TV Shows - Unpacking History

Not Completely Historically Accurate but Still a Great Series Vikings, the historical drama created by Michael Hirst, first premiered on the history channel in march of 2013. Being a huge fan of the channel, I of course started watching it. Honestly, halfway through the second season, I lost interest and didn't think much about it again until January 2020, when my fiancé started watching it. After mentioning that I had watched the first season or so years back he asked my opinion on it. I just said I remembered thinking it was boring and that I never really got into it. Well, over the next few days of him watching it before bed while I sat next to him reading a book I slowly went from occasionally looking up from my book to watch the show to occasionally looking away from the show to read my book... and before long the book was put down altogether. Within 2 weeks we had watched all the way through to season 6A and with the final half of the last season not expected to air until the following year, I needed something to fill the void and thus began my obsession with all things Viking. What their day-to-day life was like, what type of clothing they wore, what their diet consisted of, their religion and mythology, and the REAL stories of the famous Vikings on the show who I’d grown to love. In doing this I learned that while Vikings is (in my opinion) one of the greatest shows ever made, and that yes Michael Hirst did do an incredible job creating an amazing historical drama, a perfectly 100% historically accurate representation of the Viking era not so much. BUT I understand that to reach a broader audience they had to change certain things to make a more entertaining show. Like putting Clive Standen who plays “Rollo” in a pair of tight black leather pants. Definitely not accurate for the period but guaranteed to draw attention. which arguably (and I’ve gone back and forth on the subject for a while) may not be such a bad thing. Hear me out. They say any kind of attention is good attention right? By making an entertaining show and getting people interested in Vikings, or any kind of history, might just make them want to go learn more on the subject and encourage them to do their own research. It certainly had that effect on me. I know a lot of history buffs will disagree with me on that and I understand where you’re coming from. When I see something I know to not be true or that's a stretch of the truth I also roll my eyes. However, I’m willing to look past it because when you get down to the brass tacks, at the moment, the Vikings series is still one of the most accurate shows out there that still manages to be entertaining at the same time. What I Like Most About the Show. Ok now putting accuracy aside for the moment let's first talk about what makes Vikings a great television show. Now, if I were to list everything I love about the show we’d be here all day so I’ll just name a few key parts. The show has a little bit of everything, It's an emotional rollercoaster of incredible fight/battle scenes, heart-wrenching losses, beautiful love stories, betrayal, and overcoming enormous challenges. The Characters The series starts off following Ragnar Lothbrok, his journey from a farmer, to an earl, king, and finally legend. The show then moves on to follow the story of his 5 sons, Bjorn Ironside, Ubba, Hvitserk, Sigurd Snake-in-the-eye, and Ivar the Boneless. Bjorn is the oldest and is the half-brother to the rest of the Ragnarssons his mother being Ragnar’s first wife Lagertha the famous shieldmaiden. Ubba is the 2nd oldest and the 1st son Ragnar has with his 2nd wife Aslaug. Then, there's the carefree, but also very complex, Hvitserk. Next is Sigurd, Snake-in-the-eye, who got his name when his mother Aslaug had prophesied that he would be born with the image of the serpent-dragon Fafnir in his eye, the same one her father Sigurd killed. Then, of course, we have the youngest Ragnarsson, Ivar. who was born with an inability to walk. Something he will struggle with physically and mentally throughout his life, always trying to prove he’s just as capable, strong, and dangerous as his older brothers. By the end, Ivar and Hvitserk were my favorite characters. At first, I found Ivar annoying and rude but seeing him overcome the hurdles life threw at him really turned my opinion around. Especially in the final season, you really get to see a different side of him, that he’s not as evil as he wants everyone to think he is. As for Hvitserk, with a love for food, ale, and women, he’s known for being the funniest and most carefree of the brothers. But as we all know the people who seem the happiest tend to really be the saddest. From the very beginning, we see him constantly question his true fate/purpose in life. Throughout the show, he'll make some questionable moves in order to find it. Inevitably, this leads to him developing a drug addiction and later committing a crime that turns everyone he knows against him. Feeling the guilt of betraying Ubba, the brother he loved the most, and being wronged by Ivar one too many times, He declares that his true fate is to kill Ivar. The bond between Ivar and Hvitserk is the perfect representation of brotherly love. Even with all the hatred, they swear they have towards one another it’s still very clear that they fiercely care for each other. they're constantly fighting and bickering, even resulting a few times with Ivar holding a knife to Hitserk's throat. But when there's an attack outside they're the first ones to have each other's back. An interesting thing to note as well is that the actors who play Ivar and Hvitserk were real-life friends before even booking the roles! Alex Høgh Andersen (Ivar) and Marco Ilsø (Hvitserk) had worked on a movie together before. "We were at a music festival together when we both got called in to audition in sweden so we drove up there together"Marco Ilsø The two also lived together while filming in ireland. "We have moved together to avoid loneliness"Alex Høgh Andersen So it's no wonder they were able to portray brothers so well. Another thing I love about the duo is that their roles in Vikings were really the first large-scale production they’d been apart of while they definitely had previous experience acting in smaller projects but nothing close to the scale of Vikings. It's NOT Just Big Time Actors This brings me to the next thing I love about the show. While of course there are some well-known names in the cast, for instance, Travis Fimmel, Katheryn Winnick, and Alexander Ludwig, there are also quite a few first-time actors on the show who absolutely nailed their roles! A perfect example being Ragnheiður Ragnarsdóttir, a former Olympic freestyle swimmer from Reykjavik, Iceland. Standing at 6’2’” she exudes both power and beauty. She portrays the badass character Gunnhild, 4th wife of Bjorn Ironside. While watching the show I always referred to her as “the big bitch” always ready to fight. She’s definitely not someone to mess with. I was shocked to learn the performance was Ragnarsdóttir's first and I’m certain it won’t be her last. Another name to mention is Brent Burns, a hockey player for the San Jose Sharks, who made a guest appearance in 2 episodes of season 6B Playing the character Skane. While it may not have been a big role I think it was a great touch. The first thing that grabs your attention is that he’s missing his 4 top front teeth! And not knowing who he was I immediately started wondering if it was real or special effects. After finishing the episode I googled it and found out that it was indeed real. In 2010 he lost 4 teeth after taking a helmet to the face (ouch!). At least the missing teeth along with being a 6’5 longhaired burly hockey player really gives him the perfect Viking look right!? Not to mention, for this being his first time acting, he killed it! Conclusion If you’re looking for a new tv show to to binge I strongly recommend Vikings. If your new to the world of Vikings make sure you keep in mind that not everything is factual and do your own research as well. And if you're already educated on Viking culture, and don’t know if you’d like it because of that, give it a chance! It’s truly an amazing show with a beautiful storyline. The series ran for 7 years and has 89 episodes. But sadly as of December 2020, it’s come to an end... or did it?? In some ways, yes, but there may be more to come from the Vikings franchise. And You can Read more about it here.