Vikings have inspired people ever since the first longships sailed out of the mists to raid the shores of England. There is no shortage of movies, TV shows, and video games that celebrate the epic glory and raw ferocity of the Vikings, but only Norsemen captures the comic aspect of life in the Viking Age. That said, no show about the daily lives of Norse reavers would be complete without its share of battles.
Norsemen has pitched epic battles, one-on-one duels, and raiders striking with a swift and unrelenting fury. Despite it being a comedy series, most of these fights are nothing to laugh at.
10 Nith-pole
When the warlord Varg prepares to go to war in Season 3, he has a set of Nith-poles made—magical items that made by putting the severed heads of horses on spears and pointing these at one’s enemies to hex them. Varg’s second-in-command, Torstein, watches as his family members walk in front of the path of the nith-poles. Varg orders them slain by archers, thinking it mercy to spare them the impact of the hexes.
Considering how one-sided this event is, it can hardly be considered a fight in the traditional sense, which is why it ranks so low on the list. However, it is definitely memorable.
9 Recapturing Rufus
Rufus is a Roman slave taken during a raid and brought back to the main Norse village. When Rufus runs away, he is captured by another band of people living in the forest, who try to sacrifice him to Odin.
The chieftain, Olav, leads a group to recapture the runaway slave. They ambush the group that captured Rufus. The shieldmaiden Froya headbutts another woman unconscious, and Olav corners the leader of the other group, cutting off one of his ears and feeding it to a dog. The episode ends with the conclusion of this confrontation as the other leader stabs Olav in the gut, mortally wounding him.
8 “The Raid”
The fourth episode of Season 1 is entitled “The Raid,” following the main characters as they go a-viking in England. Two of the main protagonists, the jovial viking Arvid and the shieldmaiden Froya, delight in the slaughter of the unarmed Christians they find, making out in a fit of passion after killing two victims during their raid.
The main fight occurs when the new chieftain, Orm, tries to kill a little girl armed only with a stick. She kicks him in the groin, knocks him to the ground, and then sits on him and begins pummeling him as the other Norsemen stand around enjoying the show.
7 Lindisfarne
The Viking Age is generally accepted to have begun in the year 793 when a group of Norsemen raided the English island of Lindisfarne. This event is the climactic final event of Season 3.
The main characters disembark from their longship, striding up the shore through the shallows. With swords and axes held aloft, they attack the monastery, massacring the monks within.
6 Holmgang
In the first episode of the series, Arvid challenges a wealthy farmer named Olvar to holmgang (a form of ritual combat).
Olver buys poison from a hooded man in the woods so that with just a single cut, he will be able to defeat Arvid. The two face off in a circle, eyeing one another. Arvid attacks, and with a single downward stroke, he cleaves the farmer in two.
5 Varg’s Siege
Chief Olav had promised to give Varg a map of the sailing routes to the west. When Orm, the new chieftain, fails to hold up the promise, Varg attacks the village of the main characters.
Torstein and Varg lead a Warband to attack, loosing arrows into the village, hacking down villagers with axes and swords. And the villagers cannot properly defend themselves, as Rufus and Orm have confiscated all the weapons. Armed with only wooden staves, the villagers try to beat back Varg’s men.
4 Season 1 Climax
After Jarl Varg captures the village, Arvid manages to escape with the thrall Kark. They go deep into the forest, where there is a community of elderly Norsemen living in hiding after they refused to kill themselves as part of the practice of senicide known as the Attestupa.
Arvid leads a band of old grey-haired Vikings armed with wooden spears against the Varg’s warriors. Meanwhile, Kark frees and arms the other men of the village, who join the fight, surrounding Varg’s force and forcing them to surrender.
3 Arvid vs Varg
The final climactic fight of Season 1 pits Jarl Varg and Arvid against one another in single combat. Each is armed with only a longsword.
While Arvid is a great warrior, Varg appears to be the better warrior, striking with speed and unrelenting force, driving Arvid back. However, Arvid manages to disarm and defeat Varg. Despite their feud, Arvid is willing to spare his opponent. He even turns his back to Varg, who immediately tries to stab him in the back—and whose hands are immediately lobbed off by a quick strike from Froya.
2 Froya vs Varg
At the end of Season 2, Varg returns for vengeance. He has acquired a pair of metal prosthetic hands and demands that just as Froya cut off his original hands, she too must forfeit hers.
He punches her across the mouth with a steel fist, and she draws a sword, lunging at him. After parrying the thrust, Varg pleads that he does not have a weapon. Froya discards her sword and is immediately punched again with the steel prosthetic fists. She headbutts Varg, and then with a kick and a punch, lays him out on his back. But she makes the same mistake Arvid had the last season, turning her back on Varg, who has blades concealed within his prosthetic hands. He stabs her from behind, and she dies, reaching for her sword.
1 Epic Battle of Season 3
The fifth episode of Season 3, entitled “Do You Believe in Dragons,” involves the clash of two huge armies as both Varg and his former best friend, Bjorn, have assembled massive hosts. The two armies face off across an open field, arrayed in lines.
Arvid and his fellow warriors hype themselves up to enter into the berserker rage. The two sides do not approach in the slow orderly march of opposing shield walls. Instead, both forces charge, colliding in a pitched battle. Axes rise and fall, swords slice through the spraying crimson, and the screams are only broken by the sound of bones breaking under steel blades. By the battle’s end, Arvid and Froya are mutilating the bodies of their own allies, unable to differentiate them from their fallen enemies. But they are victorious.
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