Amazon Prime Video original show Vikings premiered March 3rd, 2013.
#Vikings‘ first season cost $40m.
rottentomatoes: 93%
metacritic: 74
imdb: 8.5
emmys: 1 win
Ragnar Lothbrok
Ragnar is a farmer in Kattegat, Norway.
“Thank you, brother. Watch. I’m taking Bjorn to the thing tomorrow. He’s twelve years old. He’ll need a silk ribbon, Lagertha. You’re a handsome boy. Funny ears, though. I can do without it for a few days. I always dream of you. Last night, I dreamt you were feeding me blood pudding. It means you’re giving me your heart.” — Ragnar Lothbrok
“Get your dog, boy. The Earl will deal with some criminal offenses and then, we’ll discuss the summer raids. The Earl decides. He owns the ships. He’ll send us to the east, as always, to the Baltic lands. But I want to know what is to the west – what cities and gods are over there. See, I’m not satisfied… with this. Odin gave his eye to acquire knowledge, but I would give far more.” — Ragnar Lothbrok
“I went to confess my love to her but I was set upon by a bear and an enormous hound who guarded her home. I killed the bear with my spear and I managed to strangle the hound with my bare hands. And that is how I gained her hand in marriage. Did she tell you the same story? Are you ready to receive your arm ring and become a man? And what does a man do? And…? That’s right. Could you look after our family? Say I wasn’t there. I have a big decision to make. It may change many things. Now, go to sleep. You have a big day tomorrow.” — Ragnar Lothbrok
“Rollo. Why don’t you go lie down, hmm? I know. That’s why we should sail west. I’ve heard such tales, Rollo. Great towns, and cities, and treasures; hordes of gold and silver, and… and a new god. I believe there’s a way to go west. I have something that will change everything. Now just listen. A while back, I met someone, a wanderer. He told me that it was possible to go west over the open sea, using this. It’s a sun-board. It needs to sit in water. This time is different. Just get some water.” — Ragnar Lothbrok
“Now, this candle is the sun. Every day… the sun rises up into the sky until noon. See how the shadow shortens? At noon, it is at its shortest. Didn’t I just tell you to listen?! The day before sailing you mark a circle around the pointer where the shadow is at its shortest at noon. The next day at sea, you place the board back into water around noon and watch the shadow if the shadow only touches the circle… yes. And if it passes outside the circle, like this… yes. And what if it never reaches the circle? That’s it. Keep the noon shadow on the circle and your course will be true, west. Using this. Follow me outside. They call it a sun-stone. Oh! You see? There is the sun? Now we go west.” — Ragnar Lothbrok
“You have to. He wants to die well, without fear, to atone for his sins. You must watch, for his sake. He should not have done that. You hear that, boy? This is how things are done around here. My lord, we all want to feast, but we also want to know where we will be raiding this summer. Every year we go to the same places! But there is an alternative… if you choose. Let me see! It’s a fine ring. Stay with your uncle. Yes, lord. Lord – I can’t be sure. But I believe that – I understand. To talk to the gods. It’s what we do.” — Ragnar Lothbrok
Lagertha Lothbrok
“Here’s one. Come on. Let’s go home. What are you two doing? Not yet. He’s not old enough. Take him next year. Next year is soon enough. Don’t sleep with lots of women in Kattegat. Is that another way of saying you love me? Huh? What does that mean? Good. Like this, nice and tight… and on three. One, two, three. Very good, Gyda. Gyda, feed the goats. Go on! What do you want?”
“If you’re thirsty, I will give you a drink. If you’re hungry, I will feed you. Otherwise, you must go. You couldn’t kill me if you tried for a hundred years. Out!”
Rollo
“Ragnar. Ragnar!”
“Arrrggghh! Bjorn! So, here you are, brother. By Frey and all the gods how you’ve grown. Are you here for the thing? You’re a real man now. Come, let’s get a drink. Looking a little pale, Bjorn. So where do you think the Earl is going to send us this year? Those bastards to to the east are as poor as we are. I’ve heard those stories too. But what does it mean? We can’t sail across an open ocean.”
“What? What is that? Another wanderer? Now tell me, Ragnar, this-this wanderer of yours, has he ever sailed west himself? That only tells me how far south I have travelled. Your course remains true? Then you have drifted and must steer further south. Then you are too far south and must steer more to the north. But what if there is no sun, hmm? How can the board help you then? How could you find your way?”
“It’s his only hope of reaching Valhalla. Someone told me he wanted that land for himself and he knew Trygvasson had the best claim to it, but refused to sell it. No. Tell us. We want to know. We have a right to know.”
The Lothbroks /Bjorn
“I missed. Agh! Frodi! Come on, boy. What will happen at the thing? And where will you go? And Will Earl Haraldson let you? Just about. Yes. He fights. He looks after his family. What do you mean? You look after us.”
“Hello, Rollo. Why is he smiling, father? Why did he do that? Yes, lord. Yes, lord. Where are we going now? I’m so tired.”
Kattegat
“We know you’re all alone here. All the men are gone. We will eat and drink after we’ve satisfied our other needs. I don’t want to kill you, woman. Aggghhhhh!”
“Silence! Silence! Olaf Anwend. You have pleaded guilty to the charge of stealing. Tomorrow, you will run a gauntlet of stones and turf as punishment. Yes, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Let it be known a fine is to be paid by anyone who fails to throw something. Bring in the next accused. There he is! Murderer!”
“Eric Trygvasson, you are accused of the murder of Sigvald Strut this January. How do you plead? It wasn’t murder, Lord. I killed him in self-defense. Liar! If it wasn’t murder, why did you not declare your crime to the first person that you met afterwards, as the law obliges? In fact, you passed by several houses before you reported it. I thought the relatives of the dead man might be living in them. The law allows you to pass two houses in such circumstances, but never a third. You murdered my brother in cold blood! It’s not true! We argued about some disputed land. He pulled out a knife. You wanted that land for yourself! You’re a liar and a coward. Who says I’m a coward? I’m not a coward!”
“Lord, you knew about that land. You knew I had a claim to it- yes! Justice! By beheading, Lord. Yeah! Yeah!”
“Ragnar Lothbrok, Earl Haraldson wants to speak with you – in private. Who told you you could go?”
“Why don’t you come in? I’m waiting.”
Earl Haraldson / Siggy Haraldson
“Silence! As the normal procedures were not followed, this killing cannot be atoned for by compensating the victim’s family. Murder is a dishonorable deed amongst our people. Carried out in secret, unacknowledged, and likely to give rise to a series of revenge killings that would involve your own family. Enough! I ask you to look to the accused. If you think that he is guilty, raise your arms. The decision must be unanimous.”
“Eric Trygvasson, you have been found guilty of murder. How do you wish to die? Your wish is granted. You shall be executed tomorrow. After which we shall feast and talk about the summer raids. Feed him to your pigs. And I curse him. May he never enter Valhalla. May he never feast with the gods. Olaf, son of Ingolf, Djorn, son of Ragnar. May you accept this gift of salt and earth to remind yourself that you belong to both the land and the sea. These arm rings bind you in loyalty to me, your lord, your chieftan. Any oath that you swear on these rings must be honored and kept. Do you understand and swear to this?”
“And do you freely give your fealty to me, your lord, your chieftan? Good. You may put on the arm rings. Come here. Let us feast! Can’t it wait, Ragnar? Very well. We will raid east again, to the eastlands, and into Russia. Oh, yes, yes. Choice, yes. I’ve heard of these rumors, these stories; that if we travel west, that we will somehow reach a land that is rich and plentiful. But I tell you that I will not risk my ships or my reputation on such a deluded fantasy. They are my ships – I pay for them – and they go where I tell them to go. Now that’s the end of the matter. Let’s feast!”
“Ragnar Lothbrok… sit down. Are you hungry? You want to feast in my hall? You want to sail in my ships? Anything else you want from me? You keep talking about the west – what do you know of it, hmm? Why are you so certain that it’s a land of great riches, hmm? I don’t care what you believe. You insulted me out there, and not for the first time, but, believe me, it will be the last. You are a farmer. You should be content with your lot. Farms are few and in great demand, and there are many people here who would like to possess your land. Do you understand what I’m saying? Then don’t ever stick your nose in my face again. I don’t trust him. Watch him.”