The real reason this major character is missing from Vikings

During the time period alluded to in the Sagas and explicitly covered by History’s Vikings, a massive Scandinavian army landed on the northern and eastern coasts of England, and very nearly wiped out the dominant Anglo-Saxon civilization through successive waves of invasion. The events of these Viking invasions were dramatized on the fourth and fifth seasons of Vikings, in which the sons of Ragnar sailed to England to avenge the murder of their father at the hands of the Northumbrian King Aelle (Ivan Kaye). Interestingly, Ragnar’s death in a Northumbrian snake pit also comes directly from the Sagas. 

The historical record includes references to all the sons of Ragnar that fans of the series have come to know, love and loathe. Ubbe and Ivar, in particular, play an outsized role in the historical Heathen Invasion of England. The historical accounts also make reference, however, to another Lothbrok of arguably greater import than many of the characters who are included on the show. Halfdan Ragnarsson was supposedly a Viking war lord alongside his brothers Ubbe and Ivar. He led men in the Great Heathen Army of the 860s, and nearly wiped Wessex off the map. So, where is he on Vikings?

Written by: Looper