2014-2015 REVISION:
November 2015: Netflix offers season 3 but only on DVD, no streaming.
The release date for season 4 is not yet settled. Season 3 was at least as good as the previous two seasons with some very clever surprises at the very end of season 3 which makes the audience ever more eager to see season 4.
For more information about the Viking raid on Paris in 845 see the Wikipedia article. On that occasion the French king was Charles the Bald, one of Charlemagne’s grandsons. By the Treaty of Verdun in 843, Charles became king of what was for the most part modern day France.
Now from Amazon Prime you can stream both season 1 and season 2. Season 2 is at least as good as Season 1. Wonderful but violent!
FORMER REVIEW:
Netflix offers Season 1 on DVD. However, I streamed from Amazon for free because we bought Amazon Prime. Jan 2015 – Now you can stream Season 2 from Amazon. Somehow the story just gets better and better. DO NOT MISS all the VIOLENCE!
From Netflix:
Set in medieval Scandinavia, this gritty drama charts the adventures of renowned Viking hero Ragnar Lothbrok as he extends the Norse reach by challenging the rule of an unfit leader who lacks vision.
Merely appreciating the finesse and details that went into making this remarkable TV series just gives me chills.
His ambiguous smile is mostly that of the fox waiting for its opportunity. Eventually you come to accept and even identify that constant smile with the character Ragnar Lothbrok played to dazzling perfection by the Australian-born Travis Fimmel.
Gabriel Byrne as Earl Haraldson is the only actor I recognized. You may remember him as Dr. Paul Weston in the TV series “In Treatment”. Here he is a brooding, vicious bully.
In order to enter Valhalla a Viking must die in battle. Similar to the ancient Greek culture, violence and personal bravery are everything. Whatever riches a Viking can bury will be his in the next life. Hence the need for plunder. In other words, by its nature this film had to be very VIOLENT!
Perhaps some history will set the scene. Roughly speaking as Rome abandoned England in the 400s, she invited in German mercenaries among which were the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. They liked what they saw and oppressed the original inhabitants, the Celts. After centuries their many dialects would eventually congeal into Anglo Saxon. In the 600s Christianity appeared and the Anglo Saxons converted. In the 800s the Danes, i.e. the Vikings, reached England and were trouble for the Anglo Saxons until that famous year 1066 in which no sooner had Edward Confessor defeated the Danes then the Normans conquered the Anglo Saxons.
In regard to the previous mini-history, in the scenes in which the Vikings speak to the Anglo Saxons, the Vikings speak old Norse and supposedly the “English” speak Anglo Saxon.
Also in regard to that mini-history, probably the most important theme of the series is religion. Ragnar Lothbrok, in attacking his first monastery, brings back as a slave a young Christian monk Athelstan (thoughtfully played by George Blagden). No episode goes by without some discussion, confrontation, or comparison (call it what you like) between the “pagan” religion and the Christian. Odd how violent, vicious, and untrustworthy the Christians are. There are aspects of the Viking religion that may disturb your sleep.
Fighting is really a small part of the story. Interpersonal relations and conflicts are equally important. There is true character development.
And of course you cannot help to notice how these Viking men wore their hair. Let’s hope the costume department got it historically accurate. Needless to say there are many tattoos.
If you can stand the violence, DO NOT MISS !