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The Series "VIKINGS" on The History Channel

BillyBatts

BillyBatts

ALOHA!
Anyone else here watched "Vikings" on The History Channel?

I have to admit, when it was airing live, I didn't really give it a lot of thought. I caught a few episodes off and on.

I received my Amazon FIRE STICK TV device last week and one of the shows included with Amazon Prime is "Vikings".
I've been watching it with intent.

This is a superb series. A bit too much bloodsport for some viewers, I grant you, but those times were very brutal. I've been a fan of the history of the Vikings since I was in my teens, second only to the Roman Empire. These folks were amazingly rugged. Women fought right along side men, and a small band of them would reek havoc on villages they raided. Crossing the sea in their relatively tiny boats and ransacking English towns as they did despite their relatively small numbers compared to British soldiers was amazing.

Services like "Fire TV" make it all to easy to sit and watch series like this on a whim without commercial interruption. I have to hand it to The History Channel and Metro Goldwyn Meyer. They really produced a rugged and interesting series. All I can say is, I'm glad I did not live back then. Too harsh and brutal. But I guess they didn't now any different.
 
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My wife and I go diving twice a year and each trip we bring a TV series to watch in the evenings. This trip it's Vikings seasons 1 & 2. Looking forward to it. From what I can tell, it's quite historically accurate.
 
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scuba said:
My wife and I go diving twice a year and each trip we bring a TV series to watch in the evenings. This trip it's Vikings seasons 1 & 2. Looking forward to it. From what I can tell, it's quite historically accurate.
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Scuba, of course I don't know your taste, but my guess is that you will thoroughly enjoy the series. I'm actually amazed. There are times I have forgotten it's just a television show. It's done with such professionalism, you'd think it was a feature movie production. The sets are amazing, the characters are dynamic, and the scenery is beautiful.

After viewing, report back. I'd be interested in your opinion. I'm on Season 2 episode 6. So far, I'm super impressed. And hooked.
 
Billy, I watched the first episode and it was so stupid I never watched the series again. Maybe I know too much history.
 
Tom:

I don't remember the first episode. Too long ago. Perhaps that's one of the reasons I didn't pay it too much attention when it was airing the first few seasons. I'm not sure.

I can't speak to the historical "Accuracy" as I'm not a scholar of Viking history, but it sure seems very "Realistic" to me. Sometimes too much so. ;)

But, to each their own. Not everyone is going to like everything that Hollywood produces. All I can say is, that as a fan of Viking legend and stories, I'm enjoying the series very much.
 
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BillyBatts said:
All I can say is, that as a fan of Viking legend and stories, I'm enjoying the series very much.
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I just read a pretty good book you might also like called "Votan" by John James. It's a novel about a Second Century Roman trader whose adventures in wild Germany are incorporated into Germanic myth as Votan (Wotan-Odin). It's on Kindle.
 
Tom Brennan said:
I just read a pretty good book you might also like called "Votan" by John James. It's a novel about a Second Century Roman trader whose adventures in wild Germany are incorporated into Germanic myth as Votan (Wotan-Odin). It's on Kindle.
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That's right up my alley.

Norse Mythology is always on my Hit Parade.

Thanks Tom. It's on my Kindle. I'll read it this weekend.
 
I love that Vikings TV show. It's pretty violent but the characters and story are good.

Season 3 starts in March I think.
 
Redtide said:
I love that Vikings TV show. It's pretty violent but the characters and story are good.

Season 3 starts in March I think.
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That's good news. I'm just working my way through season 2 on Amazon Prime Fire TV. I'll be more than ready for season 3 in March.
 
I have liked what I saw in this series, a good cast & agree that it can be quite bloody. The spread eagle scene comes to mind. Anyone know when it is returning to the History channel?
 
Season 4 starts Thursday Feb 19 (for Canadian viewers at least)

EDIT: my bad - season 3 started last Thursday. The season opener was OK. They invade Paris this season.
 
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Redtide said:
Season 4 starts Thursday Feb 19 (for Canadian viewers at least)

EDIT: my bad - season 3 started last Thursday. The season opener was OK. They invade Paris this season.
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Thank you so much for the "Heads-Up" on this. I was not aware of the actual date. I'll have to see if I can order it up on U-Verse ON Demand. If not, I can recall the last episodes on my Amazon Fire TV Stick.

I realize, from the previous posts, that the series may not be "accurate" to actual history, but what the heck. It's fun for me to watch the show. I happen to like the story lines and the actors.
 
From a historical perspective, that series can be described as wrong.
Wrong culture, wrong surroundings, wrong clothes and so on and so forth.

We don't even have mountains in Denmark, where this series is supposed to take place.

I really hate the way History channel is presenting this as being historically accurate.
 
I just made my case, I just want to make it clear that this is no more historically accurate then 50 and 60's western movies.
 
Adda said:
I just made my case, I just want to make it clear that this is no more historically accurate then 50 and 60's western movies.
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It appears this series intends to cover from the attack on Lindisfarne to the attack on Paris as though they happened within a couple of years.

IMO the best pictures about the Northmen were Kirk Douglas's The Vikings ("Odin! Odin! Send the wind and turn the tide!") and a late 1960s picture called Alfred the Great ("I am Guthrum, King of the Danes!").

The best movie I know about the real Rollo's descendants the Normans is a mid 60s movie called The War Lord, with Charlton Heston and Richard Boone. It explores the nature of feudalism, it's rights and it's obligations up and down the social system. Unusual in a movie.
 
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Being skeptical and knowing such tv channels are not trustworthy anyway seeing all the rubbish they produce when looking at facts, I do not let the fact things are not accurate take away my enjoyment.

But I also understand people get irritated seeing their kids consuming a lot of "assumptions" presented as facts.

Anyway, myself I enjoy watching, realizing the only thing I "learn" from watching this kind of stuff is "how to sit on a couch"
 
Tom Brennan said:
It appears this series intends to cover from the attack on Lindesfarne to Rollo attacking Paris as though they happened within a couple of years.

IMO the best pictures about the Northmen were Kirk Douglas's The Vikings ("Odin! Odin! Send the wind and turn the tide!") and a late 1960s picture called Alfred the Great ("I am Guthrum, King of the Danes!").
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I didn't see any of those, in fact I don't recall seeing any movies featuring vikings, that could be considered accurate.
I should check out those.
The Danish cartoon Valhalla gets the culture right, and blends together many elements of the stories of Thor.

Especially the intro is wonderful, if you have studied Norse mythology, you'll see why, even if you don't speak the language:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmWKc4TUU_Y

Hint:
jcs-runesten-hasle-kirke-51166.jpg
 
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