What happens in The Ice Maiden?
Spoilers for this episode and earlier events.
Torvi calls for an exceptional funeral. Her own offer to accompany Lagertha in death gives way to the selection of Gyda. The funeral boat, the mourners and the ceremonial imagery turn private grief into a communal farewell. Ubbe must face the implications of Hvitserk’s involvement while Bjorn promises to avenge Lagertha. In Kiev, Ivar receives reassurance that Dir remains safe, though his position beside Oleg and Katia remains uncertain.
- Season & episode
- Season 6, episode 7 of 20
- Series order
- 76 of 89
Story connections: Bjorn Ironside, Lagertha, Ubbe and Hvitserk.
Identify a face in this episode.
Episode references: Episode guide.
Key events and consequences
The funeral gives the community a way to recognize Lagertha's public importance, while Bjorn frames the private loss as a demand for vengeance. Gyda's sacrifice shows the cost to someone whose role is defined by the ceremony. Harald's coercion of Olaf supplies another image of authority maintained through demands for submission.
- A young woman named Gyda becomes the funeral sacrifice.
- Bjorn vows vengeance for his mother.
- Harald imprisons Olaf unless he submits.
Key characters
Bjorn Ironside
Bjorn vows vengeance for his mother.
Character story
Lagertha
Character story
Ubbe
Character story
Hvitserk
Character story
Ivar the Boneless
Character story
King Harald Finehair
Character story
Torvi
Character story
Gyda
A young woman named Gyda becomes the funeral sacrifice.
Character story
Katia
Character storyLocations and story geography
Kattegat
Lagertha's funeral transforms private bereavement into a public account of who she was.
Norway
Olaf's imprisonment makes Harald's new kingship an immediate test of who will submit.
These are places in the story. For the real landscapes used on screen, explore the filming-location guide.
The episode breakdown
The community remembers Lagertha
Torvi calls for an exceptional funeral. Her own offer to accompany Lagertha in death gives way to the selection of Gyda. The funeral boat, the mourners and the ceremonial imagery turn private grief into a communal farewell. Ubbe must face the implications of Hvitserk’s involvement while Bjorn promises to avenge Lagertha. In Kiev, Ivar receives reassurance that Dir remains safe, though his position beside Oleg and Katia remains uncertain.
Memory and judgement
the funeral creates an image of unity before anyone has resolved what the living owe one another. Mourning does not settle culpability. A useful viewing distinction is between the visual language of an honoured afterlife and the practical question of what Bjorn will do next. The ceremony preserves Lagertha as a shared figure, but the investigation of her death threatens to divide the people preserving her memory. The sacrificial volunteer is a different Gyda from Lagertha’s deceased daughter. Keeping those identities separate preserves the ceremony’s echo without turning the echo into a literal return.
Themes to follow
- The community remembers Lagertha
- Memory and judgement