Alexander Skarsgard as Eric Northman Photo Credit: HBO / Prashant Gupta
Eric Northman is a character from the The Southern Vampire Mysteries book series by author Charlaine Harris. In True Blood, an HBO series based on the books, this character is played by Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård.
The Southern Vampire Mysteries’ main character, telepath waitress Sookie Stackhouse, meets Eric in Dead Until Dark the first novel in the series. He appears in all the subsequent novels and saves Sookie’s life on more than one occasion. He also has a brief romance with her in Dead to the World, the fourth book.
Little is known about Eric, except that he is the oldest and most powerful vampire in Area 5, the territory that includes the small town in Northern Louisiana where Sookie lives. The novels hint that he was probably a Viking in his human life. Eric owns a vampire bar called Fangtasia that serves as his headquarters. He runs the bar with the help of his vampire offspring Pam and a few others.
Eric uses the pseudonym “Leif” in various instances throughout the novels.
Eric is also the Sheriff of Area 5 and the boss of Bill Compton, Sookie’s vampire boyfriend from the first novel. Eric is not sure for his feeling for Sookie.
Sookie and Eric have a blood bond, a bond formed when a human and vampire share blood at least three times (the human has the vampire’s blood as well as the vampire having the human’s). It allows both to know what the other is feeling, and to inadvertently feel calmer, safer, and more relaxed when together.
leah white
I think Alex is the perfect actor for Eric… also I just watched the first season of True blood but did not know they were based on a book so of course within 4 days I have read all the books! And yes… every scene in the book with Eric, I do picture Alexander Skarsgard!