Lagertha the Shield Maiden vs. Brienne of Tarth

[Gorthaur]

Lagertha from the TV show Vikings, Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones (show only). Both fight on foot, in standard battle equipment. Who wins?

[Gordon]

Brienne of Tarth i am familiar with from both books and show, but Lagertha not so much. Can you give us a brief run-down on that character?

[Gorthaur]

She's a renowned warrior in a society where almost everyone is a warrior, who regularly fights on the battlefield in prolonged melees and surrounded by multiple opponents. Her feats include taking out two armed opponents with kitchen implements, fighting unarmed against four or five armed opponents who surprise her at night and giving three of them a good thrashing before being overwhelmed by their numbers. She's not as physically large, strong, or well armored as Brienne, but she's faster, more experienced, and arguably more skilled. Here's a relatively spoiler-free video that shows her in action a bit.

Also, you might want to check out Vikings. It's not quite Game of Thrones good, and not all that historically accurate, but as low fantasy loosely based on real world history and apocryphal characters, it's still rather enjoyable.

(Also also, nice to see you being more active on the forums again!)

[Gordon]

Thanks for that detailed reply. I will certainly try to catch an episode or two of Vikings at some point. And it's nice to see you as well.

[Legionnaire Sarigar]

Brienne. She will have armor and has more strength.

[HFMM]

This remind me of Bronn vs the Hound.

Lagertha is quicker.

But I just gotta give it to Brienna due to size, armor, strength and better weapon. I think she is currently armed with Oath Keeper. She did defeated a weak, and shackled up Jaime who still had his right hand.

[Daenarys Stormborn]

Does standard battle equipment include a helmet for Brienne? If not, I would go with Lagertha nailing her in the face due to superior quickness. Lagertha's shield handling can probably fend off Brienne long enough to get an opening. The only what if to me is whether Lagertha shield can stand up to Oath Breaker.

[Gorthaur]

Tv Brienne doesn't seem to have a helmet, so she may end up sacrificing her head for the audience's need to identify protagonists. If so, her face will no doubt be joining the ears of many men of the Night's Watch.

Oathkeeper doesn't have any feats yet, though any reasonably well made sword should be enough to hack through a wooden shield. IRL, vikings used their shields to deflect rather than block for just that reason.

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

Does standard battle equipment include a helmet for Brienne? If not, I would go with Lagertha nailing her in the face due to superior quickness. Lagertha's shield handling can probably fend off Brienne long enough to get an opening. The only what if to me is whether Lagertha shield can stand up to Oath Breaker.

How tall Is Brienne compared to Lagertha?

[Gorthaur]

22 cm taller, going by the actresses' heights from Google.

[Arundel Armor Hunter]

They probably shoot her in a way to look taller. She looks like a giant.

[MichaelC]

Yeah, Brienne's definately taller than her actress, going by the way they use camera angles and such to inflate the actress' size.

[kurtz433]

I've seen every episode of both series. Of course Brienne's got size and a good deal of reputation as a fighter. Lagertha engages in pitched battle, usually against greater numbers, an average of once every two episodes. And she, like Brienne, is undefeated.

Lagertha has fought her own viking men in close quarters (S01E01, killing 3 to prevent her own rape), as well as countless English adult male soldiers, and 2 rival thane's male soldiers / 1 king's soldiers from her own lands. This doesn't even include stabbing a thane she married for convenience in the eye for beating the living hell out of her (referred to by Gorthaur earlier - with quite a few injuries to her assailants) / humiliating her in front of his court, which immediately secured loyalty from his own men. And of course her shieldmaiden fight (below).

Lagertha's got zero problems dispatching larger, stronger opponents, often multiple of so, with cruel speed / efficiency. Her fighting style usually shows her using a big man's momentum against himself, opening up for a deathblow. Brienne, as great as she is as a character, is more of a lumbering hack n slash opponent.

This may be a result of their individual choreography. Katheryn Winnick, who plays Lagertha, earned her first taekwondo black belt at age 13, and completely sells the comfort of movement required for smaller person melee combat. Gwendolyn Christie, aka Brienne, was a semi-pro gymnast as a child, but that was cut short by a spine injury. She's big / gangly, and I think her lack of mobility (compared to Winnick) may be a result of said injury.

Why does ^ matter at all? Because the performances are what proves their characters fighting prowess on both shows. I can't find video of it, but the Vikings S02 finale had Lagertha face off against Queen Gunnhild, established in show as a shieldmaiden of great renown, in Gunnhild's own guest house protecting her own children (aka the rival king's lineage). Personally my favorite fight of the entire show, expertly choreographed, close-looking (and dangerous) bastard sword exchanges w/ very few edits. Lagertha tooled up her opponent in < 30sec w/ an expert overhead-to-behind-the-back parry that left an opening for a ribcage slash to drop Gunnhild.

I have yet to really see great swordfighting from Brienne. I understand that her style (as the Hound's / Jaime's / her first opponent's when joining Renly's Kingsguard / the Lannister hangmen) is consistent w/ British longsword fighting of the time. Which once again, sells me on Lagertha's superiority. She's spent at least 2 deployments invading / pillaging Britain, and has the head count to prove it.

With all respect to Brienne – win with great haste by Lagertha.