Negative ratings are from people who haven't seen the movie
...I don't know what else to believe. I first came across the film on youtube and from the trailer I noticed some good production values. Then I went to see the rating on imdb...
3.9/10??????
Couldn't believe it and decided to give it a chance. The movie was greatly filmed for its budget, the performances at least decent (the two male protagonists, the monk and Aethelwulf were great), the story was interesting, the costumes and swords were pretty good, detailed and believable and especially the photography was amazing. I don't know, there are people here who bash the movie for depicting vikings with "horned helmets" when there are none in it. This proves most people gave a 1/10 without having even seen the movie, judging only by the cover. It is much much better than most recent medieval movies (Hammer of the Gods etc)
The only negative is indeed the dvd cover. It looks more like a cover from a cheap, cheesy Uwe Boll fantasy film. It is completely misleading, outside the spirit of the movie and probably the reason why many people turn their backs on it. (the Viking on the cover is not a part of the film for instance)
A solid 6/10 from me. (7/10 if we take small budget in consideration)
A must see if you like medieval movies.