The story follows the young Nordic Prince Amleth, and his lifelong quest for avenging his murdered father.
It seems the last ten or so years have been leaning heavily on Nordic and Viking-era pieces, including in film, television, and even video games. The popularity of the MCU’s Thor could have helped boost this recent trend, with the release of entertainment like the new God of War video game series, the TV show Vikings, and now director Robert Eggers‘ latest film, The Northman.
The Northman follows a young Nordic Prince named Amleth who is on the verge of becoming a man when his father, King Aurvandil War-Raven, is murdered by his brother Fjölnir — Amleth’s uncle. After Amleth’s mother, Queen Gudrún, is taken by Fjölnir and his loyalists, Amleth escapes to a nearby shore, and sails away, vowing to avenge his father, save his mother, and kill his uncle.
As years pass, Amleth finds himself a part of a Viking tribe, pillaging villages and selling the residents into slavery as a source of income. But after invading this one village, he overhears from one of his tribesmen that these slaves will be sent to a sheep farmer in Iceland named Fjölnir the Brotherless. He knows the farmer must be his father’s killer, and so he cuts his hair, brands himself with the mark of a slave, and travels to the far away land to enact vengeance upon his treacherous uncle. How Does The Northman End?
After discovering that his mother was involved in the murder of King Aurvandil War-Raven, and that she herself was merely a slave to the once king, Amleth is conflicted, having been lied to all his life, a life that was ultimately ruined by everyone he once considered family, including his father. And so, Amleth storms out of his mother’s tent and kills Fjölnir’s eldest son, Thórir, while he sleeps, stealing his heart straight from his chest before he goes into hiding.
The next day, Amleth is captured by Fjölnir, and tortured for withholding the true location of Thórir’s heart. But a flock of ravens — thought to be sent from the All-Father Odin — break the restraints and set him free. Amleth is then rescued by a fellow slave, Olga of the Birch Forest, whom he has fallen in love with, and they escape Iceland together on a ship. On the boat, Amleth discovers that Olga is pregnant with his twin children, and he thinks back to his prophecy given to him by a He-Witch who showed him where to find the sword that would kill Fjölnir:
You must choose between kindness for your kin, or hate for your enemies.
At the time, he thought nothing of the first option, because his only purpose was vengeance. But now the distinction between the two options is clear, he must choose to either avenge his father, or move on and raise his future family. He decides he will choose both, seeing as though he believes Fjölnir will never stop pursuing Amleth to avenge Thórir, and once he finds out Amleth also has children, he will no doubt murder them, too.
