Vikings stem from a historical fiction created by screenwriter, Michael Hirst. He is also the brains behind Camelot and The Tudors. As for the Vikings, the show illustrates Ragnar Lothbrok’s rise from a farmer to a Scandinavian King for the Vikings.
Ragnar Lothbrok perfectly mastered the acting art that he endured snake bites in an epic scene filled with venomous snakes and a very deep pit. This was actually his last scene and you can just be in awe of his dedication.
Vikings Facts Trivia Questions and Answers
Did you know that most of the show is filmed in Ireland? Although the series has worked on having a production set, the vast majority of Vikings is filmed outdoors.
The actors are highly skilled in their weaponry as the shields and swords used are oftentimes real weapons. Therefore, these fight scenes entail a lot of detailed practice.
Find out more about the intense film by taking part in the Vikings trivia below!
1. In which century was the term “Viking” first used by historians to describe the Scandinavian raiders as far back as the 8th century?
2. From which area in the world did the Vikings come from?
3. What name was given to the eastern region of England, conquered and occupied by the Danish armies in the ninth century, which had its own legal customs and laws?
4. Which historical period is typically referred to as the Viking Age?
5. King Canute was the scion of the Danish royal house. Who was his father?
6. Let’s start with an easy one. In which year was the first recorded raid on Lindisfarne?
7. The Vikings were the first Europeans to reach which continent around the year 1000?
8. The word “viking” is based upon the word “vik,” meaning a creek, inlet or bay. From which language does the word “vik” originate?
9. Viking warriors are often depicted in the media with which type of helmet?
10. Although Leif Ericson was the first European to land in the New World, which earlier Viking was actually the first to sight it?
11. What is special about runes, which were letters that made up the Viking alphabet?
12. When did sailing boats first appear in Scandinavia?
13. Mead is the most well-known Viking beverage. This alcoholic beer-like drink is made by fermenting which ingredient with water.
14. What are the main three countries that makeup Scandinavia?
15. How many rooms were there in a typical house of the Vikings?
16. The Vikings were perhaps the earliest culture to ice-skate. What material did they carve their skates primarily from?
17. Who is the supreme god worshiped by the Vikings?
18. Which Viking raider founded the duchy of Normandy in the tenth century?
19. Thor was the god of war and fertility, worshiped by most Vikings. Which weapon did he use to create lightning and thunder?
20. When did most of the Viking lands convert to Christianity?
21. Before the use of coins in the Viking world, what method of payment was common?
22. The richest nobles in the Viking Age were buried in what?
23. Canute became king of England in 1016 AD. What significant governmental act did he commit soon after his ascension to the throne?
24. What is the name of the animal or bird that is believed to have been used on most “Viking” war banners?
25. According to Norse mythology, what is Valhalla?
26. Leif Ericson’s last name means he was the son of Eric the Red. However, what was Eric the Red’s real last name (________son)?
27. What was the main advantage when the Vikings used their narrow longships?
28. What was the private boat type?
29. The Vikings practiced early forms of Landnam, due to a series of bad crops. What does this word, for raiding, translate to?
30. Why did the Vikings have ravens on their flags?
31. Which naval battle off the southwest of Norway late in the ninth century enabled Harald Fine-Hair to unite the whole of Norway under a single crown?
32. Why did people in England call the Vikings the word “barbarians”?
33. Many people know that the Vikings used short, straight lines to form the carved writing known as runes, but what did they call their alphabet?
34. Led by Ingolfur Arnarson, the Vikings settled on which island in 874?
35. Vinland was the name the Vikings gave to what land?
36. What was the only kingdom of Anglo-Saxons in England that remained independent of Viking occupation?
37. What was the knorr used for?
38. What was the name of the language spoken by the Vikings?
39. The Vikings, sailing with their mighty Gokstads, invaded the aboriginee peoples of Newfoundland. What was the derogatory term, the Vikings, used to call these people?
40. The Vikings were renowned shipbuilders. Their longships have become an integral part of the Viking image but what were their smaller cargo ships called?
41. What was the main precious metal used by the Vikings?
42. What was the name of the fortified military encampment on the Baltic coast which was the headquarters of the Jomsvikings, the semi-legendary professional warriors in the tenth century whose adventures are recounted in Jomsviking Saga?
43. What was the treasure a Viking was buried with called?
44. In Viking households, people often used soapstone for cooking and what?
45. Soon after securing power in England, Canute also became the king of Denmark. How did he accomplish this?
46. What is the traditional date for the battle of Hafsfjord set by Snorri Sturluson?
47. Which Nordic country still has the patronymics practices in which children are named after their father plus the suffix “dottir” or “son”?
48. The Emperors of which Eastern empire employed Vikings as their bodyguards?
49. According to the ancient religion, the Vikings had to pay special homage to gods every how many years?
50. What Scottish historical novelist published, in 1817, a long narrative poem set in Viking times, ‘Harold the Dauntless’?
51. Which earl rose to great prominence under Canute’s patronage?
52. Which modern-day region in North America was named Vinland by the Vikings?
53. Which hair color was thought to be fashionable by the Vikings?
54. The Vikings had many games, for their leisure time between raids. What was the most common board game?
55. Who was the only person to find Vinland and winter there?
56. Which modern-day Irish city became a center for the Viking slave trade?
57. In which Danish fjord were five eleventh-century Viking ships discovered and excavated in the 1960s?
58. Which small kingdom, before the unification of Norway, is said to have controlled the town of Skiringsal (which some call “Kaupang”)?
59. One of Harald Hardraade’s significant achievements during his reign was the founding of an important Norwegian city. What was this city dating back to 1050?
60. Riddling was also a very popular game among the Vikings; a warrior needed his word skill to be as good as his sword skill. What is the answer to this popular Saxon riddle: “On the way a miracle: water become bone”?
61. What is a baldric?
62. Which Norwegian king was converted to Christianity in 994 AD, and then set out to Christianize the country?
63. What is a Hoard?
64. What are the two most famous Viking ships, found in mounds in Norway?
65. Which Viking explorer founded the first settlement in Greenland?
66. What is the name of the excavated site in Newfoundland which has been identified as a small Viking settlement dating from the Norse discovery and attempted colonisation of North America c.1000?
67. In Scandinavian folklore and mythology a female warrior is often called what sort of maiden?
68. By 1028 AD, Canute had also become overlord of Norway, and had gained the title Emperor of the North. Why did the Norwegians oust their own king, Olaf the Stout?
69. York was known as Eboracum by the Romans, but what name did the Vikings give it?
70. What was the name of Harald Fairhair’s royal family, according to Snorri Sturluson?
71. What name was given to the land tax paid by the Anglo-Saxons during the reign of King Ethelred to raise funds for protection against their lands being attacked?
72. Erik the Red discovered and explored a mysterious western land between 982 and 985 AD. Why did he name this new land “Greenland”?
73. Which Viking king was defeated and killed by Harold Godwinson’s forces at the Battle of Stamford Bridge?
74. Viking architecture consisted mainly of which type of house?
75. How were sails marked to show that it was a king’s ship?
76. Where is “L’Anse aux Meadows” located?
77. Which Norse explorer from Iceland was the first known European to have set foot on continental North America?
78. Berserkers were feared Viking warriors who were said to go in to battle wearing the pelt of which animal?
79. What is the name of the Neolithic burial mound on the mainland of Orkney which contains twenty-four runic inscriptions dating from the twelfth century?
80. In a well known tale, which king, after failing to hold back the tide, removed his crown, hung it from a crucifix and never wore it again in honour of Almighty God?
81. What use did the Vikings have for walrus skins?
82. Who was the first king to unite all of Denmark?
83. In Norse mythology, what type of bridge reaches between Earth and the realm of the gods?
84. In 1893, Magnus Andersen sailed across the Atlantic with the copy of a Viking-ship. How long did the journey last?
85. Rollo was most famous for his raids on which country in the ninth century?
86. What kind of funeral did Viking chieftains have?
87. A pair of oval brooches are found within an excavated Viking Age grave site. Who was buried there?
88. Characters in which composer’s 1870 “Der Ring des Nibelungen” opera helped to create the false stereotype of Vikings wearing horned helmets?
89. How long did Canute lose his kingship over England?
90. Name the legendary Norse warriors that worked themselves into a frenzy before battle and fought in a trance-like fury?
91. Which Icelandic historian wrote “The Prose Edda” or “The Younger Edda” that tells of Scandinavian mythology?
92. What name is given for the ancient Nordic stories about early Viking voyages and the battles?
93. What were the homes, which resembled tent-houses, called?
94. England came under the control of which Danish king, after an invasion in 1013, during which Ethelred abandoned the throne and went into exile in Normandy?
95. Which (historically dubious) Norse Viking hero and legendary king of Denmark and Sweden, known from Old Norse poetry and sagas, was played by Travis Fimmel in the popular 2013 TV series Vikings?
96. What is the name of the annual fire festival in Shetland, held in Lerwick on the last Tuesday of January?
97. How did Canute die?
98. When Ragnar and Rollo plan a new raid to the west of Norway, which Earl stands in their way?
99. Who was the person responsible for the Christian conversion of the Danish people, greatly influencing Gizur the White Tesson to make Christianity the main religion?
100. Why does Ragnar take Lagertha to the temple of Uppsala in season 1?
101. In 793 AD, the first known Viking raid occurred at which monastery, the center of Northumbrian Christianity?
102. What does Aslaug claim to be in the second season of Vikings?
103. What is the matter with Ragnar’s fourth son?
104. What is Ragnar’s biggest motivation for returning to England?
105. How does Jarl Borg die?
106. What is the name of the Princess of Mercia?
107. Why does Bjorn believe the Berserker who tried to kill him was sent by King Horik?
108. How does Bjorn torture Rollo in season 4?
109. Is it true that Bjorn is tricked into eating human flesh while raiding in Africa?
110. What is Aethelred’s fate?
111. Why does Kjetill anger Ubba and the rest of settlers in Greenland?
112. What is so remarkable about Princess Katia to Ivarr?
113. Its demise by the mid-15th century may have been partly due to what?
114. There is archaeological evidence that Vikings reached what city, the centre of the Islamic Empire?
115. After the end of the Viking Age the separate kingdoms gradually acquired distinct identities as what?
116. Later in their history, they began to do what?
117. The Vikings soon witnessed the violent subduing of the Saxons by Charlemagne in what?
118. The Viking raids were, however, the first to be what?
119. Most contemporary literary and written sources on the Vikings come from where?
120. The Norse of the Viking Age could read and write and used a non-standardized alphabet, called runor, built upon what?
121. While there are few remains of runic writing on paper from the Viking era, thousands of stones with runic inscriptions have been found where?
122. The use of runor survived into the 15th century, used in parallel with what?
123. Many runestones in Scandinavia record the names of participants in what?
124. Among them are around 25 Ingvar runestones in the Mälardalen district of Sweden, erected to commemorate members of a what?