What Year Vikings Is Set In & How Much Time Has Passed

Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Vikings seasons 1 through to 6A.

A lot of time has passed since Vikings season 1, which was set in the late eighth century AD. Loosely based on and modeled after the Norse sagas, the History Channel series has had a number of major time jumps as it moves through the legends of Viking history and painted a picture of the shifting world of Scandinavia. Vikings‘ original protagonist, Ragnar Lothbrok, was killed off in season 4, and now the only remaining character from the show’s first season is Ragnar’s oldest son, Bjorn.

Due to its setting in the distant past, it’s difficult to say how historically accurate Vikings is. While Ragnar and his story was lifted from the sagas, there’s actually little evidence to prove that he was a real person; rather, he’s now believed to be a mix of several historical figures (similar to King Arthur). As Vikings moves forward in time, however, its stories have become more grounded in fact. For example, there really was a Viking called Floki who sailed to Iceland, and there really was a Viking king called Bjorn Ironside.

Vikings season 1 begins in the year 793 AD, with an event that definitely did take place: the raid of the church of St. Cuthbert, on the island of Lindisfarne. Though this wasn’t the first time that “northmen” had landed on British shores, it was the first of would become many Viking raids of England, and was a terrifying violation for the unprepared Saxons. Vikings jumped forward four years in season 2, episode 2, “Invasion,” during which time Bjorn aged from a child into a teenager. From there, however, the show’s timeline has become rather loose. Without specific on-screen indications of what years each season takes place in, the best way of tracking time is through the aging of the main characters – and their children.

Queen Aslaug is pregnant with Ragnar’s second son, Ubbe, at the start of Vikings season 2, and he’s born during the time jump. Ubbe is around 10-12 years old in the first half of Vikings season 4, which is therefore set around in approximately 805 AD. There’s another big time jump after Ragnar’s devastating defeat at the Second Siege of Paris in season 4. When Ragnar returns to Kattegat his youngest son, Ivar the Boneless, is in his late teens and Ubbe is a full-grown man. Speaking to EW, showrunner Michael Hirst said that even he doesn’t know how much time has passed:

“People have asked me, like, “What is the time jump, exactly?’ I don’t know, exactly! It was just enough time for the boys to grow up. Whether it’s six years or seven years or eight years didn’t worry me particularly.”

Bjorn’s son Hali was born during this time jump, and appears to be around eight years old when he’s killed in the first half of Vikings season 6. Altogether, it seems that around three decades have passed since the start of Vikings, with season 6 beginning roughly around 825 AD. Ubbe and Torvi very helpfully had a newborn son, Ragnar, towards the end of season 6A, which should theoretically help fans to track the passing of time in future episodes – that is, if he manages to live longer than most of the unfortunate child characters on the show.

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Hannah Shaw-Williams
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Hannah has been with Screen Rant since 2013, covering news, features, movie premieres, Comic-Con and more! You can follow her on Twitter @HSW3K

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