Most Famous Viking Quotes with Explanation

Since its appearance on screens in March 2013, the Vikings series has impressed all fans of Norse mythology with the twists and turns of the story, the sets, the characters, the special effects, which plunge the viewer into the Viking era.

But there is also another element that catches the eye in this series: the quotes. Discover here a list of the most famous Viking quotes with a short explanation for each one.

The series' best-known quotes

Quotations and proverbs are the garment of deep words. In the Vikings series, the characters said many quotes based on war, on wisdom, on Valhalla, etc., useful for guiding and directing. Here are the best known:

• You are a great man, but even great men make mistakes: You have to learn to forgive yourself for your mistakes even when you feel you have no room for error.
• Nothing is so complicated. Only the thought makes it: often the problem is not a problem. Thinking the problem is a problem is the real problem.
• I am old enough to know that you can never say for sure what someone else will do: It is a mistake to believe that you know a person so well that you can anticipate their every reactions. Man is changeable.
• Looking for extreme possibilities blinds you to the likely explanation right in front of you: Sometimes it's because you've overthought that you can't find the solution you're looking for at all.
• The truth can be a bad choice for a wise man : not all truths are good to say. Sometimes it is better to hide certain truths and move on.
• I can teach you ways to fight with a sword and an ax, or a shield to stay alive. But if you are afraid, you are already dead: What makes the victory of conquerors is first of all their courage. Their weapons are only the voice of their bravery.
• There is rarely only one wave: life always offers a second chance that we can seize when we missed the first.
• Go face your enemies with your head held high before they find you: By attacking your enemy with obvious bravery, you lessen his chances of defeating you just by the gesture.
• Odin gave his eye to acquire knowledge, but I would give much more: No price is too difficult to pay when it is knowledge that will be used to buy.
• The brave man will fight and win, even if his blade is dull: whatever the circumstances, victory is certain when the mind is determined and committed to winning it.
• A man without a boat is tied to the land: You always have to have several alternatives ready, several strings to your bow.
• The wise man is never far from his weapons: life is a succession of battles that do not warn. You always have to be on your guard.
• It's better to stand up and fight. If you run, you will die tired: It is better to risk dying fighting a difficulty than to run away and risk dying of breathlessness and fatigue.
• Only dead fish go with the flow: when you still have spirit, you have to know how to resist the waves of life and the pressure of the crowd.
• Too much mead and a man's heart opens for all to see: Alcohol lowers a man's guard. By listening to what he says when he is drunk, we discover the truths he has always hidden.
• Life is not a walk in an open field: life is not as easy and as playful as one might think. We must be prepared to face the fiercest difficulties.
• To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the sun. A time to love and a time to hate. A time of war and a time of peace : to benefit us, things must be done at the right time.
• I don't believe in the existence of gods. Man is master of his own destiny, not of the gods. The gods are man's creation to give answers they are too afraid to give themselves :
• You Vikings are incorrigible. You emerge from the womb with only one thing in mind... how to die : the Vikings, with their warrior soul, are ready to fight at the slightest opportunity. Yet every battle is a dance with death.
• Don't waste your time looking back. You're not going this way : Never give up or get distracted when rushing towards a goal.
• The world is changing and we must change with it : Playing conservative when realities change can waste more energy than adapting to change.