Vikings

Last year, when the History Channel showed the Bible miniseries, it also premiered another show that aired immediately after it, Vikings.  Coming out at the same time as the other miniseries, I wasn’t sure where this one would be going.  But it’s a historical drama of the story of Ragnor Lodbrok and other Vikings in the early age of the Norse invasions, and it’s quality work all around.

The show takes a fairly sympathetic look at Viking culture, although it doesn’t shy away from many of its harsher characteristics such as human sacrifice.  Of course, it’s not going to be historically accurate since the source material is legendary sagas, but it does appear to make a strong attempt at being authentic to the setting, the times and culture.

While showing the Vikings in a more or less sympathetic light, it tends to show the Christians in a decidedly unsympathetic one, often portraying the leaders as decadent and befuddled.  This is obviously done to make us cheer the main characters (who are Vikings), but I wonder if a more balanced view wouldn’t have worked just as well.  That said, the show doesn’t shy away from showing the brutal nature of Viking raids.

Anyway, the second season came out a few weeks ago.  I spent part of this weekend catching up on it and thought I’d mention it here.  If you haven’t noticed this series yet and like historical dramas, you might want to check it out.  I know the first season is available on Amazon Prime; not sure about Netflix.  Be warned though that it may not be something you want to let your kids watch.

Related articles

• History Channel’s Vikings ‘Kill It’ Again (cjadrien.com)
• Vikings – box set review (theguardian.com)
• History channel hit ‘Vikings’ makes its second season premiere (upi.com)
• Review: Vikings (History Channel series) (wuhstry.wordpress.com)
• Vikings Season 2 Premiere Review (coolreviewsrule.com)