To the writers credit they did show the Franks forcing Frisian conversion to xtianity with the sword including forced baptisms. They went all PC by showing 'saint' Boniface as quite innocent whilst his teacher did all the bad things like forced conversion and chopping down Thenors Tree. History records Boniface as the slime guilty of these crimes. I guess the filmmakers didn't want to offend a 'saint'?
Redbad is famous for his resistance to forced conversion to xtianity and the occupation of his peoples lands by the Franks. He took over from his father who was sympathetic to xtianity. Redbad could not live with his fathers weakness. In the film his father was a committed Odinist and Redbad was a character with sympathies towards xtianity. They even had him marrying a xtian!! I guess the writers didn't want the hero being anti xtian?
When learning that none of his ancestors would be in heaven Redbad famously said "I'd rather spend eternity in hell with my ancestors than in heathen with my enemies". In the film they had him saying "it's not what you believe, it's what you do with it" in sympathy for christianity!!!!!!! Whilst the real Redbad wasn't all good or even as loved by his people as portrayed in this film they have taken some serious liberties with history here!
From the outset the 'pagans' were talking about mass sacrificing their young women because they had a couple bad years growing crops and a flood. There is no record of this? Where did they get this idea from? I suspect they just wanted to make the 'pagans' look bad. Historical sources attest that prisoners of war and criminals were the normal sacrifice to the gods when humans were killed. They were given a choice to die of their own free will with some honour or die a horrible death. A lot of them would chose to face their death willingly so that they had a chance of a good afterlife and being buried with honour. In the account of Ibn Fadlan (a traveler who observed the Rus) it is mentioned that a female thrall sacrificed herself when her master died. This is also backed up by the evidence in the Oseberg ship burial. Adam of Bremen provides an account of men and women willingly sacrificing themselves at Uppsala in Sweden but this is a second hand account and it's written by a xtian. However, there are no historical accounts of Germanic peoples 'mass' sacrificing their young women, born of freemen as depicted in this film.
During this film there were at least 5 or 6 battle scenes. They portrayed every warrior as owning a sword and some had an axe as well. I don't recall seeing a single spear in the whole film!!
At one stage in the film Redbad was banished from his tribe. He washed up on a shore and was taken in by another tribe as a thrall. Being upset regarding his banishment he didn't speak to the people that had taken him in or even tell them his name. He just kind of walked around and did manual tasks for them. Anyways after one battle where another tribe attacked them Redbad was made a freeman and the kings daughter asked him to marry her lol (obviously an 8th century feminist!) . So, he went from unknown thrall who refused to speak to a prince after ten minutes of sword fighting on the beach!
Throughout the film I noticed beautiful waif like models playing the female roles in the film (no problem with that). However, they were all fighting in the battle scenes just as much as the men! I doubt some of these women could lift a sword let alone swing it for an hour of fighting, killing several stronger, bigger men in the process. One scene had a line of women shooting the Franks with large bows. I'd guess the bows had 70Lb draw on them but those waif like models kept firing away for the duration of the battle! They must be stronger than they look. Whilst women certainly learned and were able to defend themselves there is no evidence that they fought in battles to this degree. In all the archeological digs that have investigated battlefields 99.9999% of the bodies were men. No amount of feminism can argue with that.
The film was mildly entertaining, but for anyone with even a hint of historical knowledge this film will be difficult to watch!
Redbad is famous for his resistance to forced conversion to xtianity and the occupation of his peoples lands by the Franks. He took over from his father who was sympathetic to xtianity. Redbad could not live with his fathers weakness. In the film his father was a committed Odinist and Redbad was a character with sympathies towards xtianity. They even had him marrying a xtian!! I guess the writers didn't want the hero being anti xtian?
When learning that none of his ancestors would be in heaven Redbad famously said "I'd rather spend eternity in hell with my ancestors than in heathen with my enemies". In the film they had him saying "it's not what you believe, it's what you do with it" in sympathy for christianity!!!!!!! Whilst the real Redbad wasn't all good or even as loved by his people as portrayed in this film they have taken some serious liberties with history here!
From the outset the 'pagans' were talking about mass sacrificing their young women because they had a couple bad years growing crops and a flood. There is no record of this? Where did they get this idea from? I suspect they just wanted to make the 'pagans' look bad. Historical sources attest that prisoners of war and criminals were the normal sacrifice to the gods when humans were killed. They were given a choice to die of their own free will with some honour or die a horrible death. A lot of them would chose to face their death willingly so that they had a chance of a good afterlife and being buried with honour. In the account of Ibn Fadlan (a traveler who observed the Rus) it is mentioned that a female thrall sacrificed herself when her master died. This is also backed up by the evidence in the Oseberg ship burial. Adam of Bremen provides an account of men and women willingly sacrificing themselves at Uppsala in Sweden but this is a second hand account and it's written by a xtian. However, there are no historical accounts of Germanic peoples 'mass' sacrificing their young women, born of freemen as depicted in this film.
During this film there were at least 5 or 6 battle scenes. They portrayed every warrior as owning a sword and some had an axe as well. I don't recall seeing a single spear in the whole film!!
At one stage in the film Redbad was banished from his tribe. He washed up on a shore and was taken in by another tribe as a thrall. Being upset regarding his banishment he didn't speak to the people that had taken him in or even tell them his name. He just kind of walked around and did manual tasks for them. Anyways after one battle where another tribe attacked them Redbad was made a freeman and the kings daughter asked him to marry her lol (obviously an 8th century feminist!) . So, he went from unknown thrall who refused to speak to a prince after ten minutes of sword fighting on the beach!
Throughout the film I noticed beautiful waif like models playing the female roles in the film (no problem with that). However, they were all fighting in the battle scenes just as much as the men! I doubt some of these women could lift a sword let alone swing it for an hour of fighting, killing several stronger, bigger men in the process. One scene had a line of women shooting the Franks with large bows. I'd guess the bows had 70Lb draw on them but those waif like models kept firing away for the duration of the battle! They must be stronger than they look. Whilst women certainly learned and were able to defend themselves there is no evidence that they fought in battles to this degree. In all the archeological digs that have investigated battlefields 99.9999% of the bodies were men. No amount of feminism can argue with that.
The film was mildly entertaining, but for anyone with even a hint of historical knowledge this film will be difficult to watch!