Jorvik

Jorvik is at its heart a coming-of-age story. Ragnhildr, throughout the story finds herself at a crossroads between what is expected of her and what she feels is right. Set at the height of the Viking Kingdom, the Jorvik Vikings are threatened with civil war, orchestrated by the Saxons of the south. Ragnhildr must help her family navigate the political and physical tensions whilst investigating her mother’s death. Through this script, the reader experiences the expectations for a woman born into a war-loving family and how she uses her own judgement to steer her people toward peace. Her mother’s death causes Ragnhildr’s world to descend into chaos. Whilst those around her grasp onto the anger they feel, Ragnhildr uses her reasoning to try and deduce why this occurred. In doing this her perspective on the raiding of villages, the deaths of her friends and the hostilities shown by other Viking Jarls in the kingdom, move from that of glory and honour to sympathy and dissolution. On the other side is an opportunistic Saxon general, looking to capitalise on the rising tensions by manipulating the power lust in the King’s nephew Osulf. Osulf is used to kick off the unrest in the Kingdom in the hope that the Saxons can seize control. In the ensuing battles, Ragnhildr’s Lover, Igni, and Father, Erik Bloodaxe, are killed mercilessly and her Brother Harald, the heir to the throne, is injured. Leaving her the sole commander just as the final battle for the kingdom is about to begin. Whilst set 1000 years in the past this story of traditional vs modern thinking is one that resonates throughout modern life, and through this it is aimed to deliver one message, just because it’s the way it was, doesn’t mean its the way it has to be