Vikings: Valhalla introduced the audience to Leif Erikson with many changes to his real story, but the twist in the season finale can set up a true story fix in season 2. Historical dramas have gained force in recent years, and one of the most successful TV shows from that genre is Vikings. Created by Michael Hirst, Vikings premiered on the History Channel in 2013 and even though it was originally planned to be a miniseries, it lived on for six seasons, coming to an end in 2020. However, that wasn’t the end of the stories and characters from the Viking Age, and a sequel series was announced in 2019, titled Vikings: Valhalla.
The series is set over a century after the events of Vikings, so Valhalla doesn’t feature any of the surviving characters of the main series (though it did bring the Seer back), instead introducing a new generation of warriors. Vikings: Valhalla follows Leif Erikson (Sam Corlett), Freydís Eiríksdóttir (Frida Gustavsson), and Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter) as they embark on a journey that takes them across oceans and battlefields – from Kattegat to England to the temple in Uppsala –, all this with the conflict between Vikings and English royals (pagans vs Christians) as the backdrop. Leif and Freydís arrive in Kattegat on a revenge mission, but it all takes a turn not long after.
Leif and Freydís were on a mission to find the Christian man who raped Freydís years ago and left a scar in the shape of a cross on her back, and she got her revenge as she killed the man, but not without consequences. In order to save her, Leif joined Harald, Olaf Haraldsson (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson), and king Canute (Bradley Freegard) on their mission to attack England, and there was tension between Leif and his crew and the rest as Leif and his people were pagans. Throughout this journey, Leif’s beliefs started to be challenged, especially when a little girl left a cross in his hand as she thought he was dying, and he attributed his and later Liv’s (Lujza Richter) recovery to it. However, the real Leif Erikson wasn’t a pagan all his life, and that twist at the end of Vikings: Valhalla season 1 sets up a fix to his story in season 2.
Leif Erikson was the son of Erik the Red and is believed to have been the first European to have set foot on continental North America, way before Christopher Columbus did. There are two versions of how Leif arrived on the other side of the world, and the one found in the Saga of Erik the Red explains that prior to his journey, he spent time at the court of Norwegian King Olaf Tryggvesson and converted to Christianity, and on his way to introduce the religion to the Greenlanders, they were blown off course. Vikings: Valhalla established Leif, Liv, and Freydís as characters who firmly believed in Norse religion, but history dictates a different path for Leif, and the end of Vikings: Valhalla season 1 is taking him in that direction. By the end of the season, Leif awoke the berserker in him, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he blamed the gods for Liv’s death and the Kattegat massacre and invasion, which was led by Christians. This makes way for Leif’s conversion to Christianity in season 2, or at least the beginnings of it, as it has already been somewhat set up with the girl giving him the cross.
Vikings took a lot of creative liberties throughout its six seasons, but Vikings: Valhalla took that even further by bringing together characters that never met (like Leif and Harald), fleshing out the stories of others (as is Freydís’ case), and changing details about their lives to better fit the story they wanted to tell in this first season. Fans are now waiting to see Leif Erikson arriving in North America at some point in Vikings: Valhalla, and by then, his beliefs will have to change – unless, of course, the writers don’t really care about historical accuracy this time.