In early fall 2014 my girlfriend and me visted Holy Island, a tiny island just outside the British coast better known for the village on it by the name of Lindisfarne. The monestary of Lindisfarne was the first to be sacked by the Vikings opening their flood of attacks of villages and monestaries of the British and Irish coasts (and later also continental Europe). The remains of the monestary that can still be seen on Holy Island are not those of the monestary that the Vikings raided, since this monestary was built well after the Viking period.
“A Viking Saga” tells the story of the Viking attack and I was curious if anything of Holy Island could be seen in the film. Not really. In this rather sad film, the Vikings attack the monestary to lay their hands on the Lindisfarne Gospel, a beautifull illuminated version the of the Bible, because of its power. Since the monks saw this coming, they sent two of their own to bring the book to Iona. That is all the way to the West coast and then behind the island of Mull. Quite a walk! Still the Vikings go after the two monks and even manage to find them.
“Based on true events”. I am not sure how the story went in reality, but in this film you mostly see people fleeing through the woods, chased by a handfull of barbareous Vikings, occasionly coming to a sword-fight. Then there is this strange scene in which a girl who is called Saxon seems to have Pictish symbols on her arm.
Oh well, nothing you need to watch.
