at that stage, but this father-son trip across the North Sea would be the start
of his journey to greatness.
The year was approximately 817 when Ragnar and Ivar arrived in Wessex, their fleet mostly
decimated by storms. They were soon captured by Ragnar's old frenemy King Ecbert, who just
couldn't bring himself to kill the famous Viking. Ragnar suggested that he be sent up
to Northumbria, where King Ælle would deal with him. He convinced Ecbert that all he
had to do was let Ivar go so he could tell of what happened, and his sons would then
seek revenge against the Northumbrians, not Wessex. Ragnar was then carted off to Ælle,
who tossed him into a pit of venomous snakes, bringing his reign to an end. His second wife,
Aslaug, met her end around the same time, murdered by his first wife, Lagertha.
A year after the Valkyries carried Ragnar off to Valhalla, his sons returned to England
to exact their revenge on the man who killed him. They arrived in Northumbria with a force
of around 4,000 Vikings, overwhelming the underprepared Saxons. King Ælle was brought
to the snake pit where Ragnar died and put to an even more horrific death by Bjorn. Ragnar's
first-born subjected the king of Northumbria to the dreaded blood eagle, a grisly method
of execution mentioned in Norse sagas that involves cutting open the back of a still-breathing
victim and pulling the lungs out into the shape of wings.
When Ragnar's sons were done taking their bloody revenge on King Ælle, they had yet
another Saxon monarch to attend to. King Ecbert of Wessex released Ivar on the condition that
he return to Kattegat and explain that it was Ælle who executed Ragnar, not him. What
Ecbert didn't know is that Ragnar had secretly instructed Ivar to seek revenge on him, too.
The famous Viking knew he was a spent force, but he also knew that if he allowed himself
to be killed by Saxons, his boys would come down on them with the force of Thor's hammer.
It was "part of a larger and bolder strategy" according to Ragnar, and it worked: Ecbert
took his own life after Ragnar's sons stormed his villa.
The Great Heathen Army had achieved its prime objectives at this stage, and those leading
it wanted different things. Tempers began to flare as the sons of Ragnar discussed plans
for the future in front of their people. Some wanted to stay and farm while others wanted
to explore new places, but Ivar was determined to keep the great army together for more conquests.
As he attempted to win the crowd over to his cause, his already strained relationship with
Sigurd reached its breaking point. Sigurd mocked Ivar for not being a "real man," and
it was the last thing he did — Ivar killed him with a throwing axe, right in front of
their brothers.
Bjorn had just set foot in Spain for the first time when he learned of his dad's death from
Odin, who appeared to all five of Ragnar's sons in separate visions to break the news.
The Mediterranean was the furthest that his people had ever been at that stage. With Ælle
and Ecbert both dealt with, Bjorn returned to Southern Europe to fulfill his destiny.
It was around the year 81 9 when his fleet arrived at Sicily. He agreed to work as a
bodyguard to Byzantine admiral Euphemius, but when he learned that his new boss was
under the command of a great Arab leader in North Africa, Bjorn became interested in him
instead.
After traveling across the desert by camel caravan, Bjorn and his companion Halfdan were
greeted by Emir Ziyadat Allah , who seemed interested in trade. The Norsemen quickly
discovered that he wasn't a man you crossed, however — when they sat down to feast with
the emir, they realized that Euphemius was absent from the meal because he was the meal.
Bjorn escaped from the cannibal warlord's camp under the cover of a sandstorm and sailed
back to Kattegat to deal with Ivar, who had claimed the throne in his absence.
Floki was at the head of the Great Heathen Army alongside Ragnar's sons, and, like them,
he needed a new adventure after avenging his old friend's murder. As Bjorn broke new ground
in the Mediterranean and North Africa, the famous shipwright took a longboat in the opposite
direction. He didn't have a specific location in mind, but he ended up discovering a whole
new land. Floki had given himself up to the gods at this stage, so when he came ashore
in what would become known as Iceland and set eyes upon the island's stunning natural
wonders, he believed he had been led to Asgard.
"Asgard!"
Intent on settling in the land of the gods, Floki returned to Kattegat and recruited a
group of intrepid travelers. He found a new purpose as the head of the Icelandic settlement,
but eventually became disheartened when infighting among the group led to a series of murders.
He would eventually retreat into a cave on the island, convinced that he had found the
gate to Helheim, Norse mythology's underworld. What he found was far worse — a cross. Floki
was such a staunch believer in the old gods that he murdered Ragnar's monk friend Athelstan
in cold blood, so when he came to the realization that Christians had already been on Iceland,
he was borderline hysterical. The Viking was half laughing, half crying when the cave complex
began to collapse on him.
After his travels around the Mediterranean and Sahara, Bjorn came home and set his sights
on becoming the first king of all Norway. The idea was proposed by King Olaf, who brought
the country's rulers together so they could vote on who should lead them. Bjorn had it
in the bag until King Harald swooped in, cheating him out of the crown. This took place around
820, a terrible year to be Bjorn Ironside. It started out well enough -- being that he
managed to retake Kattegat from his brother Ivar -- but he lost the big election and his
beloved mother was killed soon after.
The famous shieldmaiden Lagertha died in a manner unbefitting of her fierce reputation:
Stabbed to death in a dark, muddy street by Hvitserk, Ragnar's most troubled son. Hvitserk
developed a drug problem after the death of his lover Thora at Ivar's behest. He was hallucinating
badly when he murdered an unsuspecting Lagertha, mistaking her for Ivar in serpent form. Show
creator Michael Hirst told Entertainment Tonight:
"Her death is a huge tragedy. I even cried when I was writing it."
Lagertha actress Kathryn Winnick praised the show's creator for her funeral in the show:
"I don't think I can top the way Lagertha goes, and her funeral."
She admitted that watching those events play out on-screen wasn't easy. She said during
Comic-Con 2020:
"Seeing Lagertha transitioning over to Valhallah was a bittersweet moment in a lot of ways,"
After being ousted from Kattegat by Bjorn, Ivar went into exile and spent time traveling
the famous Silk Road. The Viking encountered all manner of people and cultures along the
legendary trading route, which ultimately led him to Novgorod, seat of the Grand Prince
of Rus, Oleg. The Christian zealot was instantly intrigued by the exiled Norseman, and he would
reveal to Ivar that he intended to reclaim his people's ancestral homeland in Scandinavia.
In approximately the year 821, Oleg and Ivar marched on Tamdrup, home of King Harald. Despite
their feud over the election, Bjorn turned up to help Harald defend his land, which turned
out to be a fatal mistake.
The first part of the final season of Vikings came to an end with Ivar running a blade through
Bjorn. It seemed like a wound that nobody could recover from, and that turned out to
be the case, but before Bjorn died he donned his armor and inspired his people to victory
one last time. When the Rus arrived at Kattegat, they assumed that its fearsome warrior king
was dead. When Bjorn appeared on horseback and took three arrows to the body without
falling, the terrified invaders started to believe he couldn't be killed. Michael Hirst
told Entertainment Tonight:
"He does something quite extraordinary at the end of his life. He saves his country
[...] and puts himself in the pantheon of the great heroes of the Vikings."
Ivar wrapped up his personal redemption arc when he freed young Rus prince Igor from the
grip of his maniacal uncle Oleg, but he still had professional ambitions. The people of
Kattegat reluctantly welcomed him home, but Ivar found himself unable to settle knowing
that there was still one Saxon kingdom left standing. He and Hvitserk convinced an equally
bored Harald that taking Wessex was the only thing left for them to do, and so they set
sail for England with a Viking army at their backs.
Alfred, the son of Ecbert's daughter and Athelstan, was now running the show in Wessex. The real
Alfred is the only English monarch to have been given the epithet "The Great," largely
because his was the only Anglo-Saxon kingdom that withstood the Viking onslaught. History
shows that he utilized cunning tactics and brute force to repel his Norse foes, but in
the show, the war is won when a random West Saxon soldier pops up in front of Ivar and
stabs him with zero resistance. Ivar's death baffled and angered fans in equal measure,
but Alex Høgh Andersen said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight:
"It felt like the most natural thing in the world. I really wanted him to go out in a
completely different way than everybody else."
According to History, Viking explorer Leif Eriksson likely made land in North America
long before Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic. Norse sagas and archaeological finds
suggest that Eriksson set out from Scandinavia some 500 years before Columbus was even born,
arriving in the so-called New World in the year 1000. Eriksson is a main character in
Michael Hirst's sequel series Vikings: Valhalla, but the showrunner "always planned" on visiting
North America in Vikings. Hirst told Collider:
"I knew that the ending would be the discovery of America, and Newfoundland."
In the show, it's Ubbe who led the first group of Viking settlers to North America. They
stumbled across Greenland first, but Ragnar's son and his family fled the barely hospitable
island amid a violent squabble over whale meat. It was roughly the year 821 when Ubbe
finally set eyes on "The Golden Land." He lost his stepdaughter on the voyage, but Ubbe
found a long-lost friend when he got there — Floki survived the cave-in and sailed
to Newfoundland, making a home for himself among the accepting Natives.
Things almost went awry when a greedy Viking murdered an innocent local, but Ubbe put the
offender to death and restored peace. The Vikings saga came to an end with Ubbe and
Floki watching the sunset from a pristine American beach, discussing the gods and reminiscing
about the man who started it all, Ragnar.
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