The Vikings tour America centuries before Christopher Columbus, but Ubbe’s hunt in Vikings season six is based on a different man’s story.
While his sibling plan another raid on Wessex in Vikings season 6, Ubbe’s aims lie a little further afield. The History Channel show draws to a close, Ragnar Lothbrok’s 2nd eldest son becomes the first Viking to arrive in North America, landing on the shores of Newfoundland after an en route to Greenland and a harrowing journey across the sea. Vikings have been well known to take the freedom with history for the sake of storytelling, so is Ubbe’s safari to the Americas based on a true story?
The answer is a combo couple of “yes” and “no”. Coming to the point, the real-life Ubbe never sailed to North America; his best-known part in the Norse sagas was as one of the leaders of the Great Heathen Army that secured England in the mid-ninth century, as depicted in Vikings fourth season and fifth too. Although, there was a man called Leif Erikson whose history records after all as the first Viking to an abundance of grapevines and grapes there.
Vikings Season 6: Update
The area that Leif Erikson survey is known today as Newfoundland, but he did not reach there until approximately 1000 CE-more than a century after the time in which Vikings sixth season is set.
The theme of Leif in the Saga of the Greenlanders do resemble Vikings Ube: “a huge, strong man, of very striking look and wise, as well as being a man of moderation in all thing.” Apart he is an angry bird and unstable brothers, point converting to Christianity in view to save better relations with King Alfred the Great and the Mi’kmaq people, leaving behind the gifts for them as a gesture of good intent and working with the leaders of Mi’kmaq’s to try and cultivate peace between their people.
Coming to the History’s account of the Vikings’ 1st meeting with the natives of North Americans is a lot less romantic. As per the Saga of the Greenlanders, Leif did not come across any natives during his first expedition, but his sibling Thorvald did in his 2nd summer enjoying Vinland. According to the plot, Thorvald’s men located three hide-covered boats with the three men aboard each boat, and butcher all but one of the men. A heated war followed with a large force of natives, during which Thorvald was targeted shot by the native people to engage in trade, relations quickly turned into violence once again.
Ubbe’s travel to North America in Vikings’ sixth season is specifically interested in the light of the upcoming sequel/spin off series Vikings: Valhalla, which is set maybe more than a century after Vikings season 6 and will promote Leif Erikson among its cast of characters.
Vikings: Valhalla may well label Ubbe’s expedition, and explain why history instead writes down Leif as the first Viking explorer to arrive at the end peak point of North America. If Ubbe never came back to Norway and his settlers either died out or united into the Mi’kmaq tribe, then he could have been presumed lost at sea and the story of his adventures in North America would not be recorded in the sagas. If and when Vikings: Valhalla’s Leif Erikson reaches North America, and therefore he will find few clues of those who were there before him.
