Enrique Torres-Hergueta (University of Seville)
The concept of enemy is inherent to societies. That “other” means a threat, so the “we”/“they” dichotomy has built identities since tribal conflicts. Throughout the Early Middle Ages in Europe, conflict driven by competition with enemies was crucial as various peoples and nations waged wars to justify territorial expansion and consolidate political power.
Culturally, enemies and conflicts play a central role in the stories we engage with daily, spanning literature, film, music, comics, and video games. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla (2020), the twelfth game in the Assassin’s Creed series, is a widely acclaimed action role-playing game developed by Ubisoft that depicts various conflicts between the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse, as documented in medieval sources like The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
Valhalla, a history-themed video game, strives for an accurate depiction of early medieval Anglo-Scandinavian history. Featuring a human protagonist in a realistic historical setting, it portrays the enemy as authentically human as well. The game centres on Viking leader Eivor Varinsson’s involvement in the Great Heathen Army’s invasion of England.
The game uses the final years of the Norse invasion as its main storyline, featuring King Alfred of Wessex as the protagonist’s adversary. Valhalla reaches its highest point with Eivor leading an attack on Alfred’s camp during the historical Battle of Chippenham (January 878). Although medieval sources record Alfred’s battles against Viking leaders Ubba Ragnarson and Guthrum, Eivor’s involvement is evidently fictional. However, the players’ control over the protagonist is very interesting as they can experience the event in a certain way. The game hence reimagines the chaos of the battle, culminating in the invaders capturing the city and forcing Alfred’s troops to retreat, as described in the Chronicle.
Following the game, Valhalla’s educational mode, Discovery Tour: Viking Age, mentions that Alfred eventually returns and defeats the Norse army soon after his escape. This segment adapts the renowned Battle of Edington (March 878), a crucial Anglo-Saxon victory that led to the Treaty of Wedmore and the establishment of the Danelaw in England. The in-game depiction of these events closely mirrors the narrative recorded in the Chronicle, too.
Through its immersive gameplay and historical accuracy, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla not only entertains but also educates players about the intricate dynamics of early medieval conflicts. By blending factual historical events with engaging storytelling, the game highlights how the concept of the enemy has shaped identities and power structures throughout history. This thoughtful portrayal underscores the enduring relevance of historical conflicts in understanding contemporary narratives and cultural representations of adversaries.
Suggested Reading
Whitelock, Dorothy, editor. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. A Revised Translation. Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1961.
Thank you for the paper, Enrique.
There has been a lot of discussion over the topic of violence on medieval sources. One thing most historians agree on, however, is that we cannot take these descriptions literally. Episodes of violence serve many functions beyond mere reporting – e.g. apocalyptic predictions, condemnations of a moral/spiritual decline of a character or people, literary references to the scriptures or classical sources etc.
How does AC: Valhalla (and the companion Discovery Tour simulator) fare in that regard? Is there any mention of this literary dimension, or is conflict taken at face value?
Thank you for your feedback, Vinicius. I consider that Valhalla and its Discovery Tour’s intentions are well diferenciated, yet being an interesting pairing. The game mostly presents violence as a very literal and engaging element during the gameplay. The Tour, however, focuses on detailed, contextualized exploration. I think it is this duality which allows the game to be an interesting choice both for entertainment and educational purposes, thus reflecting a broader understanding of historical events and their representations.
Thank you so much for this insightful paper, Enrique! I was wondering… you mention that the game features “a human protagonist in a realistic historical setting” and that “it portrays the enemy as authentically human as well”. However, Eivor is presented as being a Sage, which, in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, is also referred to as a hyper-hominid, designating a human who acquires the memories of an Isu. Alfred of Wessex, on the other hand, is shown to possess knowledge of the Isu (a rare thing, according to the games’ plot) and to take command in the reform of the Order of the Ancients (henceforth called the Templar Order/the Templars). Thus, Eivor is clearly “more-than-human” and Alfred is portrayed as being incredibly knowledgeable in matters that are not historically accurate. How do you think this fits (or hinders) the historical narrative that is being put forth?
Thanks!
Thank you so much for the feedback, Jéssica. It is true that the franchise follows a super-plot that connects all the instalments and that could be placed in the science fiction genre perfectly. However, I wanted to stick to the historicist aspects of the game. In this sense, Eivor would be a plausible character on a human level, especially if we compare him to protagonists of other games such as God of War, where the protagonist, Kratos, is of clearly divine origin, or Skyrim, where the Dragonborn possesses outstanding supernatural qualities. It should also be noted that Valhalla is still a fictional video game that includes historical elements. In this sense, I consider narrative elements such as the Isu, or Alfred’s “extra-historical” knowledge to be necessary for the sake of entertainment. This obviously hinders the narrative on a historical level, but enriches it on an engagement level.
I think the thing that most interested me here was your commentary on othering, I’d have liked to see more on that. Do you have any thoughts on how portrayals of this period play with that idea of othering more than just showing it as a simple zero-sum matter? Perhaps the most famous modern fictional portrayals of the period, Bernard Cornwell’s Uhtred books, explicitly use a protagonist with feet on both sides of the cultural fence. Is there scope for questioning how inherent such cultural divides and dynamics are in game media about this period too?
Thank you for the feedback, James. Cornwell’s example is a very interesting one, and the idea of a Saxon raised by Norsemen has been used in other works, such as Giles Kristian’s Raven trilogy. Dealing with video games that make use of the idea of othering, I can discuss a couple examples. For instance, the very own Valhalla depicts both the Norse and the Saxon sides of the conflict. The game’s alliances system is very interesting as it highlights the complexity of cultural encounters. Similarly, but in a broader sense, Crusader Kings III offers players the possibility of forming unlikely alliances, marrying people from different cultures, and even adopting cultural practices. All this tries to show the permeability of cultural boundaries and politics during the Middle Ages.
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Thanks for an interesting paper, Enrique. I’m curious on your thoughts on the main game vs. the discovery tour in terms of inserting the player into history, or possibly teaching the player history through immersion. In the discovery tours you get to walk around and look at the world and read some text about objects and areas, whereas in the main game you do the same, only with the added element of fighting, re-enacting battles, following storylines etc. (as you describe here). Do you think, through this blend you mention at the end, that maybe both game modes have value as history teaching tools?
Thank you for the feedback, Markus. Of course, I think that is one of the most interesting aspects, since Valhalla the Discovery Tour offer complementary options for historical education. While the main game immerses players in Viking life by focusing on combat and exploration, and also fostering emotional connections and incidental learning, the Tour provides a structured, fact-based experience which is similar (to a certain extent, of course) to a virtual museum. Together, they provide diverse learning styles, creating a very interesting, comprehensive and engaging way to explore history.