The Vikings, fierce warrior people also known as Northmen, are historically infamous for their raids during the Dark Ages, when they used to pillage the coasts of British isles, France and other parts of Europe.
Strangely enough, movie directors never focused on them too much save for very few exceptions (I should mention Valhalla Rising by Nicolas Winding Refn and The 13th Warrior by John McTiernan, both worthy examples). Even in these cases, though, they were portrayed in a fantasy setting borrowed by the revered Norse mythology, rather than in a way truthful to historical events. Vikings, the canadian TV series whose first season I’m reviewing today, does just that and for the most part, it succeeds.
Strongly rooted in history (which completely makes sense, since the TV network producing it is History), this series created by Michael Hirst aired nine episodes between 3th March and 28th April.
It’s summer’s eve of the year 793 AC and for the people of Norway, Sweden and Denmark this is the time to prepare for the upcoming raids. Their pillaging actions are the most rewarding activity in the entire year, but their targets, the Eastern populations, are getting more poor with each sack.
One man, Ragnar Lodbrok (the main character), has been planning to sail in the opposite way, to the West, a venture that most deemed to be impossible; he goes as fas as challenging the Jarl, the highest authority in Viking society, in order to get a boat and a crew, arguing that there is, in fact, a land called England and it is full of riches. The Jarl Haraldson will however quickly dismiss this idea as foolish, forbidding him to pursue it and commanding him at the same time to sail East, as they always had.
But Ragnar Lodbrok is headstrong and determined. He manages to build a boat in complete secret and begins his journey soon after that, with a small crew formed by his brother and a handful of friends. After almost losing hope they finally reach England, and specifically the kingdom of Northumbria, where they are easily able to pillage a defenseless Christian monastery.
This boosts the crew morale immensely and they immediately sail back to Scandinavia with lots of gold, where they are cheered by the entire community for their success. Unfortunately for Ragnar, the only unhappy person is exactly Jarl Haraldson, who is wounded in his pride by their disobedience and swiftly starts devising a way to retaliate back against the resourceful Ragnar Lodbrok.
The plot of Vikings focuses on the adventures of Viking warrior Ragnar Lodbrok, one of those characters that become a mix between legend and reality thanks to the shortage of actual documents. The setting is completely accurate, since the Viking expansion actually took place between the VIII and IX centuries, when the Northmen reached Northumbria, one of the Seven Kingdoms in Great Britain at that time. However, there are both merits and flaws to be found.
The environments and costumes are absolutely great in their authenticity; everything was recorded on a live set and with very limited use of computer graphics. Battle scenes are equally impressive, even without that exaggerate use of stop-motion that is all too common in other series. From the historical point of view, some episodes are incredibly accurate but others leave to be desired.
For instance, there’s an extraordinary document by Ibn Fadlan (a muslim writer from the X century) which describes all the details about the complex preparation and execution of a Norse funeral. One episode features a funeral and the event was perfectly recreated, contributing greatly to the show; but then other smaller details, seemingly easier to deal with, are sources for disappointment.
The greatest flaw is perhaps the screenplay, a bit weak. Other than Ragnar and the elements from history, the subplots and schemes between characters are revealed in their inconsistency and overall lack of depth. Luckily for the series, the average actor performance is quite good; the two best actors are without a doubt Travis Fimmel (Ragnar Lodbrok) and Gabriel Byrne (Jarl Haraldson), who already won a Golden Globe award. I would be remiss to forget mentioning the opening theme, visually magnificent and with great music in the form of If I Had a Heart, a song by Fever Ray.
Vikings is more than worthy of your time I would say, since despite some issues it manages to entertain, captivate and shine at the same time. If you have even the slightest interest in fiction based on history and you don’t particularly hate Northmen, there’s no reason not to watch this first season, which has undeniable qualities despite some naivety here and there. Well received by critics, Vikings has already been renewed by History for a second season of 10 episodes.
