The city of Kattegat is the setting for the Vikings and Valhalla series but is Kattegat a real place? Created by Michael Hirst, the series premiered on the History Channel in 2013 where it was originally planned to be a short miniseries. As they received the 1st season of the series very well there was a change of plans and they renewed it for the 2nd season.
Viewers may have noticed the major changes that have taken place in Kattegat Norway over the 100 year gap between one series and the next. After season 6 of the series marked the end of the historical epic Valhalla arrived on Netflix and the characters of Valhalla return to Kattegat at the behest of King Canute Bradley Freegard.Now that Vikings season 6 is complete and Valhalla returns to the once small town, many fans are looking back on the series and looking for answers to some of their biggest questions about it. Among them is whether or not the city of Kattegat is real because it has served as the main setting for pagans since the beginning of the series.
Is Kattegat's location in Vikings and Valhalla real?
It turns out that Kattegat Norway exists outside of the series although the location is not the same as how it is presented in them. In the series,Kattegat is a city located in Norway. In reality Kattegat is not a city although it is still located in the Scandinavian area.
Kattegat is actually a maritime area located between Denmark Norway and Sweden. The area is bordered by the Jutland peninsula part of Denmark and Germany to the west the Danish islands in the Denmark Strait to the south and the provinces of Västergötland Scania Hal land and Bohus länd in Sweden to the east.What makes a walk through its waters quite risky is the fact that Kattegat is quite shallow, consisting of many reefs and dangerous currents: a problem shown in the Vikings spin off during Leif Eriksson and Freydis Eriksdotter's Frida Gustavsson journey to Kattegat.
Where they filmed the city of Kattegat in the series
Because of its watery location the series' version of Kattegat was filmed in Lough Tay County Wicklow, Ireland which gives it the look the production was going for. While the series takes many elements from Norse myths and history, it's not entirely accurate changing many things to better suit the story it wants to tell.
But it also draws inspiration from real-life places like Kattegat which is central to both the Vikings and the real-life Scandinavian area in general. Valhalla uses the same filming location as the original series for Kattegat despite the incredible changes that have taken place in the port.Given the city's importance not only in the story of Ragnar and Lagertha but also in the series in general, it holds a special place in the hearts of fans of the series even after its conclusion. Valhalla which takes place 100 years after the events of the original series returns to a very different version of Kattegat Norway.
Was Kattegat really ruled by Jarl Haakon?
Jarl Haakon Caroline Henderson is introduced as the leader of Kattegat Norway during Season 1 of Valhalla, and is the first black ruler within the confines of the Vikings universe . However did she really rule Kattegat?
Unfortunately there is no historical evidence of a female pagan ruler. Despite this, women in pagan culture were given far more consideration than other cultures at the time. In Valhalla Haakon was given the rule of Kattegat after her husband was killed by Christians for refusing to give up his pagan beliefs.
In pagan culture women used to be heads of households if their husbands faced certain death. Jarl Haakon is technically a cration for Valhalla. However the ruler of Kattegat was probably named after Haakon Sigurdsson, who ruled Norway in the late 10th century.This means that a Haakon would technically control Kattegat. While many characters in the Vikings universe aren't technically based on true history the city of Kattegat remains an exception.
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