The Northman: What Is The Northman About?

The Northman is a 2022 epic historical fantasy film directed by Robert Eggers, and co-written by Eggers and Sjón. Based on the legend of Amleth.

The plot follows Amleth, a Viking prince who sets out on a quest to avenge the murder of his father.

In A.D. 895, King Aurvandill War-Raven returns to his kingdom on the island of Hrafnsey after his overseas conquests, and is reunited with his wife, Queen Gudrún, and his son and heir, Prince Amleth.

To prepare Amleth to one day be king, the two participate in a spiritual ceremony overseen by Aurvandill’s jester, Heimir. The next morning, masked warriors led by Aurvandill’s brother Fjölnir ambush and murder the king.

After seeing his village massacred and his mother taken away screaming by his uncle, Amleth flees by boat swearing to avenge his father, save his mother and kill Fjölnir.

Amleth is found by a band of Vikings and raised among them as a berserker. Years later, after an attack in the land of the Rus leaves him shaken when he sees an orphan, Amleth encounters a Seeress in the temple of Svetovit; the Seeress predicts that Amleth will soon take revenge on Fjölnir, and that his path is intertwined with a Maiden-King.

Amleth finds out that Fjölnir was overthrown by Harald of Norway and lives in exile in Iceland. Amleth sneaks aboard a slave ship headed to Iceland to pose as a slave in an attempt to find Fjölnir.

On the ship, he encounters a Slavic slave named Olga, who claims to be a sorceress. Upon arrival, Amleth and the rest of the slaves are taken to Fjölnir’s farm, where it is revealed that Queen Gudrún, now Fjölnir’s wife, has borne him a son, Gunnar.