Who plays Margrethe in Vikings?
Margrethe is played by Ida Nielsen in the original Vikings series.
Explore family, allies and rivals or follow the story sections below.
Cast references: Ida Nielsen.
Explore Margrethe’s story
An unequal household
The brothers’ access to her is shaped by her enslaved status. Ubbe later frees and marries her, while her connection to Hvitserk complicates the new arrangement.
Ambition and danger
She urges Ubbe toward power and opposes Lagertha. Her increasingly distressed behavior alarms those around her; Ivar eventually orders her killed.
Avoid diagnosis as explanation
Describe what Margrethe does and what others do to her before applying labels. The show’s presentation of fear, instability and ambition does not supply a precise clinical diagnosis. Her former enslavement also matters when assessing the choices she appears to have: changes in legal position do not instantly produce security within a violent ruling family.
Relationships & loyalties
Memorable scenes
Freedom and a marriage
Season 4, episode 18
Ubbe frees and marries Margrethe while her relationship with Hvitserk continues to complicate the arrangement. Entering the ruling family changes her position without making its internal rivalries safe.
Why this moment matters
Marriage changes Margrethe’s legal place, but the brothers’ continuing claims upon her keep intimacy tied to a family hierarchy she did not create. Freedom is significant without being a complete guarantee of safety. The scene gives her an opportunity to imagine advancement while exposing how much her new security still depends on other people’s relationships.
Ivar orders her death
Season 5, episode 12
Left behind after Kattegat changes hands, Margrethe is killed on Ivar’s orders. Her end exposes how little protection proximity to the family has ultimately given her.
Why this moment matters
Ivar’s order makes the distance between being close to a ruling family and being protected by it brutally clear. Margrethe’s earlier aspirations have not given her an independent power base or a secure place to retreat. Her death also affects Hvitserk, turning one person’s removal into another fracture inside the brotherhood Ivar wants to control.
Why fans keep talking
The arguments around Margrethe often depend on what viewers believe freedom should have solved. Her marriage can look like an escape from vulnerability, making later dissatisfaction seem ungrateful; another reading sees a person still exposed to coercion and the brothers’ rivalry. The confusion over her motives is also a writing question. Ambition, fear and distress can coexist, but they need enough development to feel like a person’s experience rather than unexplained changes that make her easier to remove.
What resonates
Sympathetic viewers emphasize how badly she is treated and want clearer purpose and motivation for her story.
What divides viewers
Attempts to redirect Ubbe and undermine Lagertha frustrate others, especially when ambition seems insufficient to explain increasingly erratic choices.
Who plays Margrethe?
Ida Nielsen portrays Margrethe.
Ida Nielsen’s work beyond Vikings includes Cecilie in Anna Pihl (2006); Molly in KLEMT (2021); Marrit in Ripple (2023).