While successfully upping the ante year after year as far as things like the drama and action
go, this historical production has also left a host of other interesting facts and tidbits
in its wake as it's gone about making its own spot in television history. This is the
untold truth of Vikings.
We're used to watching lots and lots of Vikings at this point, so it might surprise you that
the show was originally only supposed to run for a mere nine episodes a length that The
New York Times deemed "ambitious."
"We're all fated to die on a certain day, yes?"
The miniseries, which aired in 2013, came on the heels of the History Channel's three-part
hit Hatfields & McCoys. Starring Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton, among others, it brought
narrative drama and star power to a network that typically aimed more for documentaries
and reality TV shows. While not perfect, Hatfields & McCoys showed the network that there could
be significant interest in other dramatized miniseries. Equipped with this knowledge and
with the younger male, action-oriented gaming crowd largely in mind, History decided to
head out in their longships in search of bigger fish. The result? Vikings.
Though there is a Ragnar Lothbrok recorded in history, he's also recorded as having lived
multiple lives. The tales of his ninth-century exploits stretch all over northern Europe
from multiple invasions of what is now modern day England, during which he was killed by
being thrown into a snake pit, to adventures as the king of Denmark that include a battle
with the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. It's a bit confusing, which is why it was the perfect
stomping ground for a historically dramatized show. Nothing is more factually forgiving
than a lack of information.
Part of the issue revolves around the severe lack of primary sources, a chronic issue for
the region's history. But that makes it easy for the producers to change things around
slightly - like the fact that on the show, Ragnar is the king of Norway, rather than
Denmark as the original story goes - but whatever, it’s close enough.
"Odin gave his eye to acquire knowledge, but I would give far more."
Most of our information on the vikings actually comes from the perspective of the victims.
We do have a handful of other Scandinavian myths that have been passed down through the
ages and help round out the picture a little bit, like the god-infused Elder Edda and the
heroic Völsunga Saga.
Perhaps Vikings' unheralded success can be partly attributed to the luck of the Irish,
since a large portion of the filming is done in Ireland. The Island of Destiny has also
been the home to numerous other big-budget productions, such as Game of Thrones and Braveheart.
Vikings has definitely made the most of the lush and just plain gorgeous landscapes that
the island nation offers. Many of the scenes of Ragnar and his loyal followers setting
out in their longship, for example, are actually filmed on a manmade lake nestled in the Wicklow
Mountains. From Scandinavia to England to France, most of the sites depicted in Vikings
ultimately trace their origins back to the Emerald Isle. Even the epic scenes involving
medieval Paris are actually filmed on the River Boyne, with the city simply filled in
via CGI afterward.
Katheryn Winnick plays Lagertha, a shield maiden who's never afraid to step into the
fray. A strong, independent woman who doesn't take any crap from her husband, the character
offers a reasonably accurate reflection of the history the show draws on for inspiration,
especially when compared to the rest of the male-dominated medieval world.
"And I have dreamed of taking back my home. I've dreamt it for a long time."
Winnick definitely looks the part, but it isn't just her blonde locks and believably
viking demeanor that make her a great fit for Lagertha. Just as importantly, she's a
martial arts expert, and we mean that literally Winnick holds a third-degree black belt in
taekwondo and a second-degree black belt in karate. As if that wasn't impressive enough,
she also founded and owned three different martial arts schools by the age of 21. No
wonder those action sequences seem to come to her so naturally.
Travis Fimmel, who plays the dominant, power-hungry lead role, may have a few things in common
with his onscreen counterpart, but they're actually totally different. Before he was
known as a Viking warlord, Fimmel became famous for causing accidents as an underwear model.
The actor's life has been marked by a meteoric rise from his humble beginnings growing up
on a dairy farm in Australia, but it wasn't a seamless transition to acting fame.
"I'm a farm boy, I love all that running around and having fun you know."
Fimmel took a bit of a detour when he stumbled onto a different sort of stardom in the early
2000s as a Calvin Klein model. He reportedly made enough of an impression with an early
billboard that an uptick of car accidents was reported after it went up.
That's pretty flattering, but Fimmel doesn't seem to have loved the gobs of attention he
got over his physique, eventually withdrawing into private life before reentering the spotlight
as an actor.
Another fascinating but subtle truth to the show involves the languages being spoken or
sometimes gutturally grumbled on the set. Those aren't just strange words, they're ancient
languages being brought back to life. Vikings producers have brought in experts to resurrect
languages like Old Norse, Anglo-Saxon, and even Old Low Franconian.
The man responsible for the delivery of these tongues is Poll Moussoulides, an Irish-born
voice actor proficient in countless European accents. He's been involved in many other
productions including The Tudors and Reign and is the established linguistic authority
on the Vikings set.
That doesn't mean Moussoulides works alone. The lines are written for the script and then
translated by linguistic historians before Moussoulides takes them to the actors and
works with them to ensure that their pronunciations are correct. They each have a week to learn
their lines, and it's a hard and fast rule that there can be no last-minute rewriting
that would require going through the whole process all over again.
The folks at the History Channel took a gamble on a historically based drama with Vikings,
and it paid off big time. With that success still going full throttle, it's officially
graduated to the next level of cultural impact: being adapted into books and video games.
Multiple comic books have been written around characters based directly on those from the
show. In addition to the graphic novels, MGM Interactive and 5th Planet Games announced
in 2017 that they were teaming up to release a player versus player mobile game that would
be based on the series.
It's got to be a rule out there somewhere that you can't truly claim cinematic fame
until someone's created a game with your face in it.
"The gods are having a good time with me today."
The cast of Vikings has arrived.
When Vikings was just getting off the ground, there were some actors who specifically auditioned
for various roles, only to end up playing someone else. Clive Standen, for example,
eventually ended up taking on the role of Ragnar's jealous, muscle-bound brother Rollo,
but he initially auditioned for the part of Ragnar Lothbrok himself. Stanton explained
to Collider that he was initially asked to read for the part for Ragnar, but when the
decision was made to go with Travis Fimmel instead, he happily accepted the role of Rollo
a character he actually preferred to play.
As it turns out, Fimmel, who's found enormous popularity playing Ragnar, actually started
by auditioning for Floki, played by the talented Gustaf Skarsgård.
"I actually wanted to play Floki originally, but Gustaf was already cast... and he did
it way better than I could ever do it."
Clearly, this is one case when the casting directors could see something the actors didn't
and all these seasons later, it's hard to argue with their decision.
In the fourth season of Vikings, the show got an extra boost of star power when Major
League Baseball player Josh Donaldson dropped in for a cameo appearance. A big fan of the
show, the Bringer of Rain got to do what most people only dream of, getting dressed up as
a viking and actually getting on the set and in front of the camera.
"This is something that I've always wanted to do."
This isn't the only side gig for the busy MLB star, as Donaldson has also shown interest
in a part-time MMA career in his free time. Most professional athletes have a good portion
of the year that could be categorized as "down time," and it seems Donaldson just doesn't
know how to sit still. Perhaps we're witnessing the blooming of an acting career that started
in a dugout. Or maybe we're just seeing another facet of the endlessly entertaining world
of rabid fandom. Either way, this guest appearance was definitely a hit.
The show has always had a very uncomfortable way of getting under viewers' skin. But before
the narrative-driven violence and gore even has a chance to begin upsetting people's stomachs,
the discomfort kicks off in each episode with the haunting opening theme.
It isn't just a way to be kind of morbidly artistic. The sequence actually has some original
Viking inspiration. It's based on an old Scandinavian folktale that tells of nine sisters, the "goddesses
of the waves," who were known to pluck Vikings right out of their vessels and draw them to
a sensual grave. Creepy? Yes. Fitting for a show about warriors obsessed with honor,
violence, pleasure, and an untimely death? Absolutely.
When it comes to Vikings, the wealth isn't actually in the ships, it's behind the scenes.
Many shows boast impressive budgets, and some projects, like Amazon's Lord of the Rings
series, are positively swimming in cash. But a show about vikings, produced by the History
Channel? Let's just say the series didn't initially scream "big budget."
"What do you know of it? Why are you so certain that it's a land of great riches?"
But that's apparently not what the execs at History thought. They seem to have signed
up hook, line, and longboat, right from square one. In fact, the first season alone was reportedly
infused with a staggering $40 million budget. That's a serious chunk of change, especially
for a show with few recognizable actors that was originally supposed to be a quick miniseries
about seafaring raiders. Considering the sustained run of popularity and overall success that
Vikings has managed to maintain, however, it appears execs saw something early on and
decided to steer into that skid with everything they had and for that, we're all thankful.
When Vikings is brought up, it inevitably conjures the image of a bearded Ragnar Lothbrok,
plotting, leading raids, and vying for power in one way or another. Of course, Lothbrok's
story ended with his execution by means of a snake pit midway through season 4, and the
show had to leave him to Valhalla as it moved on with his bickering sons.
"I shall not enter Odin's hall with fear."
Interestingly enough, it wasn't just Ragnar that got bit by some snakes on that fateful
day. It turns out that Fimmel felt some teeth as well. When he was asked if he had any qualms
about working with snakes in his final hours as Ragnar, the actor shrugged off the question
with an initial "Not really" before following it up with the statement that:
"I was covered in snake poop at the end. I got bitten a few times, but that was fine,
it was them pooping on me that annoyed me more than anything."
You know an actor was cut out to portray a fearsome warlord when they choose to criticize
snake excrement over a snakebite.
Dudes with swords? Excessive violence? An obsession with treasure and power? We're talking
about Game of Thrones here, right?
Vikings has had its fair share of comparisons, but one of the most persistent is the question
of whether it holds up when compared to HBO's Game of Thrones. After all, the two series
aired concurrently and simultaneously portrayed power-hungry families duking it out for dictatorial
authority in medieval, northern-European-themed settings. Shouldn't they be compared? Not
if one Vikings actor has anything to say about it.
Clive Standen pointed out how much he disapproves of his show being compared to its high fantasy
counterpart. Sure, there are similarities, but Standen makes the point that it's comparing
uber-violent, ultra bloody apples and oranges. He argues that Game of Thrones is fantasy
and can lean on elements like dragons while Vikings is tethered, at least tenuously, to
reality and a hardline historical narrative. Considering the significant limitation that
this imposes on the show, it really does seem unfair to contrast it to a fictional epic,
not that we're comparing.
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