One of the things I love about England is its history. While completing my Ph.D. studies in American History at Loyola University Chicago, I added a minor field in Early Modern England. While I do enjoy the subject, having the highly regarded Dr. Robert Bucholz as a professor there also helped make my decision to delve into that part of the past. He was always kind to me, and his lectures were among the best I have had the privilege of hearing. I also enjoyed the fact that I would often see him at daily Mass at Loyola’s beautiful Madonna della Strada Chapel. Because of all this, whenever I get an opportunity to watch and review a film about the history of the British Isles, I usually take it. Though it is fictionalized to a degree, that is what you are getting with today’s entry, The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (2023).
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (2023) opens in early tenth-century Northumbria, where the Viking king Anlaf (Pekka Strang) lands with his warriors from Ireland and attacks a coastal settlement, ordering its destruction to conceal his arrival. He meets his daughter Astrid (Agnes Born), who is disguised as a Saxon and has been spying on King Edward’s court. Learning that Edward is gravely ill, Anlaf sends Astrid back to Winchester to encourage discord while he seeks alliances with rulers hostile to the Saxons. He intends to exploit the struggle for power that he expects to follow the king’s death. Meanwhile, Uhtred of Bebbanburg (Alexander Dreymon) has secured his Northumbrian stronghold but still hopes to see the fractured kingdoms united. King Edward (Timothy Innes) dies without clearly naming an heir, and his widow, Eadgifu (Elaine Cassidy), takes their young son Edmund (Zak Sutcliffe) to Uhtred for protection. Edward’s older sons, Aethelstan (Harry Gilby) and Aelfweard (Ewan Horrocks), prepare to contest the throne. Before Uhtred intervenes, Ingrith (Ilona Chevakova), the wife of his loyal companion Finan (Mark Rowley), repeats a prophecy that seven kings must die before England can become one kingdom. Uhtred travels to Aegelesburg and persuades Aelfweard to surrender peacefully, only for Aethelstan to kill his brother and slaughter the defeated men. Uhtred is horrified by the ruthlessness of the young man he helped raise. Aethelstan is being guided by Ingilmundr (Laurie Davidson), a trusted adviser and secret lover who persuades him that conquest and the forced conversion of pagans will atone for what he believes are his sins. That is not a Catholic ideal, by the way. Aethelstan moves north, destroys pagan shrines, and demands submission from neighboring rulers. Uhtred fears that his old protégé is becoming a tyrant, especially when he discovers the intimate relationship that gives Ingilmundr such influence. Ingilmundr secretly plots Uhtred’s death, but Aldhelm (James Northcote) warns him, allowing him to escape. Aldhelm is subsequently executed as a traitor. Ingilmundr comes to Bebbanburg intending to seize the fortress, but Uhtred captures him instead. The adviser nevertheless engineers a trap that delivers Uhtred into Aethelstan’s custody and forces the surrender of Bebbanburg. Uhtred’s son Osbert (Olly Rhodes) and Edmund are taken prisoner, while Aethelstan, unwilling to kill Uhtred, banishes him from England. Anlaf gathers the rulers of Scotland and several neighboring kingdoms and islands, arguing that Aethelstan’s expansion threatens them all. Their religious and political differences initially prevent an alliance, but Aethelstan’s invasion of Scotland changes their minds. Weakened and wandering in exile, Uhtred is brought before the coalition, where he discovers that Ingilmundr has been working for Anlaf all along. The kings ask him to assassinate Aethelstan and avert a larger war. Instead, Uhtred goes to Winchester and attempts to warn Aethelstan of the betrayal. The king refuses to believe him, leaving Uhtred to return north. There he discovers that Anlaf’s forces have devastated Bebbanburg and sealed Ingrith and other inhabitants inside a cave, where they suffocated. Finan is devastated by the loss of his wife. Ingilmundr also betrays the Saxon defenders at Thelwael, allowing their enemies to slaughter them, although Osbert and Edmund survive by hiding. Once Aethelstan finally recognizes Ingilmundr’s treachery, he reconciles with Uhtred and prepares to face the invading coalition. Ashamed of his mistakes, he initially refuses Uhtred’s help, believing he should bear the consequences himself. Uhtred refuses to abandon him. At the Battle of Brunanburh, Aethelstan’s army faces a vastly larger force assembled by Anlaf and the other rulers. Uhtred directs the shield wall to retreat gradually, drawing the attackers toward a concealed English cavalry force. When the cavalry strikes from behind, the coalition is caught between two fronts. Several princes, including Anlaf’s allies’ heirs, are killed, prompting their fathers to abandon the battle and retreat. Amid the fighting, Ingilmundr fights Aethelstan in one-on-one combat, and Uhtred is gravely wounded trying to reach the king. Aethelstan survives, and Ingilmundr is captured and executed for treason. Finan and Sihtric (Arnas Fedaravicius) find Uhtred barely alive and bring him home to Bebbanburg. As he lies near death, Finan reflects that Edward and the five fallen princes account for six of the seven kings in the prophecy, although the princes never actually wore crowns. Uhtred wonders whether he is meant to be the seventh. He agrees to place Northumbria under Aethelstan’s rule on the condition that Aethelstan name Edmund his sole heir, securing the succession and realizing the long-held dream of a united England. Finally, Uhtred rises and seems to glimpse the doors of Valhalla opening, with departed friends waiting for him at a feast.
The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die leaves Uhtred’s fate ambiguous as he stands between the living world and Valhalla, before showing the real Bamburgh Castle that still stands today. A Catholic might well recoil at the notion of the Viking version of Heaven being exciting, but the film is not trying to take spiritual sides in debates over the afterlife. There is, ultimately, only one truth, and part of faith is putting your trust in the belief that one set of teachings is correct. Luckily, Catholicism has centuries of historical testimony and philosophical and theological argument to support the Church’s claims. That, paired with my experiences and my relationship with God, is enough for me. Still, this was not the case for tenth-century England. Despite being a fictionalized account of this period (there was an Uhtred, but he was not a contemporary of Aethelstan), the film does well to talk about the changing religious climate of England at this time. If you watch this movie and find yourself confused by all the different factions and kingdoms, I can understand. I can only claim to have a passing knowledge of these events, and the amount of information packed into the film can be overwhelming. What you do not hear often, though, is the Vikings referred to collectively as a people. Instead, the term used most often is Danes, as in people from Denmark. They were among the Viking peoples, but these distinctions did make a difference. For our purposes, you can generally consider the Danes to be pagans and the Saxons, another group regularly mentioned, to be Christians, although the historical religious landscape was more complicated. What is happening is a gradual bringing together of different kingdoms and peoples to make one country, which would ultimately be Christian. What is key is that the movie is adamant that the best way for the Saxon king Aethelstan to do this is by not forcing the pagans to convert. The sequences in which you see this happening are the result of Ingilmundr’s counsel, which seeks to create divisions. It should be noted that the Church teaches that no one should be coerced into embracing the Christian faith. Historically, forced conversions have nevertheless occurred, often through the actions of rulers seeking to consolidate their power or pacify a recalcitrant people. The proper approach is one of invitation, as we see in the example of Jesus and His followers.
At the same time, I do not know if I would invite you to watch The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die, unless you are a history buff. Then again, if that does describe you, the fictionalized version of events will have to be overcome, which is never easy for people with such knowledge. Otherwise, it is a fair action flick.
