Vikings: 7 Surprising Facts About The Real Bjorn Ironside
3. South-bound Vikings
Truth be told, the show Vikings sat on a pile of gold when they decided to send Bjorn to the Mediterranean. Bjorn Ironside and his friend Hásteinn did in fact travel south searching for loot and adventure, and found both, although not exactly how the show depicts it.
To the best knowledge of our historians Bjorn never ate human flesh nor sleep with a transvestite, instead he set out on an expedition to conquer Rome, or at least what he thought was Rome. They ended up raiding a city called Luna by having Hásteinn pretend he was dying and turned Christian.
They carried his coffin into the chapel for a proper Christian burial when Hásteinn jumped out of the coffin and opened the gates for the Viking raiders to enter the city. Sound familiar?