Vikings: Valhalla is a spin-off series from the popular HISTORY Channel series, Vikings. Vikings: Valhalla is a Netflix original and is scheduled for release in 2021. According to one cast member filming is complete despite the COVID-19 pandemic and is now in post-production. Micheal Hirst, the creator of the original Vikings series will serve as Executive Producer, but isn’t slated to write any episodes.
The writing credit goes to Jeb Stuart who penned some of the most iconic movies from the 1980’s and 1990’s. He wrote The Fugitive, Fire Down Below, Another 48 Hrs., Next of Kin and Die Hard…Die Hard!! Stuart’s most current work is The Liberator, another Netflix original. The Liberator is a fantastic story detailing an army officers experience during the Italian campaign in World War II. While not medieval, I highly recommend you watch it.
Back to Vikings: Valhalla… Information is starting to trickle out about the show and what we can expect. Vikings: Valhalla is set 100 years after the events of Vikings and will feature the adventures of Leif Erikson, Freydis Eriksdottir and Harald Hardrada. It will also focus on the rise of William the Conqueror. No word if Leif’s father Erik the Red or King Olaf will appear in the series.
As for the cast there are a few familiar names in the medieval genre and some new comers.
Playing Harald Hardrada is Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Game of Thrones, The Last Kingdom, Cursed). The official description for Harald Hardrada is:
Son of a king of Denmark, wise, savvy and ruthless, Harald is guided by two different voices: Alienor, his politically astute queen and Earl Colby, a scheming and ambitious Anglo-Saxon councellor.
Freydis Eriksdotti is played by Frida Gustavsson (Dröm, The Witcher). Freydis official bio is:
Leif’s fiery half-sister. A sexually liberated and fiercely pagan shield-maiden. Freydis is much more like their volatile father than Leif. A horrific rape at the hands of a Christian Viking made her militantly anti-Christian and as the series progresses, Freydis becomes the leader of the last Viking pagan holdouts against the rising tide of Christianity that is flooding Scandinavia. Mentored by the strong female leader of Kattegat, The Jarl, Freydis leads the “last holdouts” in defence of a Viking Holy City against Christian Vikings and will eventually begin a personal quest to find a new home for them. Despite the hardened pagan views, she is romantically drawn into a relationship with the final main lead: a Christian Viking named Torsen.
Two other character bios were released, one for Leif Erikson and one for Torsen, but no actor names attached to them yet. It’s rumored actor Kenneth Christensen (Borgen, The Last Kingdom) will play Leif Erikson.
Leif Erikson:
Born in Iceland and raised in Greenland, Leif represents a new breed of Viking – one raised far from the Norse mothership and without the experience of raiding. But as we will quickly discover, that doesn’t mean he is any less a Viking. Leif is a warrior and an adventurer, fascinated by unknown lands and unafraid of the sea. When we meet him, he has just piloted a small ship of Greenlanders across 2000 miles of the North Atlantic. Fiercely loyal to his family, there are signs of trouble with his domineering and dogmatic father (Skarde), and he’s primed for rebellion. Like his sister Freydis, Leif has been raised a believer of Odin and “the old ways”, but unlike Freydis, he is much more open to new thoughts.
Torsen:
If Leif is rough around the edges, Torsen is smooth and polished. Though every bit the warrior as Leif, Torsen comes from Viking royal stock, close to the seat of Norse power and charismatic leader. Having just escaped the massacre of St. Brice’s Day Torsen is an active part of a great retribution force being assembled by King Harald and one of his chief lieutenants. His relationship with Leif, forged on the battlefields of Season 1 will grow as the series progresses.
Rounding out the known characters and cast members are:
- ⚔ Duke William – David Oakes (Pillars of the Earth, The White Queen)
- ⚔ Aethelred ‘the Unready’ – Bosco Hogan (King Arthur, The Borgias)
- ⚔ Merin – Yvonne Mai (House of Shadows, The Last Faust)
- ⚔ Ogda – Bill Murphy (Fallout, Titanic: Blood and Steel)
- ⚔ Earl of Sussex – Mark Huberman (Trial of the Century, Finding Joy)
- ⚔ Earl of Kent – Alan Devine (The Tudors, Fair City)
- ⚔ Earl of East Anglia – Gavin O’Connor (The Tudors, Taken Down)
There are a few cast members listed with no known parts, including Ethan Dillon, Álfrún Laufeyjardóttir and Karen Connell who played the Angel of Death in the original Vikings series.
Stay tuned for more updates on Vikings: Vahalla as they become available.
