Who plays Erlendur in Vikings?
Erlendur is played by Edvin Endre in the original Vikings series.
Explore family, allies and rivals or follow the story sections below.
Cast references: Edvin Endre.
Explore Erlendur’s story
The surviving heir
He accompanies Horik’s expeditions and helps undermine Ragnar’s negotiations with Aethelwulf. Ragnar spares him when Horik’s attack on the household fails.
Revenge within the coalition
Erlendur marries Torvi and cooperates with Kalf. His effort to have Bjorn killed becomes coercion against Torvi and her child; she ultimately turns his crossbow against him.
A debt the survivor does not accept
Being spared does not require a character to experience mercy as reconciliation. Erlendur’s survival preserves a rival account of Ragnar’s rise. Watch how the old grievance enters apparently practical military partnerships. Torvi’s position also prevents the revenge plot from being read only as a contest between men: threats within a marriage carry consequences outside the battlefield.
Relationships & loyalties
Memorable scenes
Breaking safe conduct
Season 2, episode 8
Erlendur leads the attack on Aethelwulf’s party after negotiations, leaving the prince alive to return. The ambush damages the credibility of a promise Ragnar cannot make his allies honor.
Why this moment matters
The attack makes Ragnar answer for an agreement he cannot fully control. Erlendur’s action turns an apparently successful negotiation into evidence of bad faith for the surviving prince, whether or not Ragnar intended the ambush. The scene demonstrates how a weaker partner can sabotage the authority of a leader by making his promises unreliable.
The crossbow changes hands
Season 4, episode 9
Erlendur threatens Torvi’s son to force her to kill Bjorn. She takes the weapon but kills Erlendur instead, turning the mechanism of his coercion against him.
Why this moment matters
Erlendur tries to convert Torvi’s love for her child into a weapon against Bjorn. Her reversal exposes the danger in treating someone as merely an instrument: the person holding the crossbow can make a decision of her own. The scene ends his revenge plot by transferring the decisive action to the woman he has attempted to coerce.
Why fans keep talking
Erlendur’s grievance is understandable without making him appealing. Surviving the destruction of his family gives the desire for revenge a clear origin, but his methods repeatedly shift danger toward other people. That is the core of the irritation surrounding him: he claims an heir’s importance while relying on ambushes and threats within a marriage. Recognizing the motive can make the antagonist intelligible while leaving the choices contemptible, and the crossbow reversal rewards that distinction.
What resonates
Revenge for his family gives viewers a motive they can understand even when they do not like him.
What divides viewers
Threats and indirect schemes frustrate viewers who see a revenge antagonist pressuring others to take the greater risks.
Who plays Erlendur?
Edvin Endre portrays Erlendur.
Edvin Endre’s work beyond Vikings includes Mister in Studentfesten (2013); Matti Nykänen in Eddie the Eagle (2016); Rune Lennox in Fortitude (2017); Namejs in The Pagan King (2018); Daniel Ek in The Playlist (2022).