Initially I had no interest in watching “Vikings” but two things changed that. the first was our recent family trip to Ireland, where we learned a lot about Irish history, which has a lot more Viking involvement than initially thought. The second event that actually tipped me into wanting to watch the series was taking the kids to the Viking Days Festival.
Now with Vikings: The Complete First Season available on Blu-ray I was able to check out the series.
What I had initially thought was going to be a dramatic retelling of Viking history was instead a sort of dramatic retelling of historical (and partially fact-based) legends inspired by and focusing on Ragnar Lodbrok, a farmer and fighter from Scandinavia. Part of the drama comes from the daily life, but the overall story of the series involved Ragnar going up against the Earl (Gabriel Byrne!) of the region. Typically raids have been towards the east, but Ragnar wants to go west, crossing the sea to England to raid there.
Historical inaccuracies abound. The show purports the longship was invented pretty much for Ragnar. Viking society was largely democratic, not as autocratic as depicted. There’s an ignorance of England which runs rather counter to pretty much everything I’ve learned. Thankfully the historical inaccuracies aren’t as egregious as putting horns on Viking helmets.
I was initially thinking I would watch this series with my 10 year old son who expressed interest. I’m glad I didn’t let him watch it. There is violence, which you sort of expect what with Viking society a largely warrior culture. The violence can be a bit graphic, and I’m not just referring to the blood that is shown. Then there are the sexual references which can be unsettling (including one particularly disturbing scene in the second episode).
Over the course of 9 episodes we see Ragnar and his brother “discover” England and begin raiding, take a slave, get into a power struggle with the Earl, nearly die and lots more. Each episode comes in the broadcast and “extended” versions, and most of the time there’s just a couple of minutes added. A few episodes have audio commentaries which I have to be honest I haven’t checked out.
The main special features are on the third disc. These are three different featurettes that total about 45 minutes. One looks at how the series came to be and was developed, another looks at Viking culture and law, and another on Viking warfare and the training to execute such on screen. Also on the third disc is an interactive option to click on an item as it pops up and learn more. I would have liked these bits to have been available to view separately in conjunction with the other featurettes.
Historically fudged “Vikings” is compelling viewing because of the subject matter as well as the acting. The actors all embody their roles very well. I would have preferred something a bit truer to historical accuracy, but taken as a fictional account of Viking history, the series is highly enjoyable, and certainly not appropriate for kids. I am interested in what will take place in the second season.