Vikings has done its best to be as historically accurate as possible, and it was very close to making a big geography and history mistake with Jarl Borg. Created by Michael Hirst (who is also the man behind The Tudors), Vikings debuted on History Channel in 2013. Though it was originally planned as a miniseries, it was quickly renewed for a second season, and so viewers got to know more about Ragnar, Lagertha, Rollo, and more.
Vikings initially followed the travels of legendary Norse figure Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) and his Viking brothers, from the start of the Viking Age (marked by the Lindisfarne raid, as seen in season 1) onwards. The series gradually shifted its focus to Ragnar’s sons – Bjorn Ironside, Ivar, Ubbe, Hvitserk, and Sigurd – and their own journeys, making them the protagonists. Vikings has seen a lot of characters come and go, and not everyone arrived with good intentions, as is the case of Jarl Borg.
Played by Thorbjørn Harr, Jarl Borg was a powerful leader in Götaland who created major chaos in the lives of Ragnar, Rollo, and the rest. He manipulated Rollo into betraying Ragnar, attacked and invaded Kattegat as revenge for being excluded from King Horik’s raids, and more. Jarl Borg wasn’t one to root for, and he was close to being even more problematic as he almost created a major history mistake.
Vikings: Gustaf Skarsgård Corrected A Major Mistake In Jarl Borg’s Story
As mentioned above, Jarl Borg was the leader (jarl) of Götaland, one of the three lands of Sweden, along with Svealand and Norrland. When Hirst came up with the character of Jarl Borg, he was Swedish, and would have stayed that way had Gustaf Skarsgård (who plays Floki in the series) not pointed out a big history and geography mistake: Sweden didn’t exist as such at the time Vikings is set in, and Uppsala would be located within it if it did.
Hirst then changed Borg to be a Geatish jarl to avoid a mistake that could have earned him some problems with the audience, though in the series the caption for Götaland reads “Götaland, Sweden”, which could be justified as being a way of letting viewers know where it would be located in a modern map. Götaland and Svealand ended up merging and forming the country of Sweden, which is traced back to at least the 11th century, and the series is set way before that. Jarl Borg being Swedish would have been a mistake that could have slipped most viewers, though not those from Scandinavia and anyone with knowledge on its history, but as Hirst aims to pay as much attention as possible to the historical accuracy of Vikings, fans have a lot to thank Gustaf Skarsgård for, as he saved the series from making a big mistake.