I’m not exactly sure why this keeps happening, but it seems like Hollywood has just decided that Vikings have Scottish accents even though… they’re not from Scotland. Vikings were from Scandinavia, and they actually spoke a Germanic language. If they had to have a modern accent assigned to them, they definitely would not have an accent based on a Celtic language. The farthest stretch, I feel, would be to give them a modern German accent. Although, I don’t know why giving them a modern Scandinavian accent is such a taboo thing.
Before we continue, there is an exception. Many times, Scandinavians are allowed to have their actual Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, or Finnish accents. However, this is usually when they’re being portrayed as the “Dumb Swede” stereotype. If the movie or television show requires them to be scary or, at the very least, to be taken seriously, they are switched to a Scottish or English accent.
And it’s usually kid’s movies that do this. Think of Marvel’s Thor franchise (2011-). Each Asgardian character has an English accent (besides Thor—who is allowed to have Chris Hemsworth’s native Australian accent now as the series has progressed—and his friend Hogun, played by Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano).
The worst culprit by far though, is the How to Train Your Dragon series (2010-2019).
I must state though, that it is understandable that Hiccup (the main character) has an American accent. Many children’s movies (like Disney’s Aladdin (1992)) give their main protagonists American accents so the kids know innately who they’re supposed to relate to. While that logic doesn’t always hold up, at least there’s some psychological thought put into it.
If How to Train Your Dragon (hereby abbreviated to HTTYD), followed any logic at all, they would have just given the rest of their characters American accents too. After all, this is what The Norsemen (1978) did. They didn’t even attempt to give anybody a foreign accent; they just let their actors keep their American accents, which, if anything, is the least harmful option.
But no! HTTYD had to say: “We’re just gonna throw some Scottish in there just because.”
I’ve seen a few reasons why this is, and each reason is worse than the last. 1) That’s just what the actor’s accents were. Okay…it’s not like they’re actors and it’s their job to be able to speak differently based on who they’re supposed to be playing. 2) HTTYD takes place on islands off the coast of Scotland, and we all know it’s the physical land itself that makes you speak a certain way so that makes sense, right? 3) The adults that have Scottish accents because “they’re a remnant of an earlier time”. Really? An earlier time? Like before they even got to Scotland?
At least in Thor, everybody had the same accent, even if the accent itself was wrong.
Anyways, the main idea is that Vikings and other Scandinavian characters in movies should be given their proper accents at all times, not just when they’re being made fun of. Think of Disney’s Frozen (2013). The story takes place in Norway, but the only character who has an accent is the “Woohoo big summer blowout” guy.
Perhaps this is also a time to reflect on the use of accents in general, like the use of American accents for protagonists in children’s movies. It does make sense that the characters would have accents of the country that’s making the movie, but it’s when they equate certain accents with protagonists and antagonists, good and evil, smart and stupid, that it becomes a problem.
Sources:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/gerard-butlers-new-movie-criticised-1055872