Valhalla Rising

Valhalla Rising is a 2009 film (released in the States in 2010), directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, starring Mads Mikkelsen. The film takes place in 1000 AD and follows a Norse warrior named One-Eye and a boy named Are as they travel with a band of Christian Vikings in pursuit of a Crusade. Instead they voyage west to North America. The film was shot entirely in Scotland.

Summary: For years, One-Eye, a mute warrior of supernatural strength, has been held prisoner by the chieftain Barde. Aided by a boy, Are, he kills his captor and together they escape, beginning a journey into the heart of darkness. On their flight, One-Eye and Are board a Viking vessel but the ship is soon engulfed by an endless fog that first disintegrates as they sight an unknown land. As the new land reveals its secrets and the Vikings meet a ghastly fate, One-Eye discovers his true self.

Not to be confused with the 2001 Dirk Pitt novel Valhalla Rising.


 * An Axe to Grind: One-Eye's main weapon for most of the movie is an axe.
 * A Real Man Is a Killer: And how!
 * The Atoner: One-Eye accompanies the Christians on their crusade when he is told that he can cleanse his soul by committing to the cause
 * Audible Sharpness: Not only with swords and knives being unsheathed, but even an axe being calmly moved through the air.
 * Badass: Well, the main character is so ruthlessly and emotionlessly good at killing that the other Vikings are afraid of him.
 * Bound and Gagged: Being a prisoner, One-Eye spends a lot of time in chains. Not gagged, but, well, he doesn't talk anyway.
 * Breaking the Fellowship: By the end, the group has started to break up and turn on one another in panic.
 * Combat Pragmatist: One-Eye uses any means available to him when in a fight.
 * Covers Always Lie: The British DVD cover presents the film as a Three Hundred-style action movie, rather than the bleak suspense thriller which the box actually contains. European covers were generally more loyal.
 * Crapsack World: There are three distinct groups of people in the movie: Norse pagans, Norse Christians, and . All three of them are introduced either murdering people or having just finished murdering people.
 * Dream Sequence: Often hard to distinguish from the real story. Strongly implied that One-Eye can.
 * Gorn: Oh God, so much.
 * Grimdark: Even in the full sunlight of rolling green hills, it manages to be both grim and dark.
 * Handicapped Badass
 * Hell: The men think they're actually there after a while, and not without good reason.
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Le Chiffre is the main guy, and Billy Elliot's dad is the leader of the Christians.
 * In the Back: One man does stab one of his allies in the back while hugging him!
 * Kid Sidekick
 * Le Film Artistique: Quite so.
 * Mud Wrestling
 * Mysterious Protector: One-Eye becomes this to Are.
 * Never Hurt an Innocent: One-Eye quickly dispatches of the man who means to kill Are, thinking him a curse.
 * No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: One-Eye is forced to deliver many of these.
 * No Name Given: The main character's real name is never given, mostly because he doesn't talk, and is christened "One-Eye" by the kid (for obvious reasons).
 * Norse Mythology: Alluded to in the movie title though, and in One-Eye himself, who's name is one of Odin's nicknames. Odin had traded an eye for knowledge; similarly, One-Eye can see the future.
 * Ocean Madness: One of the Vikings, while stranded at sea, breaks down and drinks sea water.
 * Off with His Head: The fate of, as well as others.
 * Ominous Fog: Gets the group horribly lost.
 * Pet the Dog: One-Eye's relationship with Are.
 * Precision F-Strike: When a guy gets shot by an arrow, the rest of the team start screaming and swearing profusely. It's quite a shock considering most of the rest of the film involves very little talking in general. In fact, even when the man at the beginning is having his entrails removed, there is no swearing at all!
 * Protected by a Child: Are cares for One-Eye, who in turn protects him on their journey.
 * Psycho Strings
 * Double Standard Rape (Male on Male): Averted. Yeesh. And ambiguous.
 * Redemption Equals Death
 * Religious Horror: All over the place.
 * Reluctant Warrior: One-Eye is enslaved and forced to fight.
 * River of Insanity: In the latter part of the movie.
 * The Savage Indian:
 * Scenery Porn: Many beautiful shots of the Scottish highlands.
 * Silence Is Golden: There are long, long stretches of film with no dialogue whatsoever.
 * Tattooed Badass
 * The Crusades
 * Translation Convention: The vikings all speak modern Scottish English, while historically they would have spoken the Caithness dialect of Old Norse.
 * The Speechless / The Voiceless: it's never clarified if One-Eye can't speak or just doesn't.
 * With My Hands Tied: Literally!
 * Artistic License History: The film makes very few historical claims, but even then they don't match up very well. The Crusades were triggered in 1095, about a century later than the purported setting of the movie.-- While the period around 1000 AD saw indeed some violent confrontations between pagans and Christians in Norway, such religious struggles had little impact in the British Isles. Then again, it's never really specified whether the first part of the movie is supposed to take place in Scotland (where it's filmed), or possibly in Norway.