As a Christian, I aspire to be more like Jesus Christ. But a close second role model is Uhtred Ragnarson of "The Last Kingdom". The protagonist of the hit Netflix show might hate Christianity and its God, but acts as the most Christian character in the show despite his faith in pagan, Norse Gods.
At a very young age, Uhtred of Bebbanburg was slated to be the next Lord of Bebbanburg. However, his uncle betrayed his father, killed him, and sought to kill Uhtred. Uhtred is taken for a slave when the Danish earl Ragnar takes a liking to him, and grows up raised by Ragnar the Elder.
Throughout the whole series, Uhtred saves. Like Christ rescued lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners, Uhtred demonstrates loyalty to the lost and forsaken people of the world, and then earns that loyalty in return. A close look at Uhtred's following reveals people that society gave up on and left to the dust.
In Hilde was a priestess he saved from being raped. In Finan was a slave that Uhtred rescued from bondage. In Osbert was the cast-off bastard of the King that Uhtred welcomed with open arms, and in Sihtric was the bastard of his adoptive father's arch-nemesis.
Uhtred is, at times, written too perfectly. He is a master and cunning strategist for a stealth mission. He can take down an entire army with his sword and cut down a hundred enemy soldiers seemingly effortlessly. He is a womanizer who seems to be irresistible, and he marches to the beat of his own drum and his own sense of morality. He is a perfect father after not seeing his children in almost a decade. He almost never fails to fight for what's right, and can build a following as a respected leader.
Uhtred engages in power struggles with kings and leaders of armies all the time. In almost all of these power struggle, Uhtred wins. He is a man of two worlds between Danes and the Saxons. The Danes consider him a coward who's a slave to the Saxon King in Alfred, while the Saxons consider him as a brutish Barbarian. His own men are made up of both Danes and Saxons because of his loyalty and charisma. We see the show through Uhtred's sense of justice, his perfect balance between mercy and ruthlessness.
Uhtred, however, doesn't come without his flaws, flaws that make him fall short of the Christ standard. Uhtred is stubborn and reckless and kills frequently with no remorse whatsoever. He can be cruel to people who don't follow his plan, and is impulsive in acting on emotions rather than good reason.
A heavy point of contention in the series is Uhtred's relationship with King Alfred of the Saxons. The two men are a lot more similar than they are different -- stubborn, brash, headstrong, and a refusal to apologize and back down. However, when you have two people with those same characteristics, they are bound to clash. Throughout the series, Uhtred and Alfred vacillate from loving to hating each other, from being crucial allies to mortal enemies.
"He was the man that I could never be. He was a man that I loved and despised. But it was never less than an honor to serve him," Uhtred says of Alfred.
The actual historicity of Uhtred is based on a man named Uhtred of Bold, who didn't actually intersect with Alfred and wasn't actually raised by Danes. But Alexander Dreymon, the actor for Uhtred, has a lot of fun playing him regardless:
"Even though he is super cheeky and he can totally be a dick, he's very truthful, very loyal, very trustworthy," Dreymon said.
Uhtred, is then, appealing because he is compelling. He is the Saxons' best warrior to fight against the Danes, even when he abhors Saxon leaders and kings. His free-spirit and beat-to-his-own-drum nature makes him a bridge between the two world of Saxon and Dane. He ends up being a warrior and diplomat for both sides, and Uhtred is this mediator because he is both Saxon and Dane.
I have seen that Uhtred is much more of a likeable figure in the TV show than in the historical fiction series he was based on, The Saxon Tales. In the books, Uhtred was not a good father. He acknowledges as such, but the writers of the TV show decided to make Uhtred a terrific father.
Throughout the whole series as it still develops beyond season 4, Uhtred is many things. A mediator. A tactician. A brilliant general. A great warrior. A great father. Someone willing to sacrifice everything for the people he loves. Even people who initially hate Uhtred, including Leofric and Alfred, end up respecting him.
Is there actually a person like Uhtred out there? Can anyone live up to the Uhtred standard in real life?
I don't know. But Uhtred is "The Last Kingdom's" version of Rust Cohle or Don Draper, the protagonist that grips the hearts of the viewer. He's the passionate, talented badass who we know who's unrealistic to become, but all aspire to, in some ways, be.
