The Last Kingdom follows the story of Uhtred, an English boy whose kingdom is conquered by the Danes and his family murdered. Earl Ragnar, a well-respected Danish warrior, then takes Uhtred as his ward, eventually adopting him. While living a Danish lifestyle from that moment on with his adopted family, Uhtred's loyalties are brought into question when his treacherous uncle attacks his new family, and King Alfred of Wessex decides that Uhtred may come in handy if brought into his service.
Based on true events that lead to the formation of England, this series draws on many historical milestones to make for some compelling storytelling, however not every aspect of the series is historically accurate. Let's take a look at some important aspects of this series that may surprise you with regards to their authenticity.
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10. Accurate: King Alfred
He really was the ruler of Wessex during this time period, having ascended the throne in 871. While there are subtle differences between the real life Alfred and the character portrayed in the series, his important character traits are mostly mirrored by the fictional Alfred.
This includes the chronic pain that he suffered from, which many historians believed could be a result of Crohn's disease. As was the case with the historical King Alfred, the fictional version was a staunch supporter of the church and lacked any aptitude for combat.
9. Inaccurate: The Use Of The Term 'Vikings'
While the Scandinavian forces who invade England and terrorize the Anglo-Saxons are referred to as both 'Danes' and 'Vikings' in the television series, they would not be labeled using both terms during this historical time period.
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The Anglo Saxons of the time would solely refer to them as 'Danes'. The term 'Viking' only became popularised years after the events depicted in the series.
8. Accurate: The Battle Of Edington
In the Season 1 Finale, Uhtred leads King Alfred's forces in a battle against Gunther and his hordes. Some aspects of the battle have been fictionalized, such as how in reality, the Danes were driven into a fort and then besieged, whereas in the series, they were outright defeated in the field of battle.
Overall, the important aspects of the battle that had far-reaching consequences remained the same. This includes Alfred summoning his allies to join him in battle, and the eventual victory of Alfred's forces over the Danes.
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7. Inaccurate: Uhtred
The Uhtred we see in the wars between the Saxons and the Danes is a fictional character, however, he is based on Uhtred the Bold, who is yet another brave warrior. There are numerous similarities between the two figures, such as the blood feuds they were involved in, for example, the murder of Uhtred's adoptive father and the treachery of his uncle.
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Despite such similarities, the real-life Uhtred lived after the events of the series, in the 10th and 11th centuries, making the timeline of fictional Uhtred historically inaccurate.
6. Accurate: Relations Between Wessex And Cornwall
With Wessex sharing a border with Cornwall, many cross-border raids were carried out, and a war between the two kingdoms occurred. Although the Cornish accepted defeat and abandoned military activities against Wessex, Alfred had little control over Cornwall. He merely owned a few estates in the north-east.
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This lack of power is depicted in the television series as well, and so is the Tamar, which is the border between Wessex and Cornwall. Furthermore, the series' depiction of the Cornish as traders is entirely credible, with channels connecting them with the Irish and Welsh to the north and the Bretons to the south.
RELATED: 20 Mistakes Fans Missed In Vikings
5. Inaccurate: The Shield Wall Formation
In the television series, the shield wall that is used by the Danes is depicted as a three or four layer wall of shields that completely conceals the front line of soldiers. In reality, the shield wall consisted of men standing side by side and overlapping their shields with one another.
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Secondly, the depiction of the Saxons' unfamiliarity with the shield wall and Uhtred's later training of the Saxon forces in shield wall tactics is also historically inaccurate. In reality, the Saxons used the shield wall as a standard tactic for centuries, and Uhtred's father's forces would not have been taken by surprise by the Danes as was the case in the series' premiere.
Lindybeige Last Kingdom4. Accurate: The Supporting Characters
On the Danish side, the warlords Ubba and Earl Guthrum were both historical figures. King Alfred's family, including his wife Eahlswith, son Edward and nephew Aethelwold, were all historical figures as well as Alfred's appointed officials in Wessex such as Odda and his son.
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Asser the Monk is also a historical figure, and his loyalty to Alfred which he displayed by confessing Uhtred's betrayal to him is credible, due to the historical Asser having written a biography about him. The only possible discrepancy is that this Welsh monk was portrayed with an English accent on the TV series.
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3. Inaccurate: The Weapons Used
The series shows both the vast majority of Danish and Saxon armies using swords as their primary weapon in battle. In reality, the use of swords was extremely rare during this time period, as swords were typically viewed as being a status symbol for the wealthy as well as those of high military ranking.
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Spears and axes were far more popular weapons of choice, as not only were they easier to learn how to use than swords, but they were far more freely available for common folk to purchase. In fact, many people would already possess axes or spears as household items.
2. Accurate: The Lingo
The term 'arseling', which meant 'from the ass', was used byLeofric to tease his friend Uhtred on the television series. This term was, in fact, prevalent during the time period of this series. Another commonly used phrase on the show, plowing the field, which had a sexual connotation, was also historically commonplace.
Many of the towns featured in the show, such as London, Reading, and Winchester, were labeled on-screen with both their modern and their Anglo-Saxon names of the time, thus accurately depicting their names in both time periods.
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1. Inaccurate: Leofric's Accent
The character Leofric was one of King Alfred's main military commanders and an ally to Uhtred, and whilst their relationship was hostile at first, he later became one of Uhtred's close friends. Naturally, Leofric is meant to be native to Wessex, however, his accent does not exhibit this.
Leofric is portrayed with a heavy Yorkshire accent, which would suggest that he actually comes from the North. Strangely enough, Uhtred the Elder, who was from Northumberland, had a southern accent on the show.
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The Last Kingdom is based on a series of novels by Bernard Cornwell. His 11 books tell the story of Uhtred of Bebbanburg; a part Saxon/part Viking character who's fictional in all but name and title. Uhtred was a name found in the ancestor’s family tree and little is known of his life outside of being Lord of Beddanburg. So, if the main character is mostly made up, how accurate is the rest of the show? We dig deep into British history to find out. And surprisingly enough, these 10 details are perfectly spot on.
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10 Alfred The Great
We know quite a lot about the West Saxon King Alfred. The show has done a good job of portraying his personality and life. Alfred’s life long struggle with his stomach and digestive problems are depicted quite realistically and showed him struggling greatly from an unknown illness. A monk named Asser—who is also depicted in the show—wrote extensively of the king’s health. We also know that Alfred was a pious man who was devoted to the church. However, the religious man wasn’t a prude by any means.. Just like on the show, the real Alfred also loved women.
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9 Battle Of Cynwit
Several key battles are depicted in the show. Some are a combination of events while others stay pretty true to history. The Battle of Cynwit gets the latter treatment. The scenes surrounding this event are mostly accurate and this surprising Anglo-Saxon victory was an important win for Wessex. The year of the battle differs in the show from reality, however, and fictional Uhtred is credited with the killing of Danish leader Ubba. Aside from these two discrepancies, the show does fairly well at depicting the carnage.
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8 Danish Culture
When the Danes arrived in Brittain they assumed they would probably find mostly farmers. On the show, Danish forces expect to find an untrained and unprepared opposition. The British are easily defeated at their first meeting with the Danish, and Uhtred’s father is slain. His army is then decimated and defeated. This part is largely accurate. There was an Anglo-Saxxon military but they were ill-prepared for the Danish invasion. It’s even true that the Anglo-Saxons were unable to defeat a Danish shield wall during their first battle.
7 Peace Conference
In The Last Kingdom, several key battles are portrayed. Over the course of the fighting, the Anglo-Saxons had many successes in halting Danish advance. Wessex wasn’t entirely victorious and had to pay off the Danish King to end the bloodshed. The show depicts the negotiations for peace between Ubba and King Alfred. Viewers get a glimpse into what that meeting could have been like. The peace talks were a significant moment in history.
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6 Aethelflaed
Aethelflaed was a fierce and mighty warrior queen. She laid the very foundations for England but has largely been overlooked by history. At the age of 16, she was married off to Aethelred much like in the show. She was a pioneer for women in her male-dominated time. Her kingdom sat at the front line of the battles that broke out when her father died. Incredibly, Aethelflaed was educated as well as her brothers. She grew up under Viking invasion and was prepared for the challenges her kingdom would face.
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5 Naughty Slang
The show’s writers have included some very colorful colloquialisms in their dialogue. Even the vulgarity in The Last Kingdom is spot on. Several lewd words and phrases have been included which were heavily used during the time. Some of these even sound familiar to the modern ear. In particular, the act of 'plowing a field' is an entendre in use today. There are several insults playfully tossed around in the show which would have been common to hear in the period.
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4 Asser
Asser is one of the characters on The Last Kingdom that not only existed but is accurately portrayed on the show. He was extremely close to the king and would become his biographer. His loyalty and importance in Alfred’s life are displayed in the series as well as his interest in the kin’s health. Alfred would write extensively about Alfred's ailments in Life Of King Alfred. Scholars believe this was to paint the king in a more sympathetic light.
RELATED: The Last Kingdom Season 3 Full Trailer Teases The Death Of A King
3 The Death Of King Edmund
The death of the East Anglian ruler is an incredibly dramatic scene in the show. Edmund has been captured by the Danes; he’s executed with a volley of arrows; and dies a painful death. The existence and power of Edmund’s god were being tested. The Danes wanted to see if he could, or would, save the king. This is a startlingly accurate scene. This death would later earn Edmund his sainthood.
Danish culture differed greatly from the Anglo-Saxons. Their moral code and religious dogma were not as strict. This meant that the Danes could rationalize acts of savage brutality.
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2 Ubba
Ubba was a powerful Viking who was listed as a son of Ragnar. He was commander in the Great Army that threatened to overtake Anglo-Saxon Brittain. In the show, they accurately capture the playful and affectionate nature of the Vikings.
Ubba was probably as frightening and charismatic as his TV counterpart. We know he was a brilliant strategist who smashed through British forces often. And unlike Uhtred, Ubba was more than just a name on a charter.
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1 Guthrum
Guthrum was the real-life Danish king who waged war against King Alfred. He leads the Viking invasion that is the primary subject matter of the show. His army overran the kingdom of Wessex but was eventually beaten back. Guthrum eventually embraced monotheism and Christianity and was even baptized with Alfred as his godfather. At this time, he assumed the name Aethelstan. Coinage was minted in the small state he formed in East Anglia. Some of these coins, as well as the treaty signed between Aethelstan and Alfred, still exist to this day.
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The Last Kingdom Quotes Showing 1-30 of 81
“Destiny is all, Ravn liked to tell me, destiny is everything. He would even say it in English, “Wyrd biõ ful ãræd.”
―
“The preachers tell us that pride is a great sin, but the preachers are wrong. Pride makes a man, it drives him, it is the shield wall around his reputation.. Men die, they said, but reputation does not die.”
―
“King Edmund of East Anglia is now remembered as a saint, as one of those blessed souls who live forever in the shadow of God. Or so the priests tell me. In heaven, they say, the saints occupy a privileged place, living on the high platform of God’s great hall where they spend their time singing God’s praises. Forever. Just singing. Beocca always told me that it would be an ecstatic existence, but to me it seems very dull. The Danes reckon their dead warriors are carried to Valhalla, the corpse hall of Odin, where they spend their days fighting and their nights feasting and swiving, and I dare not tell the priests that this seems a far better way to endure the afterlife than singing to the sound of golden harps. I once asked a bishop whether there were any women in heaven. “Of course there are, my lord,” he answered, happy that I was taking an interest in doctrine. “Many of the most blessed saints are women.”
“I mean women we can hump, bishop.” He said he would pray for me. Perhaps he did.” ―
“A leader leads,” Ragnar said, “and you can’t ask men to risk death if you’re not willing to risk it yourself.”
―
“What happens to you, Uhtred, is what you make happen. You will grow, you will learn the sword, you will learn the way of the shield wall, you will learn the oar, you will give honor to the gods, and then you will use what you have learned to make your life good or bad.”
―
“Laughter in battle. That was what Ragnar had taught me, to take joy from the fight.”
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“All those separate people were a part of my life, strings strung on the frame of Uhtred, and though they were separate they affected one another and together they would make the music of my life.”
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“We are all lonely and all seek a hand to hold in the darkness. It is not the harp, but the hand that plays it.”
―
“Our ancestors,” he went on after a while, “took this land. They took it and made it and held it. We do not give up what our ancestors gave us. They came across the sea and they fought here, and they built here and they’re buried here. This is our land, mixed with our blood, strengthened with our bone. Ours!” He was angry, but he was often angry. He glowered at me, as if wondering whether I was strong enough to hold this land of Northumbria that our ancestors had won with sword and spear and blood and slaughter.”
―
“You will not fight in the shield wall,” my father said.
“No, Father.” “Only men can stand in the shield wall,” he said, “but you will watch, you will learn, and you will discover that the most dangerous stroke is not the sword or ax that you can see, but the one you cannot see, the blade that comes beneath the shields to bite your ankles.” ―
“Only the gods tell him what to do, and you should beware of men who take their orders from the gods.”
―
“The poets, when they speak of war, talk of the shield wall, they talk of the spears and arrows flying, of the blade beating on the shield, of the heroes who fall and the spoils of the victors, but I was to discover that war was really about food. About feeding men and horses. About finding food. The army that eats wins.”
―
“Start your killers young, before their consciences are grown. Start them young and they will be lethal.”
―
“Were the Romans Christians?” I asked him, remembering my curiosity at the Roman farm. “Not always,” Ravn said. “They had their own gods once, but they gave them up to become Christians and after that they knew nothing but defeat.”
―
“I had the arrogant confidence of a man born to battle. I am Uhtred, son of Uhtred, son of another Uhtred, and we had not held Bebbanburg and its lands by whimpering at altars. We are warriors.”
―
“I have learned that it is one thing to kill in battle, to send a brave man's soul to the corpse hall of the gods, but quite another to take a helpless man's life..”
―
“I liked those tales. They were better than my stepmother’s stories of Cuthbert’s miracles. Christians, it seemed to me, were forever weeping and I did not think Woden’s worshippers cried much.”
―
“Arrows of insight have to be winged by the feathers of speculation.”
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“I had no idea what I was speaking of, but only knew I must sound confident. Fear might work on a man, but confidence fights against fear. Odda”
―
“There is a thing called the blood feud. All societies have them, even the West Saxons have them, despite their vaunted piety. Kill a member of my family and I shall kill one of yours, and so it goes on, generation after generation or until one family is all dead, and Kjartan had just wished a blood feud on himself. I did not know how, I did not know where, I could not know when, but I would revenge Ragnar. I swore it that night.”
―
“And next morning, as my stepmother wept on the ramparts of the High Gate, and under a blue, clean sky, we rode to war. Two hundred and fifty men went south, following our banner of the wolf’s head.
That was in the year 867, and it was the first time I ever went to war. And I have never ceased.” ―
“I was screaming and hitting at him, but he thought it all so very funny, and he draped me belly down on the saddle in front of him and then he spurred into the chaos to continue the killing.
And that was how I met Ragnar, Ragnar the Fearless, my brother’s killer, and the man whose head was supposed to grace a pole on Bebbanburg’s ramparts, Earl Ragnar.” ―
“These word-stringers make nothing, grow nothing, kill no enemies, catch no fish, and raise no cattle. They just take silver in exchange for words, which are free anyway. It is a clever trick, but in truth they are about as much use as priests.”
―
“An army, I learned in time, needs a head. It needs one man to lead it, but give an army two leaders and you halve its strength.”
―
“War is fought in mystery. The truth can take days to travel, and ahead of truth flies rumor, and it is ever hard to know what is really happening, and the art of it is to pluck the clean bone of fact from the rotting flesh of fear and lies.”
―
“I had learned to hide my soul, or perhaps I was confused. Northumbrian or Dane? Which was I? What did I want to be?”
―
“I am Uhtred, son of Uhtred, and this is the tale of a blood feud. It is a tale of how I will take from my enemy what the law says is mine. And it is the tale of a woman and of her father, a king.
He was my king and all that I have I owe to him. The food that I eat, the hall where I live, and the swords of my men, all came from Alfred, my king, who hated me.” ―
“It was an unsettling thought, that somehow we were sliding back into the smoky dark and that never again would man make something so perfect as this small building.”
―
“I think only one man in three is a warrior, and sometimes not even that many, but in our army, Uhtred, every man is a fighter. If you do not want to be a warrior you stay home in Denmark. You till the soil, herd sheep, fish the sea, but you do not take to the ships and become a fighter. But here in England? Every man is forced to the fight, yet only one in three or maybe only one in four has the belly for it. The rest are farmers who just want to run. We are wolves fighting sheep.” ―
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