Assassin's Creed: Valhalla - 10 Real-Life Viking Legends Who Should Appear
We take a look at the best and baddest of Scandinavian history...
The last decade has seen a surge in viking-themed games, TV series and movies. Norse raiders now turn up so regularly in popular culture that there can't be anyone left who still thinks they had horns on their helmets. So who can blame Ubisoft for jumping on the longboat and making them the focus of the latest Assassin's Creed game? Not us, for sure - vikings and open world adventuring seems like a match made in, well, Valhalla...
The viking period was a long one but Ubisoft isn't above a little tinkering with history, so we could be seeing a lot of interesting real-life figures turning up in the game. And viking history certainly has its share of great warriors, leaders, eccentrics and savages - here's a list of our top contenders.
10. Ivar The Boneless
Known to fans of the show Vikings as the youngest son of Ragnar and Aslaug, Ivar was a real historical figure who gained his nickname either because his legs were weak or, according to some scholars, because he was impotent and therefore figuratively "boneless."
Whatever his impediment, it didn't stop him from becoming a great leader and conquering much of Anglo-Saxon England. He was renowned especially for his cunning and mastery of battle tactics.
He could also be brutal even by Viking standards, reputedly favoring execution by "blood eagle," the process of opening up the victim's ribcage from behind and pulling their lungs out to resemble a pair of wings. Ouch!