Ubisoft recently unveiled Assassin’s Creed Valhalla through a “cinematic world premiere” trailer. And if you don’t know, the upcoming game is set during the late ninth century, where King of Wessex — Alfred “The Great” — leads Saxon troops against Eivor’s clan in the old days of England. The game will also include gays. However, we learn that not only can Eivor be male or female, we learn that there will be “tough females” in the forthcoming installment.
None of the following information should come in as a surprise given Ubisoft’s past track record. With that said, during a written interview that Ubisoft has up on ubisoft.com, it features Thierry Noël as a guest — a historian and inspirational content advisor of the editorial research unit on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
One of the many questions that the Ubisoft writer asked Noël was, “Did anything in your research surprise you?” Noël’s response sits below:
“Oh, totally. The gap between the reality of Norse society and the image we have of the reckless Viking was really interesting to me. They were a fascinating society in terms of culture and pretty fair in the way they treated women, who had important rights at the time. It was certainly contradictory to the common image we have of Vikings.”
As the interview between Ubisoft and Noël winded down to an end, the conversation made a jump from Noël’s research to Eivor. Additionally, the Ubisoft writer wanted to know more about the female depiction of the protagonist and if there were any “women warriors in Viking culture?” Noël’s response lies below:
“The archaeological sources are highly debated on that specific issue. But the fact is, and I think what’s really important, is that it was part of their conception of the world. Sagas and myths from Norse society are full of tough female characters and warriors. It was part of their idea of the world, that women and men are equally formidable in battle, and that’s something that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will reflect.”
To summarize the above, Noël believes from archaeological sources that information surrounding female Viking warriors is a “highly debated” issue, since the only recognizable data on the subject matter, as cataloged on the Wiley Online Library, couldn’t find evidence that one of the only burial sites for a supposed female Viking showed no osteological signs of her having participated in active combat. Noël thinks what’s “really important” is that female warriors were part of the Viking’s “conception of the world.”
In addition to the above, Noël elaborates on how “sagas and myths from Norse society” are full of “tough female characters and warriors.” From here, he gathered that women and men are equally formidable in battle, and that’s what will be showcased in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
This line of reasoning was criticized recently by YouTube outlet Lack of Entertainment.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will release for PC via Uplay and the Epic Games Store, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, and Xbox Series X sometime in Q4 2020.
Loading comments…