Viking Women

"Norway in the year 872. Sigrun (Esther Schweins) could be a happy woman. As husfreya (housewife) she presides over an impressive Viking household on the coast, she has lots of children, her husband Ulf (Luca Maric) commands his own ship. Yet Sigrun’s marriage is an unhappy one. The family is burdened by a dark secret: her husband stole her away from her home settlement during a raid when she was a young girl, killing her father and brother. Sigrun has been secretly plotting her revenge ever since. When she hears news of a newly discovered island in the west, the time seems to have come at last: this is her chance to start a new life. Sigrun has enough time to prepare everything before her husband comes back from “viking”. She rallies together some followers and has a dragon-ship built, and waits for her opportunity. A spectacular escape to far-off shores begins. "

"Denmark in the year 1064. Jova (Leonie Benesch) lives as a servant in the household of the merchant Ottar, who runs his business in the town of Haithabu. One day she finds out that her father (Reiner Schöne) was a renowned warrior who set out to the east shortly after her birth and didn’t come back. From then on Jova only has one thing on her mind: finding her father. She escapes from Ottar´s house, dresses up like a man to hire on a ship that sails to the land of the Rus. The story of Jova leads us deep inside the fundamentally changing society of the Vikings. At this time, Haithabu is one of the most important commercial centers of the Vikings with its numerous emporiums connected from all around the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Through the extensive trading with other peoples, Christianity gets intensified influence in the live of the Vikings. Especially kings, traders and women become strong supporters of this new religion. During this time strong kingdoms arise from the middle of the Viking princes. But Christianization and the emerging kingdoms are both a blessing and a curse and herald the destruction of Viking culture. "