Vikings

WARNING: Scenes of explicit violence, drug use, suicide, sex, and/or abuse occur regularly. Not intended for children or sensitive viewers.

Overview

This show is one of those things that historical reenactors love and hate. You’ve never lived until you’ve heard a dozen SCA players shout at the TV about how the clothes are wrong. While we have to give them props for having historically accurate shield-maidens, the rest is pretty iffy. It’s more edgy than accurate.

Vikings is inspired by the sagas of Viking Ragnar Lothbrok, one of the best-known legendary Norse heroes and notorious as the scourge of England and France. The show portrays Ragnar as a farmer who rises to fame by successful raids into England, and eventually becomes a Scandinavian king, with the support of his family and fellow warriors: his brother Rollo, his son Björn Ironside, and his wives—the shieldmaiden Lagertha and the princess Aslaug.