Viking stories have charmed audiences for centuries, though they’ve mostly fallen out of favor in recent times. It’s a pity, asthe genre is a ton of fun when done right. The best Viking tales speak of warriors bound by oaths, kings who rule at the edge of the world, and voyages where the sea is as much an enemy as any blade.
Cinema has reimagined these tales in countless ways;some grounded in historical grit, others spiraling into myth and fantasy. From frostbitten fjords to halls echoing with the clash of shields, here are ten of the greatest ever made.
10‘Outlander’ (2008)
“If you truly believe that you write the tale of your life, then the end is up to you.“Outlandergleefully smashes together Viking history, fantasy, and straight-up sci-fi.Jim Caviezelleads the cast as Kainan, a stranded alien warrior who crash-lands in Iron Age Norway, bringing with him an otherworldly predator called the Moorwen. Stripped of his advanced technology, Kainan must forge an alliance with wary Viking tribes to hunt the creature down.
The result is a rough-around-the-edges but inspired genre collision, part creature feature, part sword-and-shield epic, all set against a brooding, mist-shrouded landscape. Among the supporting cast,John HurtandRon Perlmanlend the human side a gruff gravitas, while the Moorwen itself feels like a folkloric monster reborn in science-fiction form. All in all,Outanderis messy, pulpy, and unashamedly ambitious, treating its Vikings as the kind of people who could face down gods or aliens without blinking.
9‘The Long Ships’ (1964)
“We sail tomorrow and may Allah send us a fair wind and a calm sea.” “And may Thor do the same, my lord. Released during the golden era of widescreen historical epics,The Long ShipspitsRichard Widmark’s roguish Viking adventurer againstSidney Poitier’s imperious Moorish ruler in a race to find the “Mother of Voices”, a mythical golden bell of staggering size and value. The film takes enormous liberties with history, geography, and even basic plausibility, butit sails on charisma and sheer theatrical bravado.
For better or worse,The Long Shipsembodies the final flourish of old-school Viking spectacle before the genre shifted toward grit and realism. The sets are lavish, the shipboard battles rousing, and the costumes a delirious mix of Norse fur and Hollywood glam.It’s a Technicolor fever dreamof high-seas adventure that some will find annoying and others will find delightful. A gloriously dated spectacle.
8‘The Vikings’ (1958)
“Let’s not question our flesh for wanting to remain flesh.” Another blast from the past, a classic story of oaths, kidnappings, and revenge.The VikingsstarsKirk Douglasas Einar, a swaggering, scarred warrior prince whose rival is none other thanTony Curtisas the secret heir to an English throne. Ernest Borgnine and Janet Leigh round out the cast. What sets the film apart is its location shooting in Norway’s fjords and its practical stunt work, including a legendary sequence where raiders storm a castle by scaling the drawbridge with axes.
The tone is bold, romantic, and larger than life; half Shakespearean melodrama, half brawling adventure yarn. ComposerMario Nascimbene’s score surges with energy, and the film’s embrace of both brutality and beauty feels authentic to the Viking spirit (even if its history is pure Hollywood invention). In other words, this was the high watermark for mid-century Viking epics.
7‘Erik the Viking’ (1989)
“Bring the Age of Ragnarok to an end and stop all this fighting and bloodshed.” Only Monty Python alumnusTerry Jonescould make a Viking movie this absurd and still have it work as mythic fantasy.Tim Robbinsplays the title character, a young Viking who has grown weary of the endless cycle of plunder and pillage. Inspired by a woman’s dying words, he gathers a ragtag crew to sail to Asgard and end the Age of Ragnarok. Along the way, they encounter cursed islands, treacherous waters, and gods with all-too-human flaws.
The humor is knowingly silly. Characters argue over the proper way to sack a village, or whether the world is truly round. Yetthe film is also steeped in genuine affection for the sagas it skewers.Not for nothing,Erik the Vikingwent on to develop a cult following.It’ll be up to individual viewers to decide whether it’s fun or simply goofy.
6‘Thor’ (2011)
“You are a vain, greedy, cruel boy.” Marvel’sThormay becoated in superhero gloss, but its backbone is pure Norse mythology.Chris Hemsworthplays the god of thunder with an almost Shakespearean blend of arrogance and charm, banished from Asgard byAnthony Hopkins' imperious Odin after defying the king’s will. Stripped of his power, Thor learns humility in small-town New Mexico while his jealous brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) schemes to seize the throne.
Kenneth Branaghdirects with an eye for regal drama, giving the Asgard sequences a mead-hall grandeur complete with rainbow bridges, frost giants, and prophecies. Sure, many of these references aren’t explored in depth, but they evince a reasonable familiarity with the original myths. While comic-book purists see it as an origin story and mythologists wince at its liberties,Thorbrought Norse cosmology into mainstream pop culture for a new generation, making it an important inclusion on this list.
5‘Beowulf’ (2007)
“I am Beowulf and I’m here to kill your monster.“Robert Zemeckis' motion-captureBeowulfis one ofthe strangest and most ambitious takeson the Anglo-Saxon epic (though it admittedly falls a little short of its potential).Ray Winstonevoices the hero, a larger-than-life warrior whose victory over the monstrous Grendel (Crispin Glover) makes him a legend. But victory comes with a price, as Grendel’s mother (Angelina Jolie, rendered in eerie digital beauty) tempts Beowulf into a bargain that will haunt his reign.
The film’s animation style, somewhere between realism and dreamscape, gives it an almost mythic unreality, making the dragon-slaying finale feel like a painting come to life. That said, some people disliked this approach, finding it to be a little “uncanny valley”. Though not a Viking tale in strict historical terms,Beowulf’s mead-halls, sea voyages, and fatalistic tone make it a spiritual sibling to Norse legend, told with the heightened grandeur of an oral saga.
4‘The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die’ (2023)
“For a hundred years there was chaos in our lands.“As the capstoneto theLast Kingdomseries,Seven Kings Must Diehad the unenviable task of tying up years of storylines while delivering a worthy final battle.Alexander Dreymon’s Uhtred of Bebbanburg faces shifting alliances, royal betrayals, and the slow collapse of the Viking Age in England. Despite the massive setpieces, the film keeps its focus on the relationships forged through years of war; comradeship tempered by hard choices and personal loss.
As a result,this is a brutal but grounded take on Viking warfare, with large-scale battles staged for maximum grit and immediacy. It’s just 111 minutes long but packed to the gills with story and action. YetSeven Kings Must Dieis also deeply elegiac, acknowledging that the age of shield walls and sea kings is coming to an end. As both historical drama and character-driven farewell, it succeeds in giving the saga an ending that feels earned.
3‘Valhalla Rising’ (2009)
“We are more than flesh and blood. More than revenge.“Nicolas Winding Refn’sValhalla Risingis Viking cinema stripped to its bare bones.Mads Mikkelsenturns in a strong performance as One-Eye, a mute warrior enslaved by chieftains, whose escape leads him into the company of Norse Christians voyaging west to what they believe is the Holy Land. What follows is less an adventure than an allegorical descent into an alien, hostile wilderness. Dialogue is sparse; violence is sudden and shocking.
The tale is told with an almost trance-like pacing, and the compositions are painterly. The landscapes, mostly fog-choked mountains and endless gray seas, are oppressive in their emptiness, reflecting the men’s growing disorientation. Refn turns this harsh plot and hard-edged imagery intoa meditation on faith, fate, and the futility of conquest.Rather than glory, Valhalla Rising is interested inthe silence after the battle, the unknowable gods, and the cold indifference of the world.
2‘How to Train Your Dragon’ (2010)
“Either we finish them, or they’ll finish us!” Few animated films capture the Viking spirit quite likeHow to Train Your Dragon, even as it reshapes it for all ages.Jay Baruchelvoices Hiccup, a misfit in a village of dragon-slayers who befriends an injured Night Fury, defying generations of fear and bloodshed. His growing bond with Toothless changes not just his own destiny but the culture of his entire people. Hiccup’s journey forms the basis of one of the most beloved Viking-inspired stories of all time.
The film (recently remade in live-action) balances exhilarating aerial sequences (soaring over crashing waves and jagged cliffs) with warm character beats.Gerard Butler’s gruff but loving Stoick the Vast adds emotional depth, whileJohn Powell’s sweeping score elevates the flight scenes into pure cinematic joy. In its own way, it’s as much about Viking courage as any bloody epic: the courage to face the unknown and remake the world.
1‘The Northman’ (2022)
“Fearless, we shall drink blood from our enemies' wounds.“Robert Eggersis great at dusting off classic tales and making them appealing to contemporary audiences. Indeed,The Northmanis as close as modern cinema has come to a true Viking fever dream. Based on the same legend that inspiredHamlet, it centers onAlexander Skarsgård’s Amleth, a prince turned berserker after his father’s murder. His quest for revenge is ritualized, almost religious: raids performed in animal trances, visions of Valkyries, duels in volcano-lit night. The star is joined by a cast of heavy hitters likeNicole Kidman,Anya Taylor-Joy, andEthan Hawke. Heck, evenBjörkshows up.
Eggers' obsessive attention to historical and mythological detail, including authentic garb, burial rites, and landscapes, grounds the film’s hallucinatory moments in reality. The cinematography likewise captures a world that is both breathtaking and merciless: black-sand beaches, moss-cloaked forests, seas whipped into steel-gray fury. Basically,this is Viking storytelling in its rawest form. Bloody, mystical, and bound to the inexorable pull of fate.
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