Episodes 01

“Thin Up Top”

Note: This is a prequel season and depicts events before Season 1 Varg lives happily with his wife, Reidur, best friend Jarl Bjørn, and his luxurious hair, but when Bjørn points out Varg is going bald, Varg goes mad and murders Reidur, Bjørn, and Bjorn’s family in a fire. In Norheim, Orm has been groping men at night near the toilet pit but frames an elderly woman for the crime, who is then executed. Liv toils as a Norheim slave with her husband Arnstein and three children. Hildur catches Orm in a secret tunnel beneath the toilet. Olav keeps Orm’s crime secret so no shame will be brought on the family but sentences him to start acting like a Viking, marry a woman, and give up his crocheting hobby. Orm agrees, as he is lonely and hopes a wife might spend time with him. Olav and Hildur ask Frøya, an antisocial hunter, to consider marrying Orm, hoping her bloodthirstiness might influence him to at least act honourably, and Frøya agrees to consider it. Varg grows more depressed as his bald spot grows larger. Bjørn is shown to have survived the fire.

Episodes 02

“Bachelor Party”

Frøya agrees to marry Orm if Olav makes her a warrior, and Olav agrees after she defeats Arvid and successfully rapes another warrior. Orm fails to find a best man since no one likes him. Liv’s freedom is purchased by Olvar, whom she marries, leaving Arnstein and her children as slaves. Olav reveals to Hildur and Orm he had an older brother, Karl, the rightful chieftain whom their father sent North as a baby, with the letter “N” tattooed on his back as proof of his identity. Kark, who has the same tattoo, tries to reveal it but instinctively obeys when told to shut up by Orm. Arvid visits Varg, now called Jarl Varg, and completely bald, with an invitation to Orm’s bachelor party. Hildur, unwilling to let Kark become chieftain and give up being chieftain’s wife, whips him until the letter “N” on his back is illegible. Arvid becomes attracted to Liv, who is already bored with Olvar. Kark tries to show Olav his tattoo, not realising it is ruined, and Olav rejects him. Hardly anyone attends Orm’s bachelor party, and the few guests leave early and go to their own party without Orm.

Episodes 03

“Wedding and Sacrifice”

Bjørn begins gathering an army for revenge against Varg. Knowing Frøya has lots of experience while Orm is still a virgin, Olav demonstrates the birds and the bees by making Orm watch as he has sex with Hildur; Orm still doesn’t entirely understand, however. Olav gives Frøya weapons, armour, and a wedding dress to distract her from Orm’s personality before the wedding. He also advises Orm not to be his overly needy self when he meets Frøya. At the wedding, Liv makes it clear she has lost all sexual interest in Olvar as the proximity of Norheim’s social elite arouses her considerably more than he does. Frøya arrives to the wedding in armour, pleasing Orm, who at first mistakes her for a muscular man. The slaves are disappointed to learn one of them will be sacrificed as part of the wedding. Varg realises Bjørn is still alive when he sees a wedding gift from him and descends into full mental instability, declaring that Olav owes him ten percent of the wedding gifts as a tax in preparation for war. Orm eventually succeeds in having sex with Frøya after managing to locate his unusually small penis.

Episodes 04

“War Table”

Frøya quickly realises how annoying Orm can be. Varg begins gathering his allies for war. Completely sick of Olvar, Liv agrees to return to Arnstein and run away to Iceland. Orm insists on accompanying Olav to Varg’s war council to be close to an increasingly annoyed Frøya. Varg sets up a cursed Nithing pole against Bjorn, then forces Torstein to kill his own father and brother when they get in the way of the pole and are cursed to die. Varg attempts to outline his plan but his war table is a failure; Arvid suggests that the table was poorly constructed, so Varg punishes his carpenter by removing his limbs, tongue, and genitals. Liv begins preparations to leave Olvar but decides to stay when Olvar buys her jewellery. Varg plans to convince a dragon, rumoured to live in a nearby valley, to destroy Bjørn for him, and agrees to pay the dragon’s owner to fight for him, despite not being allowed to see the beast first. Liv informs Arnstein that she is staying with Olvar, and that she has sold Arnstein and their children to Sturla Bonecrusher.

Episodes 05

“Do You Believe in Dragons?”

Olav agrees to give Frøya a break by putting a reluctant Orm in charge of the older warriors, who want to die in battle so they can reach Valhalla. On the day of the battle, Bjørn requests a simple apology from Varg for the murder of his family, but Varg, still blaming Bjørn for his baldness, refuses and declares he will use a dragon against him. The dragon’s owner eventually arrives, claiming the creature slept in late. Humiliated and believing she lied about the dragon even existing, Varg has her executed. Meanwhile, the dragon is seen flying towards the battlefield, unbeknownst to Varg; as it sees its owner die, it flies back. Now facing a real battle, Orm cowardly suggests a flanking manoeuvre to his regiment of old men, but in reality proceeds to wander aimlessly in the woods, feeding squirrels, until after the battle is done, thus denying his men their final chance to reach Valhalla. Nonetheless, he proudly claims his walking blisters as his first battle scars. Varg captures Bjørn and demands everyone attend a feast instead of tending to the wounded.

Episodes 06

“Scrotum Whipping”

Varg has Bjørn’s head shaved but delays his execution until after the feast, despite being warned Bjørn might escape. Olav praises Orm for not losing a single man in battle, until one of Orm’s men publicly reveals that Orm deliberately led them away from the battle; Varg has Orm publicly dishonoured as punishment. Running away from the feast, Orm comes across Bjørn, who convinces him they are friends, so Orm helpfully loosens the ropes around Bjørn’s wrists. Furious at the latter’s escape, Varg has Orm imprisoned; while there, the captive meets an Arab man for the first time and learns he has travelled the world and seen a wealthy country, England, to the west. Orm has never heard of this place. Varg orders Orm executed by blood eagle and Orm regrets that he never got to visit England. Curious about England’s raiding prospects, Olav offers to find England and make a map of the journey for Varg in exchange for Orm’s life. Varg spares Orm but has his testicles whipped in public. Olav immediately sets out on a raid, leaving Orm as temporary chief, and invades an English monastery, slaughtering the monks, stealing their gold, and capturing an uptight Roman actor named Rufus as a slave.