Arne "One-Eye" is one of Ragnar Lothbrok's loyal warriors. He is a skilled archer. Arne sometimes wears a leather eye patch which he occasionally discards to use his bow and arrow effectively.
Biography[]
Season 1[]
When Ragnar's ship sets sail for England, Arne is among the volunteers recruited at Erik's home. Arne, seen squatting on deck, witnessed Ragnar kill one of the crew for accusing Ragnar of being in partnership with the trickster among the Norse gods, Loki. After their successful raid of Lindisfarne, Arne returned to the longship with the others.
Arne sailed back to England with Ragnar. He is among the landing party that slaughtered the local sheriff and his men.
Arne called out to Ragnar and Rollo when the raiders sight Hexham. When asked by Ragnar what day it is today, Arne casually replied "Saturday." As such, Ragnar told them that they will wait until Sunday to attack, during mass.
When the party entered the church during mass, Arne is the first one to kill a defending Saxon with his battle axe. After the raid, they find Saxons waiting for them on the beach, where Arne was seen immediately killing one Saxon soldier with his bow. As the battle raged on, Arne was lifted up on a shield to fire arrows at the Saxons from behind the shield wall.
Arne was present during the celebration of Ragnar's release at Erik's home, seen dancing with Floki and Leif. After Ragnar asked for a toast "To friends and freedom," Arne told him that "You'll never be free of us!" before stumbling back to join Leif and Floki.
When the celebration was interrupted by Earl Haraldson's men, Arne survived the encounter, as he solemnly stared at Erik's body in the aftermath with the others.
Having been loyal to Ragnar since the very first raid against England, when Ragnar defeats Earl Haralson in the Holmgang [1] duel & becomes Earl of Kattegat himself, Arne —along with both Leif & Torstein — is entrusted as one of Ragnar's Hirdmenn (Housecarls).
When Earl Ragnar's household attends the sacrificial festival at Uppsala, Arne is seen willing to be the sacrifice in place of Athelstan, before Leif quickly motions him to stay seated so that he himself could volunteer as sacrifice instead of Arne.
After Uppsala, when King Horik of Denmark tasks Ragnar to go to Götaland to resolve the King's territorial dispute, Arne is one of the fighters who accompanies Ragnar. It's Arne and Torstein who —while fishing — discover Princess Aslaug bathing at the river; when they're found staring at her naked by her Shield-maiden bodyguards, they're tasked with arranging an introduction to Ragnar for him to apologize on their behalf for their gawking.
Season 2[]
When Ragnar and Jarl Borg's forces face each other in battle - with Rollo fighting against his brother on the side of Jarl Borg, Arne and Rollo face off, ending with Arne's death when a spear-wielding Rollo impales him, almost superhumanly lifting his mortally-wounded once-comrade skyward over the fray. As he dies, it is clear from the look on Arne's face, that he is utterly destroyed by how it is one of his closest friends, someone he considered a brother, who kills him. He is despairing not because he is dying, but because he has lost a brother and friend.
Trivia[]
- Arne was a Hirdmann of Ragnar Lothbrok, alongside Torstein and Leif. Derived from the Old Norse word 'hirð' (meaning "household, family"), Hirdmenn did not merely serve the function personal retainers and bodyguards in the service of a Norse Jarl or Earl, but were his usually his personal entourage and inner circle of closest companions and advisors. They held an elevated status among an Earl or Jarl's retainers as pseudo-adopted members of the household rather than simply employees of it, often seated and served at the Earl/Jarl's table with himself and his family in mead Hall.
- Arne is a traditional Old Norse name meaning "eagle."
- Odin — the highest God of the Norse pantheon — is known as the "One-Eyed" God, believed in Norse mythology to have sacrificed one of his eyes for knowledge. In the "Prose Edda" compiled in the 13th Century, a skaldic poem called "Óðins nöfn" lists some of the more than 170 names Odin is known by (some as titles and some when traveling incognito). One of the names for Odin the One-Eyed listed in the poem is the name "Arnhöfði" (meaning "Eagle Head") https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_names_of_Odin
- Arne's missing right eye is not a CGI or make-up effect for the show. The Dublin-born actor, Tadhg Murphy, lost the eye in his early teens in an archery accident when hit with a homemade arrow. He often wears a prosthetic eye in photo-shoots and interviews.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
| Season One Appearances | ||||
| Rites of Passage | Wrath of the Northmen | Dispossessed | ||
| Trial | Raid | Burial of the Dead | ||
| A King's Ransom | Sacrifice | All Change | ||
| Season two appearances | ||||
| Brother's War | Invasion | Treachery | Eye For an Eye | Answers in Blood |
| Unforgiven | Blood Eagle | Boneless | The Choice | The Lord's Prayer |