Vikings

Based on the real story of Ragnar Lothbrok, how a farmer became a hero, then a king… How Ragnar, then his sons, crossed the seas and shook England. A fabulous epic, the story of a legend well told in a series that has become legendary, creating a Viking fashion phenomenon.

Somehere in Scandinavia, near the small village of Kattegat, Ragnar dreams of sailing West. He heard a lot of rumors and stories about a land full of riches, and he found a way to sailing in the open sea. Each summer, his people raid a neighboring region to accumulate goods. This is the custom. The Earl chooses the destination, and he takes no more risks – they always go East to plunder. Ragnar is young, bold and convinced that the gods have an exceptional destiny in store for him. He will defy the Earl, become a leader, and create terror in Northumbria, before trying to create a bridge between two cultures (too soon). After him, his sons, also formidable warriors, will conquer West, East and South. They wrote the Viking legend forever.

All the ingredients for a great series are there: excellent script, great casting (especially a Ragnar, whose eyes are sparkling with mischief), action and adrenaline, visual and musical identity, beautiful photography. It’s hard to find a weakness in Vikings: the phenomenal success of the series was totally deserved. The violence is crude and sometimes hard for me to watch. Apart from that, the show is grandiose, and the story fascinating.

Created by History channel, the series interprets what we know about Viking culture, about which scientific knowledge is incomplete. Beginning with the title 😉 The vikings (which means, more or less : those who use a boat to raid) did not called themselves this at the time. There are also numerous unlikely inventions or false chronology in the way the events, the customs and costumes are depicted. However, in 800 A.C., England was still no more than the juxtaposition of kingdoms. The Viking threat was a major factor in its unity. But the Vikings also left their mark in terms of culture and myths. Accurate or not, the series has created a craze that has reawakened a passion for the era.

6 seasons, 89 episodes (45 mn), 2013-2020, now on Netflix and Amazon

• Created bu Michael Hirst. Directors (mainly) : Ciaran Donnelly, Ken Girotti and Johan Renck
• Travis Fimmel / Ragnar, Katheryn Winnick / Lagerta, Clive Standen / Rollo, Alexander Ludwig / Björn, Alex Hogh Andersen / Ivar, Marco Ilso / Hvitserk, Jordan Patrick Smith / Ubbe
• And : Gustaf Skarsgård, Maude Hirst, Georgia Hirst, Gabriel Byrne, George Blagden, Peter Franzen, Jonathan Rhys-Meyer, Ray Stevenson, Alyssa Sutherland, Linus Roache, Moe Dunford…