every Vikings character who ruled Kattegat. One of the most popular and successful historical dramas in recent years is Michael Hirst’s Vikings, which premiered on the History Channel in 2013, and even though it was originally planned to be a miniseries, it quickly won the audience over, and it lived on for a total of six seasons, coming to an end in 2020. Vikings was packed with action and drama, and as such, it saw the rise and fall of many characters, especially those who, at some point, got to rule Kattegat.
During its first seasons, Vikings followed legendary Norse warrior Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) and his travels and raids alongside his family and Viking brothers, from the beginning of the Viking Age (marked by the Lindisfarne raid, as seen in season 1) onward. As the series progressed, however, it started shifting its focus to Ragnar’s sons and their own journeys and battles, and so Björn, Ubbe, Hvitserk, Sigurd, and Ivar became the leads of Vikings after Ragnar’s death in season 4 and until the final episode. Vikings was defined by its epic battles and endless conflicts and betrayals, and the characters mostly fought over power, such as the throne of Kattegat.
Kattegat is the main setting of Vikings and one of the main settings of the sequel series Vikings: Valhalla, and it's located on the shores of a fjord in southern Norway. Since Vikings season 1, Kattegat saw different rulers, of which some turned out to be great leaders, and others were driven by ambition rather than actually caring for the city and its inhabitants. Here’s every Vikings (and Vikings: Valhalla) character who ruled Kattegat and how they got to the throne.
Earl Haraldson
When viewers first traveled to Kattegat in Vikings season 1, the city was ruled by Earl Haraldson (Gabriel Byrne). Haraldson was a powerful and fearsome warrior whose raids when he was young led him to become a respected figure, though his reputation also earned him various enemies. The event that turned Haraldson into a cruel man was the brutal murder of his two sons, whose heads were cut off, set against their backsides, and they were left in a shallow grave as a sign of disrespect towards Haraldson. Some time after that, Haraldson became the ruler of Kattegat, though exactly how he rose to power is unknown. As Kattegat’s ruler, Haraldson was cruel and wouldn’t hesitate to kill if it served his own ambitions and interests, and these actions obviously earned him even more enemies, such as Ragnar, which in turn made Haraldson more paranoid. Haraldson was killed by Ragnar during a duel, and the latter reassured him that he would go to Valhalla.
Ragnar Lothbrok and Lagertha
When viewers met Ragnar and Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick), they lived on a farm with their two children, Gyda and Björn, and while Lagertha stayed at home while Ragnar and his Viking brothers went on raids, she also ed her husband on a couple of travels as she was a skilled shieldmaiden. However, Haraldson saw Ragnar as a threat due to the latter’s plans of raiding unknown lands and more, so he launched an attack on Ragnar’s farm, which left the legendary Viking severely wounded. Ragnar and his family fled and hid at Floki’s (Gustaf Skarsgård) house, and after learning that Haraldson had captured and tortured his brother, Rollo (Clive Standen), for information, Ragnar challenged Haraldson to a duel. Ragnar killed Haraldson and became Kattegat’s new Earl and later king, the latter after killing his former ally King Horik. Ragnar deeply cared about his people and was ambitious though for the benefit of the city and its inhabitants rather than his own, which set him apart from Haraldson. As for Lagertha, while she ruled Kattegat alongside Ragnar when he became Earl, by the time he became king, she had already left him as he cheated on her with Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland), but she decided to take Kattegat back as well as her “rightful” place as queen, so Lagertha killed Aslaug and became Queen of Kattegat for a while.
Ivar the Boneless
Ivar (Alex Høgh Andersen) was Ragnar and Aslaug’s youngest son and the one closest to Aslaug. His mother’s murder by Lagertha ignited conflicted emotions in his brothers, with Björn not agreeing with his mother’s actions but not letting his younger brothers raise a hand against her, while Sigurd loathed his mother, Hvitserk had mixed feelings about her, and Ivar was determined to avenge her death, with Ubbe sharing those feelings. After Ragnar’s fall and eventual death, and according to the rules of Nordic society, all the sons of the previous king could be considered candidates to inherit the crown, and Björn as the only living child of Ragnar and Lagertha was the strongest candidate, but Ivar’s claim as king was ed by King Harald and Hvitserk. After forming an alliance with Harald and attacking Kattegat on different occasions, Ivar’s forces eventually won, leading Lagertha and company to leave Kattegat and Ivar taking over the city as king.
Björn Ironside
Although Björn had the above-mentioned advantage of being Ragnar and Lagertha’s only living son and being a fearsome warrior like his parents, it took him a long time to become King of Kattegat. In Vikings season 5, Harald made the same deal with Björn that he had with Ivar: the throne of Kattegat would be his after Björn died, but their alliance was tainted by Harald’s jealousy over Björn’s relationship with Gunnhild. Along with King Olaf and Hvitserk, Harald and Björn infiltrated Kattegat with the help of Ivar’s wife, Freydis, with the purpose of taking back Kattegat from Ivar. When they got to the hall, Ivar was gone, and after reuniting with Lagertha, who he believed to be dead, Björn was declared King of Kattegat by Olaf, with Lagertha giving her son the sword of Kings. Björn then had a vision of his father and the Seer telling him that the war wasn’t over yet.
Jarl Haakon
Björn was the last known King of Kattegat in Vikings, and the sequel series Vikings: Valhalla introduced a new ruler: Jarl Haakon (Caroline Henderson). Little is known about Jaakon’s backstory and how she took the throne of Kattegat, but it was revealed in Vikings: Valhalla that her husband was killed by Christians after his ship was stopped by them while trading in Trömsa. Haakon’s husband refused to convert to Christianity, and so the Christians killed him and his crew, leaving Jarl Haakon as the sole ruler of Kattegat. Haakon was the one who sent Freydis (Frida Gustavsson) to train to become a shield-maiden, and she died while defending Kattegat from Jarl Kåre’s (Asbjørn Krogh Nissen) attack, after which Olaf Haraldsson (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) and his warriors took Kattegat, but right at the end of season 1 of Vikings: Valhalla, Forkbeard (Søren Pilmark) arrived with Canute’s fleet, much to Olaf’s surprise.
