(no subject)

[bjornwilde]

So Rollo is the younger brother, at least according to a Tumblr user (link to Tumblr post) who read it in The World of Vikings (which is a companion book for the series). They also mention it is a switch from previously stated canon, so I'm not going to kick myself for thinking Rollo was the elder. I'll have to buy the kindle version of the book to confirm.

Comments

[yakalskovich]

I always thought he was the older brother, too!

[bjornwilde]

Well now the TUmblr thread has expanded somewhat to include this:

"World of Vikings, page 42: “Ragnar’s younger brother Rollo…” (Michael Hirst)

Of course, this is the same Michael Hirst who dated the first meeting of Ragnar and Lagertha in the first comic book so late that Björn can’t possibly be Ragnar’s son, so - let’s just say that I think Hirst passed the point of needing someone else to keep track of basic details for him a few seasons ago.

Anyway, Rollo explicitly called Ragnar little brother in the show, so (of course, he’s also been specifically addressed as Rollo Lothbrok in the show, which is wrong, wrong, wrong, so wrong it’s not even remotely funny.)"

So I'm inclined to go with dialog shown on screen rather than a book which contradicts it.

Your thoughts?

[yakalskovich]

Canon is what we see on screen; the rest is auxiliary, so yes, I'd suggest we stick with Rollo being the older brother. It makes the conflict more credible, too.

And I think that those people were mocking him when they were asking him if he was Rollo Lothbrok -- indicating that he's in fact nothing but his brother's shadow. Otherwise, it is of course completely wrong -- even the descendants of the Vikings in present-day Iceland don't do last name, only patronymics.

[bjornwilde]

This all sounds good to me. I might buy the book for additional details or inspirations, but will view the show as the primary canon source.