As Vikings enters its final season on Netflix, some of us have been legitimately worried about what will fill the void once the History Channel series comes to an end. Luckily, Netflix has heard our concerns, and they are now promising a follow up series Vikings: Valhalla.
We won’t be seeing any of our favourite characters return, as the series will be set 100 years later. But this opens up opportunities to see a lot of interesting personas from Viking legend. This means that we are likely to see the exploits of characters such as:
- Leif Erikson, the first European to set foot in America and the man who brought Christianity to Greenland
- Freydis, Erikson’s sister, who was a fearsome warrior in her own right and led disastrous raids again Native Canadian tribes
- Harald Hardrada, a king of Norway who made significant attempts on the thrones of both Denmark and England, as well as spending 15 years as a mercenary in the Byzantine Empire
- William the Conqueror, the Viking descendant of Rollo, who set himself up as the Duke of Normandy, he is known as the conqueror of England
The world that these characters live in will be quite different as the technological advantage of the Vikings began to wane, and Christianity began to take a firm hold even among the Vikings.
Rumours suggest that the streaming service has already commission 24 episodes, so lots to get our teeth into. But will they remain as dedicated to historic accuracy (with some necessary compromises to make a good story) as the History Channel? The show is set to be headed up by the same creator as the original, Michael Hirst, so things are looking promising. He has also confirmed that he will be working with Die Hard writer Jeb Stuart as a writer and showrunner.
Hirst has said:
I am beyond excited that we are announcing the continuation of our Vikings saga. I know that millions of our fans across the globe will be thrilled by the belief being shown in our show my MGM and Netflix.
Jeb Stuart, a truly wonderful writer, will bring new storylines and a powerful visceral vision to stories about some of the most famous Vikings known to history.
I, for one, can’t wait.