The film opens with the following written prologue: “This motion picture is based on fact. As early as the year 793 A.D. a lusty horde of blonde giants came out of the icy mountains of Norway to boldly sail the seas in longships. They were called Norsemen. Restless and blessed with great strength, these Norsemen conquered a large part of what is now called Europe. Braving wild wind and waves, and warnings of fearful death, they turned their eyes westward beyond the setting sun until they reached a new land – They called it Vineland. We called it America." After the prologue, a title card reads, "1006 A.D.”
       The film’s end credits include the following acknowledgments: “Thanks To: The Munich Symphony Orchestra (Munich, Germany); The City of Newbern, North Carolina For Furnishing Viking Boat; Florida Motion Picture and Television Office…a Division of The Department of Commerce; Hillsborough State Park; City of Tampa, Florida; City of St. Petersburg, Florida; City of Newport Richie, Florida; and City of Plant City, Florida.”
       Although the on screen credits listJimmy Clem’s character as “Olif,” the name is pronounced “Olaf” in the film.
      The Norseman was the first of several projects produced by Fawcett-Majors Productions, Inc., with the goal of advancing the film careers of television starsLee Majors and his wife, Farrah Fawcett-Majors, according to a 24 Mar 1978LAT article. The company co-financed the $3 million budget withCharles B. Pierce Film Productions, and Majors received a $500,000 salary along with ten percent of the film’s gross. Co-starCornel Wilde was paid $125,000 for five weeks of work, stated a 7 ...

The film opens with the following written prologue: “This motion picture is based on fact. As early as the year 793 A.D. a lusty horde of blonde giants came out of the icy mountains of Norway to boldly sail the seas in longships. They were called Norsemen. Restless and blessed with great strength, these Norsemen conquered a large part of what is now called Europe. Braving wild wind and waves, and warnings of fearful death, they turned their eyes westward beyond the setting sun until they reached a new land – They called it Vineland. We called it America." After the prologue, a title card reads, "1006 A.D.”
       The film’s end credits include the following acknowledgments: “Thanks To: The Munich Symphony Orchestra (Munich, Germany); The City of Newbern, North Carolina For Furnishing Viking Boat; Florida Motion Picture and Television Office…a Division of The Department of Commerce; Hillsborough State Park; City of Tampa, Florida; City of St. Petersburg, Florida; City of Newport Richie, Florida; and City of Plant City, Florida.”
       Although the on screen credits listJimmy Clem’s character as “Olif,” the name is pronounced “Olaf” in the film.
      The Norseman was the first of several projects produced by Fawcett-Majors Productions, Inc., with the goal of advancing the film careers of television starsLee Majors and his wife, Farrah Fawcett-Majors, according to a 24 Mar 1978LAT article. The company co-financed the $3 million budget withCharles B. Pierce Film Productions, and Majors received a $500,000 salary along with ten percent of the film’s gross. Co-starCornel Wilde was paid $125,000 for five weeks of work, stated a 7 Mar 1978Var news item.
       The 9 Feb 1978HR announced thatSusie Coelho was cast as “Winetta,” making her feature film debut. Coelho had previously acted with Majors on the television seriesSix Million Dollar Man (ABC, 18 Jan 1974-–6 Mar 1978).
       Principal photography began 23 Feb 1978 in Tampa, FL, according to a 27 Mar 1978Box report. After seven weeks of filming at the Hillsborough River State Park near Tampa, the production moved to LA for water stunt filming, as mentioned in a 5 Apr 1978Var news item.
       According to a 3 Jul 1978DV article, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) filed a $12,100 lawsuit againstCharles B. Pierce Productions, alleging the company “failed to file required production time cards,” a violation of the SAG agreement. SAG was reportedly also investigating other potential contract violations. The outcome of the lawsuit could not be determined as of the writing of this Note.

In the year 1006 A.D., Norseman Thorvald the Bold leads an expedition to the “new land in the west” in search of his father, King Eurich, who disappeared with his men a year earlier on a similar voyage. Thorvald’s crew includes Ragnar the Rover as his second in command, Olif, his long-time friend, and Death Dreamer, also known as “Wizard.” As they sail, Death Dreamer predicts the crew will find a new land but will endure danger. The next morning, they arrive at their destination but are attacked by natives; one of the Norsemen, Bjorn, is killed and buried at sea. The next day, the Norsemen explore and report back to Thorvald, claiming there are no signs of “civilization.” Thorvald names the new land, “Vineland.” As the Norsemen discover an inlet leading to a river and sail the ship inland, a beautiful native woman named Winetta and her male companion spot the ship from shore. They run to their village and warn the others. Although one Norseman worries the ship is vulnerable on the river and insists they return to the seas, Thorvald refuses, proclaiming that they are fearless soldiers and the king must be saved. Death Dreamer tells Thorvald he is on the right track but warns that King Eurich and his men are in grave danger. Back at the village, natives check their prisoners, King Eurich and his men, who are blind and work as forced labor. The prisoners sense fear amongst the natives and Eurich remembers a year previous, when the Norsemen first arrived in the new land and were peacefully welcomed by the natives. However, one ...

In the year 1006 A.D., Norseman Thorvald the Bold leads an expedition to the “new land in the west” in search of his father, King Eurich, who disappeared with his men a year earlier on a similar voyage. Thorvald’s crew includes Ragnar the Rover as his second in command, Olif, his long-time friend, and Death Dreamer, also known as “Wizard.” As they sail, Death Dreamer predicts the crew will find a new land but will endure danger. The next morning, they arrive at their destination but are attacked by natives; one of the Norsemen, Bjorn, is killed and buried at sea. The next day, the Norsemen explore and report back to Thorvald, claiming there are no signs of “civilization.” Thorvald names the new land, “Vineland.” As the Norsemen discover an inlet leading to a river and sail the ship inland, a beautiful native woman named Winetta and her male companion spot the ship from shore. They run to their village and warn the others. Although one Norseman worries the ship is vulnerable on the river and insists they return to the seas, Thorvald refuses, proclaiming that they are fearless soldiers and the king must be saved. Death Dreamer tells Thorvald he is on the right track but warns that King Eurich and his men are in grave danger. Back at the village, natives check their prisoners, King Eurich and his men, who are blind and work as forced labor. The prisoners sense fear amongst the natives and Eurich remembers a year previous, when the Norsemen first arrived in the new land and were peacefully welcomed by the natives. However, one of his men kissed Winetta and the natives blinded them. Eurich deduces that their fellow Norsemen have arrived on the island to save them. The next day, Thorvald and his men search the woods, find themselves surrounded by natives, and battle ensues. After enduring heavy casualties, the Norsemen retreat back to the river and all of the natives, except Winetta, celebrate the victory. Meanwhile, on the Norse boat, Thorvald asks for Death Dreamer’s advice and the wizard compares natives to wild animals; they fight in ways that are incompatible with Norsemen battle strategies. In their prison cell, Eurich and his men discuss ways of escaping but Eurich insists their best hope lies with Winetta. The next morning, Winetta approaches Thorvald’s ship carrying Eurich’s dagger as a sign of peace and Thorvald allows her aboard. She gives Thorvald the dagger, then signal the soldiers to follow. Although the Norsemen fear it is a trap, Thorvald takes the risk and Winetta leads them to where Eurich is held captive. As Thorvald returns to the ship and plots a rescue, the prisoners ambush the guards and kill them. At dawn, Thorvald instructs Ragnar to steer the ship back toward the ocean and await his return with the rescued prisoners. Thorvald orders Ragnar to leave without him if he and his group do not return by sundown. After Thorvald departs with Olif and a few others, Ragnar and his men fight off natives along the river. With the help of Winetta, Thorvald and Olif free King Eurich and his men and they escape into the woods. As Ragnar struggles to sail the ship out of the river, a miraculous wind saves the Norsemen, guiding them to sea. Meanwhile, the natives discover that the prisoners have escaped and go after them. As Winetta leads the Norsemen through the woods, Olif stays behind and holds back the enemies. Thorvald makes it back to the ship with the prisoners and boards with Winetta. As they are about to set sail, a badly injured Olif runs out of the woods. Thorvald and his men swim back to shore, fight the natives and save Olif. The Norsemen return home.