24 Norse Mythology TV Series (& Movies) For History Lovers

Norse mythology is one of the best documented and richest cultural sources of popular folklore, although it’s not quite as widespread and well-known as Greek or Anglo-Saxon mythology.

There have been many TV series and films inspired by Viking and Norse mythology, with some better than others.

Below are two sections, one with the best TV series inspired by Norse mythology, while the second section contains the best movies inspired by Norse and viking mythology.

Best Norse Mythology TV Series of All Time

1. Vikings (2013-2020)

Vikings transports us to the brutal and mysterious world of Ragnar Lothbrok, a Viking warrior and farmer who yearns to explore – and raid – the distant shores across the ocean.

2. The Last Kingdom (2015-2022)

As Alfred the Great defends his kingdom from Norse invaders, Uhtred–born a Saxon but raised by Vikings–seeks to claim his ancestral birthright.

3. Vinland Saga (2019 – )

Thorfinn pursues a journey with his father’s killer in order to take revenge and end his life in a duel as an honorable warrior and pay his father a homage.

4. Vikingane (originally titled “Norsemen) (2016-2020)

Viking life at the close of the 8th century.

5. Ragnarok (2020-)

A small Norwegian town experiencing warm winters and violent downpours seems to be headed for Ragnarok — unless someone intervenes in time.

6. Beforeigners (2019 – )

A few years after people from the past inexplicably began appearing in the ocean, Alfhildr – who comes from the Viking Age – is teamed up with burned-out Oslo police officer Lars Haaland as part of the police department’s integration program. While investigating the murder of a woman with Stone Age tattoos, Lars and Alfhildr make some chilling, unexpected discoveries.

7. The Almighty Johnsons (2011- 2013)

Four brothers living in New Zealand are modern reincarnations of Norse gods.

8. Noggin the Nog (1959-1965)

In the Lands of the North, where the black rocks stand guard against the cold sea, in the dark night that is very long, the men of the North Lands sit by their great log fires, and they tell a tale…

Best Norse Mythology Movies of All Time

1. Valhalla Rising (2009)

Forced for some time to be a fighting slave, a northern pagan warrior escapes his captors with a boy and joins a group of Crusaders on their quest to the Holy Land.

2. Beowulf (2007)

The warrior Beowulf must fight and defeat the monster Grendel, who is terrorizing Denmark, then Grendel’s Mother, who begins killing out of revenge.

3. The Northman (2022)

During the Norse colonization of Iceland, a young Viking prince ventures on a quest to kill his father’s murderer.

4. Trollhunter (2010)

A group of students investigates a series of mysterious bear killings, but learns that there are much more dangerous things going on. They start to follow a mysterious hunter, learning that he is actually a troll hunter.

5. Shadow of the Raven (1988)

Trausti returns to Iceland just in time to be entangled in a family feud over a stranded whale-cadaver. His mother (the family head) is mortally wounded and Grim kills Erikur; the other clan leader. Isold, daughter of Erikur now takes his place. Isold and Trausti are attracted to each other, but Isold was promised to Hjoerleifur – the son of the Bishop (of Iceland) and his powerful wife. However, Isold has a plan…

6. How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.

7. Border (2018)

A customs officer who can smell fear develops an unusual attraction to a strange traveler while aiding a police investigation which will call into question her entire existence.

8. The Ritual (2017)

A group of old college friends reunite for a trip to a forest in Sweden, Northern Europe, but encounter a menacing presence there stalking them.

9. Erik the Viking (1989)

Erik the Viking and his men travel across the sea to find Valhalla to ask the gods to end the Age of Ragnarok.

10. Pathfinder (2007)

A Viking boy is left behind after his clan battles a Native American tribe. Raised within the tribe, he ultimately becomes their savior in a fight against the Norsemen.

11. The 13th Warrior (1999)

A man, having fallen in love with the wrong woman, is sent by the sultan himself on a diplomatic mission to a distant land as an ambassador. Stopping at a Viking village port to restock on supplies, he finds himself unwittingly embroiled in a quest to banish a mysterious threat in a distant Viking land.

12. Ring of the Nibelungs (2004)

The legend of Siegfried and Brunhild, loosely based on characters from the Norse sagas and the pre-Christian Germanic heroic motifs outlined in the Nibelungensaga.

13. The Secret of Kells (2009)

A young boy in a remote medieval outpost under siege from barbarian raids is beckoned to adventure when a celebrated master illuminator arrives with an ancient book, brimming with secret wisdom and powers.

14. Valhalla (1986)

Through Loki’s treachery, two children in the Viking age find themselves spirited away into the world of Norse Mythology.

15. Ragnarok (2013)

Norwegian archaeologist Sigurd Svendsen forms a small team and sets off to find the true meaning of the secret runes found carved in rock and accidentally awakens a giant monster.

16. Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924)

Bold, fearless Siegfried travels to King Gunther’s castle. On the way he kills a dragon, and an evil dwarf king, thus gaining a treasure and a magic helmet of invisibility and illusion. In return for permission to marry Gunther’s sister Kriemhild, Siegfried agrees to use the helmet to help the weak Gunther win the fierce warrior queen Brunhild by trickery. The two couples are married, but when the furious Brunhild discovers the deception she compels Gunther and his evil vassal Hagen into a conspiracy to murder Siegfried. Kriemhild vows revenge.

17. Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild’s Revenge (1924)

After Siegfried’s death Kriemhild marries Etzel (Atilla), the King of the Huns. She gives birth to a child, and invites her brothers for a feast. She tries to persuade Etzel and the other Huns, to kill Hagen, the murderer of Siegfried, but he is protected by her brothers. A fierce battle begins to force her brothers to give Hagen to her.