Vikings: Valhalla follows the violent twilight of the Viking Age, a period marked by shifting allegiances, religious tensions, and the slow contraction of Norse influence. The series doesn’t romanticise warfare but shows it as messy, often strategic, and usually driven by conflicting loyalties. Below is an exploration of each major battle across the seasons, analysing the context, combatants, and consequences.
Battle of Kent (Season 1, Episode 2)
Combatants: Viking army led by King Canute and Leif Erikson vs Anglo-Saxon forces
Location: River Thames estuary near Kent
Summary:
The Viking army stages a coastal landing to punish Æthelred’s massacre of Norse settlers. Tactically, the sequence blends surprise with brutal melee. Leif’s engineering skill, particularly in modifying ships for stealth and speed, is key. The battle establishes Canute’s presence in England and the start of his long campaign.
Significance: Begins the English campaign, introduces Leif as a tactician rather than a berserker.
Siege of London (Season 1, Episodes 3–4)
Combatants: Canute’s coalition vs Edmund Ironside’s English defenders
Location: London Bridge and the surrounding walls
Summary:
The siege shows both attrition and psychological warfare. Emma of Normandy’s court intrigue runs parallel to battlefield developments. London Bridge becomes the focal point. Harald and Leif lead a sabotage operation beneath the bridge, collapsing it from below in a nod to Norse sagas.
Significance: The fall of London gives Canute a foothold. It also sets up Edmund’s uneasy alliance with him, rooted more in necessity than trust.
Battle of Kattegat (Season 1, Episode 8)
Combatants: Kattegat loyalists under Haakon and Freydís vs Jarl Kåre’s Christian zealots
Location: Kattegat, Norway
Summary:
This is a battle of ideology as much as arms. Kåre’s purge of paganism brings bloodshed to Kattegat. The defenders fight with a mix of religious resolve and raw desperation. Freydís emerges as a symbolic counterforce, wielding a traditionalist identity in defiance of Christian fanaticism.
Significance: Marks a spiritual turning point. The balance between old Norse ways and Christianity fractures irreversibly.
Battle of the North Sea (Season 2, Episode 1)
Combatants: Jomsborg fleet vs Olaf Haraldsson’s ships
Location: Off the Norwegian coast
Summary:
A tense naval skirmish that turns into a deadly trap. Olaf ambushes the protagonists while they’re vulnerable. The sequence is dark and chaotic, showing the challenges of naval warfare in poor weather.
Significance: Demonstrates Olaf’s cunning. It also shows that brute strength alone won’t win this campaign.
Raid on Novgorod (Season 2, Episode 4)
Combatants: Yaroslav’s guards vs Leif, Harald, and their raiding party
Location: Novgorod, Rus’
Summary:
Less of a formal battle and more of a calculated infiltration gone wrong. It reflects the Vikings’ shifting tactics from large-scale invasion to smaller, riskier endeavours.
Significance: Builds on Harald’s ambition to gain an army and wealth in Rus’. Leif’s use of fire and distraction remains consistent with his earlier improvisational style.
Battle for Jomsborg (Season 2, Episode 8)
Combatants: Olaf Haraldsson vs defenders of Jomsborg
Location: Jomsborg
Summary:
Jomsborg, a supposed haven for pagans, is besieged by Olaf. The conflict is sudden, destructive, and one-sided. Freydís uses her authority to safeguard innocents, even as the walls fall.
Significance: Highlights the increasing vulnerability of old Viking strongholds. Also marks Olaf’s overreach, as his actions sow resentment rather than loyalty.
Battle of Kattegat II (Season 3, Episodes 1–2)
Combatants: Harald and his men vs local resistance and rival claimants
Location: Kattegat
Summary:
As Harald attempts to reclaim influence, Kattegat becomes a chessboard again. Political manoeuvres drive skirmishes as much as ideology.
Significance: Shows Harald’s waning grip on legitimacy. Unlike Canute, he lacks political capital and allies.
Clash in Constantinople (Season 3, Episodes 6–7)
Combatants: Byzantine guards vs Harald’s mercenaries
Location: Constantinople
Summary:
This is a different kind of battle. It takes place within the city’s walls, amid diplomatic negotiations and competing interests. Betrayals replace axes.
Significance: Marks the shift in tone from traditional Viking raids to a more Byzantine style of warfare: calculated, layered, and drenched in politics.
Final Stand at Jomsborg (Season 3, Episode 8)
Combatants: Jomsborg remnants vs invading Christian forces
Location: Jomsborg
Summary:
Freydís, now a mother and a symbolic leader, makes her last stand. The fight is less about victory and more about dignity.
Significance: Signals the death of the old Norse world. What remains is either absorbed or erased.
Watch The fall of London Bridge:
