Vikings Fact Check: Was Aslaug Real?

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Although Vikings is based on historical events and characters, it also took many creative liberties when building the stories of Ragnar Lothbrok and company, prompting questions about which characters existed and which didn’t. Among those is Aslaug, Ragnar’s wife and mother of four of his children, but was Aslaug real? Created by Michael Hirst, Vikings became one of the most successful and popular historical dramas in recent years, thanks to its heavy dose of drama and action, as well as how it told a combination of historical events and others that can only be found in myths and other tales.

Vikings covered the first years of the Viking Age, and it was initially led by the legendary warrior Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel). Viewers followed Ragnar and his Viking brothers through many travels and raids in the first four seasons of Vikings, as Ragnar met his fate in season 4, and after that, his sons took over and led the series until its final episode. Ragnar went through many ups and downs during his time in Vikings, and there was a lot of drama in his story, especially when it came to his personal life. When viewers met Ragnar in Vikings season 1, he was married to Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) and had a son, Björn, and a daughter, Gyda, but that quickly changed.

Related: Vikings Fact Check: Was Ragnar's Daughter, Gyda, Real?

In Vikings season 1, Lagertha got pregnant but had a miscarriage, and Ragnar, distressed and upset over it, went on a pilgrimage to the temple in Uppsala, where he asked the gods who will be the mother of the sons promised to him if not Lagertha. Later, Ragnar and his crew traveled to Götaland to resolve a land dispute, and there, two of his men found Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland) as she was bathing.