Robert Eggers’ Viking epic The Northman may be set in Iceland, but the filming locations feature scenery from around the world. In the acclaimed horror director’s follow-up to The Witch (2015) and The Lighthouse (2019), the positively-reviewed The Northman launches Eggers into a much larger scope of storytelling with a much more substantial studio budget. As such, the set pieces, locations, and atmosphere feel aptly larger in scale, making The Northman director Robert Eggers’ most visually immersive project yet.
The Northman is an action-packed Icelandic drama based on the legend of Amleth, an ancient Scandanavian figure who directly inspired the story of Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. Starring big names like Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke, and Anya Taylor-Joy, The Northman follows Amleth (Skarsgård) in a series of violent, rageful ventures as he is reminded of the vow he made as a child – to save his mother (Kidman), avenge his father (Hawke), and kill his uncle (Claes Bang). Amleth’s bloody quest sees him traverse Scandanavian villages and regions, with the Icelandic landscapes and geography serving as an important part of The Northman’s Viking revenge tale.
Whereas Robert Eggers’ films The Lighthouse and The Witch were primarily confined to one location, The Northman broadens the director’s horizons through the international scale of the story. While Iceland is the primary location within The Northman’s plot, the majority of the filming took place in Northern Ireland, with various locations being reconstructed to mirror Icelandic geography. Here’s a breakdown of every location where Eggers’ The Northman was filmed.
Slavic Village - Clandeboyne Estate, Bangor, Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, The Northman spent a significant amount of time filming at the Clandeboyne Estate located in Bangor. This 2,000-acre estate is notable in The Northman for being the setting of the Slavic village that Amleth and his fellow Vikings raid. While the Clandeboyne Estate is better known in real life for hosting weddings, it’s also featured in a memorable scene of The Northman as the filming location where the Vikings drunkenly dance naked in the woods.
King Aurvandill’s Kingdom - Torr Head, Northern Ireland
The production team for The Northman constructed the original home of Amleth and King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke) at Torr Head, County Antrim, a secluded location in Northern Ireland. The location appears in the opening scenes of The Northman’s story, just after Ethan Hawke’s character finally returns home to his island kingdom. Also constructed in the village is a temple, which is where the manhood ritual of the 11-year-old Prince Amleth is performed. Also filmed at Torr Head is the bedroom of King Aurvandill and Queen Gudrun (recent TV star Nicole Kidman), where one of The Northman’s most notable scenes takes place.
Land of Rus - The River Bann, Northern Ireland
After The Northman’s young Amleth witnesses the murder of his father as ordered by his uncle, the character is seen years later raiding villages along Eastern Europe’s rivers with fellow Vikings. The Northman refers to this area as the “Land of Rus,” with the Viking ships and rowing scenes being actually filmed on Northern Ireland’s River Bann. However, when Alexander Skarsgård’s Amleth boards the slave ship headed for Fjolnir’s farm in Iceland, the area where he sneaks onboard is filmed at Northern Ireland’s River Maine at Shane’s Castle.
Fjolnir’s Farm - Knockdhu, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
After Amleth’s Uncle Fjolnir murders his brother, King Aurvandill, the new ruler himself is eventually overthrown by Harold of Norway, with Fjolnir being exiled to a farm in Iceland. The farm in The Northman comes into play when Amleth boards a ship with Slavic slaves (including Anya Taylor-Joy's The Northman character, Olga) headed for Fjolnir, with adult Amleth discovering that his mother, Gudrun, who is now married to Fjolnir, has had another son. While the farm and its surrounding village are technically set in Iceland within The Northman, they were actually filmed at Knockdhu outside Larne, County Antrim, a settlement and promontory fort in Northern Ireland. This site was also notably used as a location in Game of Thrones season 1 where Ned Stark executed the Night’s Watch’s Will outside of Winterfell.
Viking Ball Game - Mourne Mountains, County Down, Northern Ireland
When Amleth is still disguising himself as a slave at Fjolnir’s farm, he’s chosen to play in a game of knattleikr, an ancient Icelandic Viking ball game. The backdrop for The Northman’s ball game with Amleth and his half-brother/cousin Gunnar is the Mourne Mountains, located once again in Northern Ireland. Unsurprisingly, the Mourne Mountains are also notable in popular culture for serving as a backdrop for many filming locations in Game of Thrones.
The Gates of Hell - Hightown Quarry, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
The final showdown between Amleth and Fjolnir at the end of The Northman takes place in front of an active Icelandic volcano called the Gates of Hell, which is actually filmed at Hightown Quarry in Northern Ireland. While Hekla Volcano in Iceland is where the duel is supposed to be set, The Northman’s production decided to film the fight scene in Ireland instead. According to Belfast Telegraph, The Northman’s crew brought 15 tons of black sand with them to create the illusion of the volcano, while leaving various channels to allow the visual effects team to create lava in post-production.
Icelandic Glaciers - Svínafellsjökull, Vatnajökul, Iceland
One of the only filming locations of The Northman in Iceland is the Svínafellsjökull, an outer glacier of the Vatnajökul ice cap. Whenever the Viking characters are shown on vast glaciers in The Northman, the actors are actually filming on the real Icelandic Natural Reserve. Before Robert Eggers' movie, the glacier was a notable filming location for projects like Game of Thrones, Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, and even Nolan's Batman Begins. The only other genuine Icelandic filming location was in the city of Akureyri, which served as a frequent setting for The Northman’s village scenes. As such, even though Robert Eggers’ The Northman is supposed to primarily take place in Iceland, the nation was hardly used for on-location filming, with the primary reasoning behind this being COVID adjustments.