The Northman: We explain to you the end of the bloody Viking epic!

• The Viking epic “The Northman” is currently in German cinemas and has a not very clear ending.
• There are always mythical scenes where it is not clear whether they are visions.
• We explain the ending to you and answer the most burning questions after going to the cinema.

A highlight for “Vikings” fans: German cinemas are currently showing the bloody and powerful Viking epic “The Northman” with “Big Little Lies” star Alexander Skarsgård. The actor plays the vengeful Amleth, who seeks revenge for the murder of his father, King Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke).

“The Northman” isn’t simply a revenge story, the film is brimming with elements from Nordic mythology. Many dreams and visions are not clearly identified as such. Or is it a fantasy work?

Find out below the explanation of the different levels of meaning in “The Northman”. We also take a very close look at the end of the film and explain why Amleth basically achieved (almost) all of its goals.

“The Northman”: Are the magical aspects real?

Robert Eggers, the director of “The Northman”, has previously directed the works “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse”, which also have a supernatural touch. After puritanical mysticism in “The Witch” and maritime legends and sagas in “The Lighthouse”, Eggers now takes on the Nordic sagas.

On the one hand, “The Northman” places great value on historical accuracy, archaeological knowledge and realism. But then it is the goal of the main character Amleth to move into Valhalla through his successful revenge. Again and again Amleth also sees a magical family tree of his bloodline in a vision.

And various seers are on hand to offer advice to Amleth – all magically seeming to know his entire story.

So are the magical aspects of The Northman real or not? This decision is ultimately up to each viewer, as does Dr. Neil Price, one of The Northman’s historical advisors, explained in an interview with website Inverse.

“As in [Robert Eggers’] previous films it still is ambiguous“, reveals archaeologist Dr. Price. Viewers can take the mythology shown to be real. However, said scenes can just as well be “a dream” or “visions”, Price continues.

“The Northman”: Is Amleth fighting the skeleton or not?

The best example of this is probably the scene where Amleth receives his sword, which he can only draw at night. In an old grave he finds it in the hands of a rotten corpse several hundred years old. Now Amleth fights against the undead skeleton for his sword.

After this argument, however, Amleth snatches the sword from the corpse, which sits back in its previous place and crumbles to dust when touched.

Clearly, the conclusion of the scene is the realistic version of events. Everything before that may have happened in Amleth’s mind, but ultimately nothing is certain here.

“The Northman”: did the berserkers really exist?

But let’s start at the beginning of the film. After the murder of his father King Aurvandil, young Amleth flees. Later he fights together with Berserkers. Whether or not these mystical warriors really existed is a matter of historical debate, as archaeologist Dr. Price noticed.

As can be seen in “The Northman”, the berserkers have probably put themselves in a fighting mood through rituals. They may have thought they could turn into animals. Without armor, they then went into battle in a frenzy of blood.

In “The Northman” the young Amleth learns the warrior trade. After his time with the Berserkers, he is able to pursue his revenge.

“The Northman”: Amleth’s belief in fate, bloodline and the tree explained

Again and again in “The Northman” Amleth sees his family tree, which is a literal tree. This represents Amleth’s royal bloodline. The usurper Fjölnir (Claes Bang) does not appear in it because he is not a legitimate ruler.

Towards the end of “The Northman”, Amleth breaks up with Olga vom Birkenwald (Anya Taylor-Joy), who carries his children in her womb. She will give birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Amleth sees the two in a vision as the end of his family tree. The girl wears the insignia of a ruler. The seer in the land of Rus is already hinting that a girl will become queen.

On another level of meaning, the network of arteries inside a person becomes said tree. Here the literal blood in the human body is equated with the bloodline of kings Aurvandil, Amleth and his daughter.

“The Northman”: That’s why the seers help Amleth

The seers in The Northman are on the side of kings. For this reason they also help Amleth, remind him of his revenge mission or point him to the sword with which he will accomplish his revenge.

It is no coincidence, for example, that the blind seer played by musician Björk is in the village where the berserkers are attacking. She is there to guide Amleth in the right direction.

“The Northman”: Entering Valhalla as a warrior’s ultimate goal

Amleth himself wants to avenge his father and save his mother. But he is also guided by an overarching goal. If he is successful in his revenge mission, he will enter mythical Valhalla and dine at Odin’s table. This represents the highest honor for a warrior in the Norse world of the Vikings – and at the same time guarantees him life after death.

The Valkyries collect the warriors from the battlefield and bring them to Valhalla. This can also be seen in “The Northman”. Amleth dies from a stab in the heart, having wrought his revenge by decapitating Fjolnir. Now the Valkyrie appears and carries him on her horse to the gates of Valhalla.

“The Northman”: The end of the film explained

As already mentioned at the beginning, the ending of “The Northman” can be rated positively for Amleth – despite his death. It was Amleth’s destiny to avenge his father. He succeeded.

He also fathered two children with Olga vom Birkenwald and his bloodline lives on. He is even able to calm his insatiable thirst for revenge by living it out.

Amleth does not only become the Viking king, but his entry into Valhalla brings the story to a rounded conclusion from his perspective – as strange as that may seem to today’s viewers.

“The Northman” and “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare

The Revenge Tale of Amleth is an old Norse legend that William Shakespeare adapted for his world-famous play “Hamlet”. Many motifs such as the father murdered by his brother, the captured mother or even a talking skull can be found in “Hamlet” as well as in “The Northman”.

However, director Robert Eggers has placed more emphasis on the Nordic aspects of the story in his film. In addition, the filmmaker claims to have known nothing about this connection when he began his work. In an interview with NDR, Eggers explains: “I had no idea beforehand that Hamlet was based on Amleth’s Viking saga.”

“The Northman”: Does the Valkyrie wear braces?

Some viewers of “The Northman” claim to have recognized that the iconic Valkyrie wears (modern) braces. But this is not the case, as director Robert Eggers points out to GQ. Rather, it is a matter of horizontal furrows or grooves that Vikings scratched into their teeth according to archaeological findings.

Possibly these were then filled with paint for the fight in order to obtain a particularly martial appearance.

“The Northman”: What drug makes Amleth and his father fly?

Even before King Aurvandil is murdered, he wants to make his son Amleth a man and his successor. For this purpose, a ritual is held by Heimir the Fool (Willem Dafoe). Although real Vikings performed such initiation rituals, little is known about them.

As the aforementioned archaeologist Dr. Price then also that this scene is an invention of director Robert Eggers. The hallucinogenic substance that father and son ingest is called black henbane.

The herb gives Amleth the sensation of flying. The young prince goes through an out-of-body experience.