“Your strength breaks men’s bones. I have the cunning to break their minds.”
There are some stories that stand the test of time, tales so essential that they ripple through generations sparking multiple retellings in various forms. Though most of us are familiar with Shakespeare’s Hamlet, few know the story on which it’s based.
Robert Eggers brings this tale to life with a historically accurate retelling of the Norse legend of Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum, or History of the Danes. Books three and four of this sixteen-volume text follow Amleth and his mother Queen Geruth. Eggers uses this essentialist story to examine the concept of gendered strength in The Northman.
Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) is just a boy when his father King Aurvandil War-Raven (Ethan Hawke) is murdered by his uncle Fjölnir (Claes Bang) in a devious attempt to claim the throne. Amleth manages to escape, but vows to save his mother Gudrún (Nicole Kidman) and avenge his father’s name.
Years later, he’s a strong Viking berserker rampaging villages and enslaving those they allow to survive. But when a Seeress (Björk) reminds him of his childhood vows, Amleth pretends to be a slave himself and travels to Iceland where his uncle now lives. But the mother he finds on their rural farm has been keeping her own sinister secrets, upending the foundations of Amleth’s quest for revenge.
In the latest episode of Bloody FM’s The Lady Killers podcast, co-hosts Jenn Adams and Sammie Kuykendall are joined by special guest Rachel Reeves to examine the source of a cornerstone of English literature. How does Gudrún feel about her son? What does Fjölnir know about the secrets of women? Does Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy) possess cunning stronger than Amleth’s brawn and why does he leave her to bear his children alone?
Stream below and subscribe now via Apple Podcasts and Spotify for future episodes that drop every Thursday.
The post ‘The Northman’ Explores the Secrets of Women [The Lady Killers Podcast] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
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