Brida is a lot. Honestly, if you've spent any time in The Last Kingdom fandom, you know her name usually triggers one of two things: a deep sigh or a very long rant. She is easily the most polarizing figure in the entire show. One minute she’s the fiery, shield-maiden soulmate we’re all rooting for, and the next, she’s castrating Uhtred’s son and leading a cult-like army of zealots from Iceland.
It’s a wild ride. But here's the thing—Brida isn’t just "crazy." She’s a mirror. Everything Uhtred could have become if he didn't have his weird, obsessive sense of honor or his ability to bridge two worlds, Brida became instead. She chose a side and she stayed there until it consumed her.
The Saxon Girl Who Out-Danes the Danes
Let’s get the facts straight because the show and the books (Bernard Cornwell’s The Saxon Stories) handle her differently. In both, Brida is born Saxon. She’s captured as a child alongside Uhtred during a Danish raid. But while Uhtred spends the rest of his life flip-flopping between his Saxon blood and his Danish heart, Brida never wavers.
She hates the Saxons. Why? Because the Saxons represent a world where she is nothing.
Think about it. As a Saxon woman in the 9th century, your options were basically "wife," "mother," or "nun." When she travels to Winchester with Uhtred in the early days, she sees exactly what King Alfred’s vision of England looks like for someone like her. It's kitchens and convents. No thanks.
The Danes? They gave her an axe. They gave her a seat at the table. To Brida, the "pagan" lifestyle wasn't just about religion; it was about agency. Emily Cox, the actress who played her, actually called Brida "the first feminist" in an interview with BBC America. She wasn't wrong. Brida fought for a world where she could be a warrior, a leader, and a strategist.
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That One Betrayal She Couldn't Get Over
If you ask a casual fan why Brida turned into a villain, they’ll probably point to season 4. Specifically, that scene in the forest where the Welsh have her captured. She begs Uhtred to kill her so she can go to Valhalla. He refuses.
This is the turning point.
To Uhtred, he’s saving her life. To Brida, he’s sentencing her to the worst kind of hell: slavery and indignity at the hands of people she despises. She spent months in a pit, pregnant and tortured, and she blamed every single second of that agony on Uhtred's "mercy."
It sounds extreme, but in the context of their world, it makes sense. Uhtred has a support system. He has Finan, Sihtric, and a rotating door of Saxon kings who need his help. Brida has nothing. Every time she finds a "home," it gets burned down.
- Ragnar the Elder? Murdered.
- Young Ragnar? Murdered (and she thinks he’s in Niflheim because he died without a sword).
- Cnut? A traitor who she had to kill herself.
- Her daughter, Vibeke? Falls to her death during a siege.
By the time we get to the final season, she isn’t just fighting for territory. She’s fighting because she’s lost her mind to grief. She is, as Uhtred famously puts it, "half of my life and all of my madness."
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What the Show Changed (And Why It Matters)
If you think show Brida is intense, the book version is a straight-up nightmare.
In the novels, Cornwell turns her into a "wizened, white-haired crone." She becomes a sorceress who uses fear and dark rituals to keep her power. There is no redemption arc in the books. She doesn’t have a tearful reconciliation with Uhtred in the woods. Instead, she’s basically a cackling villain who tries to blind Uhtred’s grandchildren.
The showrunners made a conscious choice to keep her human. They added the storyline with Father Pyrlig, the only person who treats her like a human being instead of a monster or a queen. Those scenes on the road—where she’s basically unburdening her soul to a Saxon priest—are some of the best writing in the series. It gives her a tragic weight that the books lacked.
The Tragic End: Was It Deserved?
Brida’s death in Season 5, Episode 7 is one of those moments where you want to scream at the TV.
Uhtred finally gets through to her. They’ve had their big sword fight, they’ve exchanged memories, and for a split second, it feels like the old Brida—the girl from the first episode—is back. He offers to help her find herself again. And then?
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Thwack. Stiorra, Uhtred’s daughter, shoots her through the chest with an arrow.
Is it fair? Not really. Is it earned? Absolutely. Brida spent years terrorizing Uhtred’s family. She mutilated his son, Young Uhtred. Stiorra wasn't just being "mean"; she was protecting her people from a woman who had proven, time and time again, that she would never stop seeking revenge.
The tragedy isn't that Brida died. It’s that she died exactly when she finally found a reason to live.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Writers
If you’re a fan of the show or a writer looking to understand complex character arcs, there are a few things Brida teaches us about storytelling:
- Trauma is a character motivation, not a personality. Brida’s actions in the later seasons are a direct result of her unresolved trauma from her time as a slave and the loss of her children.
- The "Mirror" dynamic works. Uhtred and Brida are two sides of the same coin. Their conflict works because they understand each other better than anyone else does.
- Agency is everything. Brida’s loyalty to the Danes was never about "evil" vs. "good." It was about which culture allowed her to be herself.
If you want to dive deeper into the lore, I’d highly recommend checking out the historical context of the "shield-maidens." While the show takes liberties, there is real archaeological evidence (like the Birka female viking warrior) that suggests women like Brida actually existed in the Viking Age.
The best way to appreciate her character is to re-watch the first season after finishing the fifth. Seeing that young, hopeful girl alongside the bitter warrior she becomes is a masterclass in how life can break a person. Just don't expect a happy ending. This is The Last Kingdom, after all. Destiny is all.