Vikings (season 1)

Vikings (season 1)

DVD cover art
Country of origin Canada / Ireland
No. of episodes 9
Release
Original network History
Original release March 3 (2013-03-03) – April 28, 2013 (2013-04-28)

Vikings is a Canadian-Irish historical drama television series,[1] written and created by Michael Hirst for the television channel History.[2] Season 1 premiered on March 3, 2013 in the United States and Canada and concluded on April 28, 2013, consisting of 9 episodes.

Filmed in Ireland, Vikings is inspired by the tales about the Viking Ragnar Lothbrok, one of the best-known mythological Norse heroes and notorious as the scourge of France and England. It portrays Ragnar as a Viking farmer who pioneers the first daring raids into England with the support of fellow warriors: his brother Rollo, and his wife, the shieldmaiden Lagertha.

Series overview

The series is inspired by the tales of the raiding, trading, and exploring Norsemen of early medieval Scandinavia. It follows the exploits of the legendary Viking chieftain Ragnar Lothbrok and his crew and family, as notably laid down in the 13th century sagas Ragnars saga Loðbrókar and Ragnarssona þáttr, as well as in Saxo Grammaticus's 12th century work Gesta Danorum. Norse legendary sagas were partly fictional tales based in Norse oral tradition, written down about 200 to 400 years after the events they describe. Further inspiration is taken from historical sources of the period, such as records of the Viking raid on Lindisfarne depicted in the second episode, or Ahmad ibn Fadlan's 10th-century account of the Volga Vikings. The series is set at the beginning of the Viking Age, marked by the Lindisfarne raid in 793.

Plot

Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) is a young Viking warrior who longs to discover civilizations across the seas. With his friend, the gifted craftsman Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård), he builds a new generation of faster longships and challenges the local ruler, Earl Haraldson (Gabriel Byrne), a man of little vision, to allow raids into unexplored North East England. He is supported by his brother Rollo (Clive Standen), who covets Ragnar's wife, the shieldmaiden Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick). Ragnar succeeds in carrying out the first Viking raids into the English kingdom of Northumbria, returning with rich loot and the monk Athelstan (George Blagden) as a slave. This not only earns him the enmity of King Aelle (Ivan Kaye), but triggers a series of increasingly violent confrontations at home with the autocratic Earl, ending with Ragnar killing and succeeding him.

During an annual trip to the Temple at Uppsala where many Viking clans congregate in worship to the gods, Ragnar pledges fealty to King Horik (Donal Logue). Ragnar then represents Horik in negotiations about a land dispute with Jarl Borg, a Geat from Götaland (Thorbjørn Harr), in the course of which he is seduced by the princess Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland). Back in Ragnar's homeland a mysterious plague ravages his village killing a portion of his people including his young daughter. During this time, envious and ambitious brother Rollo is manipulated by Jarl Borg to side with him against his brother and King Horik in order to forge his own glory.

Cast

Main

Recurring

Guests

Episodes

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
11"Rites of Passage"Johan RenckMichael HirstMarch 3, 2013 (2013-03-03)
Ragnar and his brother, Rollo, return from a battle during which Ragnar has visions of the god Odin and his valkyries. Home again, Ragnar takes his son Bjorn to Kattegat, for Bjorn's rite of passage. Left at home, Ragnar's wife Lagertha quickly dispatches two would-be rapists. While in Kattegat, Ragnar convinces Rollo that raids to the West are worthwhile and possible, thanks to new navigational tools, but is rebuked by his ruler, Earl Haraldson, who continues to order raids into the Baltic; but, also has the upstart, Ragnar, watched. Bjorn and Ragnar visit Floki, Ragnar's friend and a gifted shipwright, who has been secretly building a new type of longship, which they successfully test. Meanwhile, back at home, Rollo makes unwelcome advances on Lagertha. Ragnar has yet another vision of Odin, standing on the shoreline. This convinces Ragnar to finally move on with his plan.
22"Wrath of the Northmen"Johan RenckMichael HirstMarch 10, 2013 (2013-03-10)
After gathering volunteers, Ragnar, Rollo, and Floki embark on an unauthorized raid to the west. Lagertha violently objects to Ragnar's refusal to take her along. Earl Haraldson has the man who attempts to seduce his wife, Siggy, killed, as well as the blacksmith who forged Ragnar's anchor. At sea the crew are caught in a storm, which a manic Floki interprets as Thor proving his ship unsinkable. On land, monks see the ominous sign of a cloud shaped like a dragon. After a tense voyage, Ragnar's men land on the coast of England, near the monastery of Lindisfarne, which they proceed to sack. They kill most of the monks and capture the rest to take back as slaves, including the young Athelstan, whom Ragnar protects from death at Rollo's hands.
33"Dispossessed"Johan RenckMichael HirstMarch 17, 2013 (2013-03-17)
Ragnar's warband returns in triumph to Kattegat, where the Earl immediately confiscates the plundered riches except for one piece per man. Ragnar picks the distraught Athelstan and returns home. The monk's faith and his vow of chastity perplex Ragnar, but he, nonetheless, gathers useful intelligence about the kingdom of Northumbria. Based on this new insight, Earl Haraldson authorizes another raid on England. Now accompanied by Lagertha and the Earl's trustee, Knut, Ragnar re-embarks post-haste, leaving Athelstan to mind the farm and the children. As the Vikings set foot on English soil, they are met by the local sheriff and a handful of armsmen, who invite the newly landed "traders" to meet King Aelle. Ragnar agrees, but his other warriors' distrust incites a battle in which the Northumbrians are slaughtered.
44"Trial"Ciarán DonnellyMichael HirstMarch 24, 2013 (2013-03-24)
The Vikings raid a Northumbrian village with little bloodshed, as the villagers are gathered for Mass. During the raid, Lagertha kills Knut when he tries to rape her. Back on the beach, the raiders defeat a superior Northumbrian force under Lord Wigea, sent by King Aelle, and return to Kattegat. There, Earl Haraldson has Ragnar, who claims to have killed Knut, arrested and tried at the Thing assembly. The Earl's ploy to bribe Rollo to testify against Ragnar fails, and Ragnar is acquitted. As the raiders celebrate with Athelstan and Ragnar's children, they are assaulted by armed men. Although Ragnar's followers prevail, his companion Erik is killed.
55"Raid"Ciarán DonnellyMichael HirstMarch 31, 2013 (2013-03-31)
When Earl Haraldson's raiders assault Ragnar's settlement, Ragnar, Lagertha, Athelstan, and the children narrowly escape in a boat. Ragnar is severely wounded, and Athelstan saves him from drowning. The family hides in Floki's house, where the shipwright and Helga slowly nurse Ragnar back to health. Meanwhile, Earl Haraldson marries off his daughter, Thyri, to a rich old Svealander against his wife, Siggy's, wishes. Aware that the Earl is watching Ragnar's friends, Rollo offers his services to Haraldson. The Earl feigns acceptance, but Siggy's warning to Rollo comes too late; Haraldson has Rollo seized and tortured in an unsuccessful attempt to discover Ragnar's whereabouts. As Torstein brings word of this to the still-weak Ragnar, Ragnar sends Floki to deliver a challenge to the Earl - a single combat with Ragnar.
66"Burial of the Dead"Ciarán DonnellyMichael HirstApril 7, 2013 (2013-04-07)
The Earl accepts Ragnar's challenge, and the two meet in single combat. Ragnar kills Haraldson, Rollo kills Svein, and Siggy kills her hapless son-in-law. After Ragnar becomes the new Earl, he grants his dead foe a chieftain's burial at sea, and Athelstan is revolted to see a slave agree to follow her master in death. During the following winter, Lagertha becomes pregnant and Siggy accepts Rollo's protection and his proposal to marry an Earl – himself. Athelstan asks Ragnar about Ragnarök. Unknowingly Athelstan has broken a social taboo, but Ragnar informs him by feeding him a drug and having the village seer tell Athelstan. This causes the monk to have horrific visions of the world's end. As spring beckons, three of Ragnar's ships sail up the River Tyne. After throwing the luckless Wigea into a snake pit, King Aelle prepares to meet the raiders in battle.
77"A King's Ransom"Ken GirottiMichael HirstApril 14, 2013 (2013-04-14)
The Vikings set up a fortified camp, assault the Northumbrian besiegers at night, and capture the king's brother, Aethelwulf. In a meeting with the king, Ragnar demands 2,000 pounds of gold and silver as a price for the Vikings' departure. Aelle agrees but demands that one Viking be baptised a Christian, and to Floki's scorn, Rollo agrees. Instead of paying the ransom, Aelle has his men attack Ragnar's camp, but they are bloodily repelled, ending with Rollo finishing off several Saxons single-handedly, in an attempt to prove he's still faithful to his original gods. After Ragnar sends Aethelwulf's corpse to Aelle, the king finally pays the ransom but swears vengeance upon Ragnar as he watches the raiders depart. Meanwhile, back in Scandinavia, Lagertha rules in Ragnar's stead, accepts Siggy's offer of service, and suffers a miscarriage.
88"Sacrifice"Ken GirottiMichael HirstApril 21, 2013 (2013-04-21)
As Lagertha is unable to conceive another son, Ragnar takes his family and followers to the temple at Uppsala to attend a great rite to the Æsir and Vanir. He pledges fealty to King Horik, who charges Ragnar with an embassy to Jarl Borg, a rival encroaching on Horik's lands. Siggy chides Rollo for not paying attention to his own advancement and sleeping with other women. Priests question Athelstan, now in Viking garb, about his faith. Athelstan denies Christ three times. They discern that despite his claims, he has not renounced Christianity, and they declare him unfit to be sacrificed to the gods. Leif, Ragnar's follower, volunteers in Athelstan's place for this single honour and is sacrificed by King Horik at the climax of the rite together with eight other men and numerous animals.
99"All Change"Ken GirottiMichael HirstApril 28, 2013 (2013-04-28)
Ragnar's embassy to Jarl Borg of Götaland fails, as King Horik rejects a compromise settlement about the contested land. Driven by ambition and jealousy, Rollo agrees to support Borg against Ragnar. In Kattegat, a disease kills many inhabitants, including Lagertha's daughter, Gyda, and Siggy's daughter, Thyri. Lagertha asks the seer about Ragnar and her future but the seer refuses as he only sees misery. Underway, Ragnar meets and is seduced by the princess Aslaug; eventually, she reveals she carries his child.

Production

An Irish-Canadian co-production, Vikings was developed and produced by Octagon Films and Take 5 Productions.[2] Morgan O'Sullivan, Sheila Hockin, Sherry Marsh, Alan Gasmer, James Flynn, John Weber, and Michael Hirst are credited as executive producers.[2] This season was produced by Steve Wakefield and Keith Thompson. Bill Goddard and Séamus McInerney act as co-producers.

The production team for this season includes casting directors Frank and Nuala Moiselle, costume designer Joan Bergin, visual effects supervisors Julian Parry and Dominic Remane, stunt action designers Franklin Henson and Richard Ryan, composer Trevor Morris, production designer Tom Conroy, editors Aaron Marshall (episodes 1, 3, 5, 7, 9) and Michele Conroy (episodes 2, 4, 6, 8), and cinematographer John Bartley. Pj Dillon served as second unit director of photography.

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 81% approval rating with an average rating of 7/10 based on 27 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Vikings makes up for its lack of historical accuracy with a heaping helping of violence, romance, and striking visuals".[3] Metacritic assigned a score of 71 based on 20 reviews.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Take 5 Productions - Vikings". take5productions.ca. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "VIKINGS Tops The Ratings With 8.3 Million Viewers". Irish Film Board. March 5, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2007.
  3. ↑ "VIKINGS: SEASON 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Vikings". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
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