In case you missed the primer, you can read our article here. Otherwise, let’s jump right in! Here’s a recap of Vikings: Valhalla Season 1 Episode 1, The Greenlanders.
Where are we?
We open our scene in Danelaw. For those of you that don’t know, Danelaw is the Dane-only territory in Viking-occupied England. It existed in the area known as East Anglia, in the eastern part of England, north of London.
We’re in the midst of a send-off party for a Danish prince, named Harald Sigurdsson. Apparently he’s going back to Norway. But, after he leaves, Danelaw is surprise attacked by a group of Anglo-Saxons (aka native Englanders).
This massacre became known as St. Brice’s Day Massacre. In retaliation, one of the more prominent Danish kings, Cnut, arranged a large gathering of all Vikings to launch another attack for revenge.
Present Day
Now we're plopped back in our current timeline. A small ship is stuck in the North Sea in the middle of a storm. After managing to not get capsized, the ship ports into harbor the following day at Kattegat, Norway.
Kattegat appears to be one of the bigger harbors and marketplaces off the Norwegian coast. It’s also where Canute (historically accurate spelling is Cnut) has been amassing his armies to take on the English.
We’re now introduced to two of our main characters on this ship. Lief and Freydis Ericksson are the offspring of someone named Erik the Red, who seems to have a reputation–both good and bad. They come from a remote part of Greenland, so seeing the convergence of different cultures, peoples, and goods at Kattegat is a little much.
Both Lief and Freydis are clearly smart. Wary of their surroundings, they're both super skilled with weapons. Freydis is approached by Harald (Sigurdsson) at the boat and he invites her to his tent.
We see that she has a massive scar on her back in the shape of a cross. She reveals she’s on her way to England to find the “Christian Viking” that gave it to her when she was a child. At the same time, Lief is in the Great Hall and reveals to someone else that he is looking for a man that bears a particular cross around his neck.
Not much later, a new ship comes into the harbor. And who steps off the boat? A large Viking man wearing that same cross around his neck. Only he is approached by Harald Sigurdsson … as a brother. Lief and Freydis are taken aback, and must rethink their assassination plot.
Meanwhile, Harald and his step-brother, Olaf, meet with Cnut in the war tent. Cnut tries to recruit Olaf and his men to fight alongside the Viking cause against Aethelred and the English. But Olaf’s one requirement is a mass conversion of the Viking people over to Christianity. Cnut refuses.
Set up
Clearly, there is tension amongst the Viking camp between the two religions. The two half-brothers, Harald and Olaf, are meant to embody this as well. While both are technically Christian and wear crosses around their neck, Harald is clearly more sympathetic to the Viking cause.
We also meet one more key person: Jarl Haakon. In history, Jarl was a white, Norwegian male. In the Netflix version, we meet a dark-skinned female. In any case, Jarl is the leader of Kattegat. A mayor, if you will.
In the Great Hall one evening, Freydis makes her attack on Olaf. She publicly accuses him of raping and assaulting her when she was a child and bears her naked back for everyone to see. Harald, who heard the confession from her personally, goes against his brother and voices his support for her.
Cnut and Jarl, our only two clear political leaders, agree to take Lief and Freydis into custody and decide what to do in a more formal ruling the next day.\
