Vikings in Pop Culture

The cold, hard north breeds cold, hard men.

In fantasy, at least. The hardened society from a desolate land is a concept we often steal from Vikings, or, more generally, the ancient people of Scandinavia, Iceland and other parts of northern Europe. You all know the stereotypes: wooden dragons on ships, braided beards and horned helmets, brutal men that pillaged as they traveled.

While only some of those stereotypes have real roots, they have taken hold of the world and Norse culture has permeated almost every aspect of modern pop culture. Norse mythology seems to have a pull greater than other pantheons, so stories from Norse myths often make their way into stories that aren't even directly related to such mythology or Vikings at all.

Here are some examples of Vikings in pop culture.

Comics

With superhero Thor and super-anti-hero Loki, Marvel Comics were among the first to modernize Norse mythology. Thor, the hammer-wielding Norse protector god, uses his mythical hammer Mjölnir in the comics to fight supervillains. Historically, Thor and the symbol of Mjölnir were a beacon of hope for Vikings who resisted Christianization. Loki, Thor's on-screen brother, was a trickster god who sowed chaos in the heavens (Asgard) to promote rebellion among the gods and their underlings, the men of Midgard and the giants of Jotunheim. Obviously their presence in Marvel's publications has been extremely influenced by Stan Lee's interpretation of Norse mythology.

Movies

How to Train Your Dragon is probably my favorite movie of all time. It's adorable and fulfills my dreams, okay?! And it's set in Berk, a village of Vikings who originally fight and later tame and race dragons. The movie plays directly on the stereotypes I mentioned before, as Hiccup narrates in the opening and closing sequences of both movies. I mean, Stoick the Vast. With a name like that, you are a walking stereotype no matter what!

However, the movie highlights something I'll be blogging about later: cultural perceptions of dragons. In Norse culture, dragons were fierce and elusive but embodied strength, which is why they carved the heads of dragons (or, um, "artistic" interpretations) onto their ships.

Video Games


While many gaming companies could stand to make their names slightly more creative, there's no arguing the presence of Vikings in many mainstream video games.

The Elder Scrolls: The Nord, a playable race crucial to the storylines in most of their games, especially Skyrim.

Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2: The Norn, a playable race larger than humans who live in, you guessed it, the cold north.

World of Warcraft, The Warcraft Series: Vrykul, a race of enemies in, oh my gosh guys, the cold north. Also, much of a World of Warcraft expansion andWarcraft game are centered around Norse mythology with characters like Loken (Loki), Thorim (Thor), Hodir (Hod or Hodr, dialect dependent), etc.

I mean, really guys, you can be more original than that.

However, it's undeniable that Vikings have pushed their way into our culture through sheer enchantment. Their society, though long gone with the Christianization of Scandinavia, left a lasting impact on the world with unique takes on every aspect of life from religion to the written language.