‘Vikings’: Why Some Fans Don’t Think Lagertha Deserved to Be Queen
In the popular series Vikings, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) makes a name for herself and it stands the test of time. She’s considered the Mother of Norway when she dies, and her influence lives on long after her death. She makes herself an earl, then a queen. However, not everyone thinks Lagertha deserved to be queen.
The first wife of Ragnar Lothbrok
As a young woman, Lagertha becomes the wife of Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel). They have children together, but before that, she made herself known with her fighting abilities. She’s respected as a fierce shield-maiden, but she proves herself to be so much more than that.
When Lagertha divorces Ragnar when he’s unfaithful with Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland), she finds herself the wife of the Earl of Hedeby. However, he’s disrespectful as well as abusive. One night, she has enough and stabs him in the eye. Another man kills him, and Lagertha is proclaimed the Earl of Hedeby.
Many years later, Ragnar has become the King of Kattegat, and Lagertha feels her position was always meant to be by his side, as queen. She decides to take Kattegat back for herself, and she kills Aslaug while she’s at it. She becomes the Queen of Kattegat, at least for a time.
Why some fans don’t think Lagertha deserved to be queen
A fan recently posted to Reddit with a post titled: “Lagertha didn’t deserve the crown.” The user goes on to explain their thoughts as to why that is.
“Lagertha kept complaining that Aslaug took her crown away and that she is the rightful Queen of Kattegat,” the Reddit user said. “She wasn’t, Ragnar wasn’t even a king when they divorced. Aslaug didn’t even know he was going to be king. The only rightful heir after her death was Bjorn, not Lagertha. She had nothing to do with the crown. (Still like her though).”
1 fan thinks she’s a ‘usurper’
One fan agrees that Lagertha didn’t have any rights or claims on the rule of Kattegat. She was the Earl of Hedeby at the time, and Ragnar wasn’t even the king when they divorced. The Reddit user quotes a famous line that Ragnar Lothbrok said as well.
“She’s a perfect example of, ‘Power is always dangerous, it attracts the worst and corrupts the best.’ She definitely didn’t have the right to Kattegat. She’s a usurper but that’s how it works if you want the crown. She’s just still annoyed about Ragnar cheating on her,” a Reddit user reasoned.
‘She had no claim to the throne’
Another fan seems to agree, and uses the example of Lagertha killing Kalf (Ben Robson) for taking Hedeby from her. She was married to the previous earl that was killed, so she had no real claim to it. The fan says they stopped liking Lagertha all together after she kills Aslaug and takes Kattegat back from her.
“True, she killed Kalf for being a ‘usurper’ but she was the biggest usurper of the show herself. She had no claim to the throne whatsoever,” a fan wrote. “The husband that she clearly left was King of Kattegat. That didn’t make her Queen when he died. The arrow in Aslaug’s back was also a low blow. I stopped liking Lagertha after that moment tbh.”
It’s clear that not everyone believes Lagertha deserved the crown of Kattegat.
