Is The Northman A True Story? Viking History & Norse Myth Explained
This article contains spoilers for The Northman
The Northman is the latest film from Robert Eggers, but is it a true story and how do ancient Viking history and Norse mythology factor into the foundations of the film? The Northman tells the story of Amleth, a young Viking prince. When Amleth's father is killed by Fjolnir, Amleth's uncle, he vows revenge against Fjolnir and embarks on a lifelong journey to exact his vengeance.
The Northman follows the usual style of Robert Eggers, combining a period piece setting with psychological thrills. Unlike Eggers' previous work on The Witch and The Lighthouse, however, The Northman is arguably more accessible and «mainstream» than his previous efforts. That being said, Eggers has previously included elements of true stories in his movies — even when leaning into the more bizarre moments of his films — and thus The Northman is in many ways set up to follow this blending of dream-like events with reality.
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These elements align so closely with Eggers' signature style that they lead to the question of whether The Northman is a true story. Given how a lot of the more strange elements of the film tie into Viking history and Norse mythology, it isn't out of the realm of possibility for The Northman to be based on true events. So how closely do all of these elements tie into real-world history in Robert Eggers' latest Viking adventure?
The Northman isn't directly based on a true story, instead being written by Robert Eggers and his writing partner for this film Sjon, to be based on an Old Norse myth and folktale as opposed to being taken directly from reality. This folktale was Vita Amlethi. Vita Amlethi was a tale passed down
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