As recommended by whelan83 and janBoris
Austrian-German-Japanese cartoon creation Vicky the Viking was a critical omission, according to whelan83 and janBoris, if only for its title sequence and the curiously androgynous nature of its protagonist. Warning: the theme tune, whether in French or German, is likely to repeat on you for days Photograph: PR
As recommended by Carolyne Larrington and sojephine
The protagonist of Egil's Saga was quite the precocious child, composing poetry at three years old, splitting the head of a foe with an axe at seven and, after a lifetime of power and violence, finally murdering the servant that helped him to bury his treasure. It wasn't all bloodshed though: when faced with a bad host, Skallagrímsson drowned him in his own vomit Photograph: PR
As recommended by UnsaltedSinner
In one of the classic examples of the mischievous power of language, Eirik the Red succeeded in convincing the people of Iceland to form a new settlement on a barren and windswept land 180 miles west simply by virtue of the name that he gave it: Greenland. As UnsaltedSinner puts it, "The greatest sales pitch in history" Photograph: INTERFOTO /Alamy
As recommended by sojephine and Atheling
Dressing as a man and fighting under the male surname Hjörvard, Hervör dedicated her young life to locating the burial mound of her slain father and retrieving the magic sword within. Job done, she returned to her Viking activities, travelling widely and slaying liberally before marrying the heir to a king and producing two sons, one of whom later killed the other with the family blade Photograph: Peter Nicolai Arbo
As recommended by ccmac10
Both Viking and Bon Temps Vampire King, True Blood's Eric Northman is the only entry here to have his own BuzzFeed compilation of skin-baring Gifs. We're not saying that's behind ccmac's recommendation, mind... Photograph: Rex Features
As recommended by Scripturus
According to Scripturus the omission of King Cnut the Great is inexcusable: the "greatest and most successful Viking ruler of all time" Photograph: Mary Evans Picture Library / Ala/Alamy
As recommended by SofS
Both the bane of literature students everywhere and, according to SofS, "the greatest" of all the Vikings, Beowulf slaughtered Grendel with his bare hands and took down his mother with an enchanted giant sword. Later becoming King of Geatland, Beowulf died battling a dragon. Your move, House of Windsor Photograph: film still
As recommended by sojephine
sojephine chides us for overlooking Þórólfr bægifótr, or Twist-Foot, who lived a life of murder, greed and pillage and then returned in death to carry on. Everyone Twist-Foot killed became a part of his revenant army, and even an attempt to stop him through burning his corpse failed when a cow ate the ashes and he reemerged as a malevolent bull, still bent on revenge Photograph: PR
As recommended by Nabites, lardysidekick
Described by lardysidekick as having the Viking career, Haraldr hárðráði, or Harald Hardrada, survived a family civil war at 13, rose to general in the Varingian Guard in Constantinople, fought from Italy to the Euphrates and married the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, before becoming the King of Norway. He died at Stamford Bridge in 1066 fighting against King Harold, effectively ending the Viking age and easing William the Conqueror's path to victory three weeks later. If that's not enough, Haraldr also composed skaldic poetry and played the harp Photograph: Colin Smith
As recommended by Atheling
The wife of Olaf the White and a powerful ruler in her own right after his death, Aud secretly built and crewed a ship – in defiance of the gender roles of the time – and sailed to Orkney, where she married off her family members and then travelled on to claim land in Iceland. In a further rebuff to the norms of the era Aud was a proud and public Christian, a detail that Atheling considers "speaks to her strength of will" Photograph: telusplanet.net
