Vikings: Valhalla saw Leif Eriksson and Harald Sigurdsson fight together, but did the real Liv and Harald get into fights?
Vikings: Valhalla saw Leif Ericsson and Harald Sigurdsson unite and fight two battles together, but did Leif Ericsson and Harald fight together? One of the most popular and successful historical dramas of recent years, Vikings is written by Michael Hearst. Vikings premiered on the History Channel in 2013, and although it was originally planned to be a short series, it quickly caught the audience's attention and ran for six seasons, ending in December 2020. However, that wasn't the case. Stories from the Viking Age ended, and a sequel series was announced in 2019.
Titled Vikings: Valhalla, the series takes place more than a century after the events of the Vikings, and as such, it doesn't feature any of the surviving characters from the main series, and instead introduces a new generation of warriors and enemies. Vikings: Valhalla follows Leif Erikson (Sam Corlett), Freydís Eiríksdóttir (Frida Gustavsson), and Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter) as they embark on a journey that takes them across oceans and battlefields - from Kattegat to England to the pagan temple in Uppsala - all with the conflict between Vikings and the English royal family (pagans vs. Christians) as background. Liv and Freydis arrive in Kattegat on a vengeful mission, but their plans quickly change and Freydis remains in Kattegat with Jarl Haakon (Caroline Henderson) and Liv joins Harald and his comrades on a mission to attack England.
As one of the few pagans in the crew, Lev was seen by Olaf Haraldsson (Johannes Haukur Johansson) and his men, but he soon formed a strong bond with Harald, who told him he was now a Viking. Throughout Vikings: Season 1 of Valhalla, Liv and Harald worked and fought together on their way to attack England, during Liv's plan to bring down the London Bridge, and return to Kattegat. to meet each other.
Just like the Vikings, Vikings: Valhalla took a lot of creative liberties to build the story he wanted and so it's full of inaccurate historical information. Leif Ericson is the son of Eric the Red and brother of Freydís Eiríksdóttir and is best known as the first European to set foot in continental North America, before Christopher Columbus. Harald Sigurdsson was Olaf Haraldsson's half-brother and King of Norway from 1046 to 1066. Now, Leif Eriksson died in 1020, and Harald Sigurdsson was born in 1015, which means he was only five years old when Lev died, which made it impossible for him. They met and fought together (and also made it impossible for him to be romantically involved with Freydis, who is believed to be the same age as Leif).
It is also incorrect, based on the epics and other historical evidence, that Leif joined the Viking force at the Battle of London, and the only known adventures of the great Leif Erikson are those related to his settlement in Vinland. One of the biggest and most important stories and partnerships in Vikings: Valhalla is not entirely accurate, but it added to the show's drama and helped develop the characters of both Leif and Harald, which is to see what other changes the book will make in seasons 2 and 3.