Vikings on history channel

[Jozef]

I managed to watch this show with Hotspot Shield despite the fact that this software emulates US ip ...and failed with SecurityKISS emulating UK ip 
Weird.
Also it looks like it is possible to purchase episodes in itunes, but you'll need US account to do it (though afaik it is possible to create US account even if you're from another country, I think it's up to you if you wonna try, I dunno if itunes will accept non-US credit card for US account when you'll try to purchase something).

Thanks a lot for the Hotspot Shield tip!

 

[Belthize]

It puzzles me though that these Scandinavians (from modern Norway?) don't know England.
They're experienced sailors and do trade all over Europe, and yet they only know of England
as a mythological place - sailing towards it like Columbus towards India. Odd...

That's been my only real complaint.  Greece was trading for Tin with England as early as 400BC, the Romans and all the Gallic and Germanic tribes were very aware of England hundreds of years before this show and by this period the Norse were raiding down the coast toward France and you can see England on a clear day from there.

I think there's essentially zero chance they didn't know of England.  I suspect artistic license to provide context for the sun dial based compass for calculating latitude.  The jury seems out as to whether those were in use at that time by the Norse.  It's even further out on the use of a 'sun stone' to focus sunlight to make the device useful during overcast conditions.  Still some artistic license is ok.

There are some other minor oddities,  Floki is likely lifted from Floki Vilgerðarson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrafna-Fl%C3%B3ki_Vilger%C3%B0arson who was credited as the first Norseman to Iceland and the use of released ravens to tell if land was nearby, a scene repeated in the 2nd episode.  I do like Floki's character, he's fairly unstable.

Still I'm enjoying the show and particularly like how familiar it feels with respect to Brytenwalda.

 

[Temujin]

I love this show, first thinh I did after watching the first 4 episodes was look for a viking mod that would allow me to go raiding on the english shore.

I had high hopes for a brytenwalda submod, but alas

 

[Adorno]

Vikings are so popular, and yet I don't know of any released single player Viking mods 

 

[Temujin]

Vikings are so popular, and yet I don't know of any released single player Viking mods 

Yup, it's a real shame because Mount&Blade is the only gaming platform that allows profitable raids imagine how great it would be to board your longship with a small raiding band, sail to a village or monastary in 800 ad Brittain and raid it to sail back to your village in Scandinavia.

It would be even better if you can have a village that works like the manor in europe 1257

 

[Dan11311]

It puzzles me though that these Scandinavians (from modern Norway?) don't know England.
They're experienced sailors and do trade all over Europe, and yet they only know of England
as a mythological place - sailing towards it like Columbus towards India. Odd...

That's been my only real complaint.  Greece was trading for Tin with England as early as 400BC, the Romans and all the Gallic and Germanic tribes were very aware of England hundreds of years before this show and by this period the Norse were raiding down the coast toward France and you can see England on a clear day from there.

I think there's essentially zero chance they didn't know of England.  I suspect artistic license to provide context for the sun dial based compass for calculating latitude.  The jury seems out as to whether those were in use at that time by the Norse.  It's even further out on the use of a 'sun stone' to focus sunlight to make the device useful during overcast conditions.  Still some artistic license is ok.

There are some other minor oddities,  Floki is likely lifted from Floki Vilgerðarson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrafna-Fl%C3%B3ki_Vilger%C3%B0arson who was credited as the first Norseman to Iceland and the use of released ravens to tell if land was nearby, a scene repeated in the 2nd episode.  I do like Floki's character, he's fairly unstable.

Still I'm enjoying the show and particularly like how familiar it feels with respect to Brytenwalda.

I think what they mean is the knowledge of England in their own locality. That particular Earl seems to be a backwards. For example, Ragnar learned how to navigate via a stranger  that knew of England so there were others from farther away that knew of England.

 

[AJStoner]

Well, I am guessing this is done for dramatic effect and to avoid having to go into the complex, and largely boring details of why the Norse simply weren't players until this period.  The ship building techniques they developed around this time were a bigger obstacle than navigation.

As to their not knowing about England, this might not be as unreasonable as it first seems.  It is extremely difficult for a modern human to imagine the profound lack of general knowledge that their counterparts had in the 9th century and the Vikings were unheard of on the world stage until the raid at Lindisfarm.  Most people never went more than a few miles from the spot they were born in and unless they were a trade center themselves, which this small hamlet clearly wasn't, they might well be in the dark about this.

It might have been better handled by having them know, at least vaguely, about England but just unsure how far it was and not having open-sea navigation techniques than they way they presented it but I am willing to forgive that in the name of getting the ball rolling and establishing Ragnar as the visionary he clearly was.  My REAL objection here is the way they are pussyfooting around the brutality of the raiders so as not to offend the sensibilities of modern audiences.

 

[Dan11311]

How are they pussyfarting around? They slaughtered an entire monastery. Ragnar had no need to kill anyone in the town because they were, for the most part, unarmed and not a threat. Later on in that same episode, Ragnar's group slaughtered an entire Saxon company and even killed their prisoner. I  guess it's actually difficult to gauge how brutal different groups of Vikings were. Some might be more pleasant than others.

 

[AJStoner]

It's not a complaint specific to this show so much as any historical drama.  They make Ragnar seem like he really doesn't especially want to hurt anyone and that it's his fellows (his jerk brother in particular) that are responsible and he is obliged to go along with it to keep the group together.  The scene where his wife gets all bent out of shape about the rape is pretty silly; I seriously doubt she'd care.  Ever dealt with a female cop?  Women in these situations are an order of magnitude more savage than men as a rule.  The focus of the trial that followed would have been "why the hell did you try and stop him from raping that worthless saxon whore in the first place?"

By way of example, there was a famous Viking who was given the surname "Children's Friend" because the others all thought it was hysterical that he disdained tossing babies into the air and catching them on spears.

Another example of this sort of re-imagining of ancient morals in the famous incident where Spartacus drives his horse off before the big final battle to show he won't run.  In reality he cut its throat as it is more dramatic and also serves as a sacrifice but that is never done in the films because modern audiences would be repelled by it.  I like my history hard and brutal, and the nice-guy Viking thing doesn't play well with me.  Otherwise great show.

 

[Temujin]

A modern audience wouldn't be able to relate with Ragnar and his group as the protagonists when they are completely accurate.

I think they are still doing a verry good job and aren't putting too much modern morality in it (I was affraid the sacking of lindisfarne would be a lot softer, I'm glad it wasn't

 

[Lord Michlo]

I'm still loving the show.

Remember they have to have us engage with the main characters.  They can't have us completely hating them else we'd probably not watch.  For me they are characters I don't WANT to like or care about but, of course, do.

I'm British with blue eyes so they are probably my ancestors anyway. heh.  Plus I'm also atheist but still I cringed at what they were doing with the missionaries.

As for watching it outside the US again, www.hidemyass.com should work.  It works for me to watch British shows here in the US.

Cheers.

 

[Dan11311]

It's not a complaint specific to this show so much as any historical drama.  They make Ragnar seem like he really doesn't especially want to hurt anyone and that it's his fellows (his jerk brother in particular) that are responsible and he is obliged to go along with it to keep the group together.  The scene where his wife gets all bent out of shape about the rape is pretty silly; I seriously doubt she'd care.  Ever dealt with a female cop?  Women in these situations are an order of magnitude more savage than men as a rule.  The focus of the trial that followed would have been "why the hell did you try and stop him from raping that worthless saxon whore in the first place?"

By way of example, there was a famous Viking who was given the surname "Children's Friend" because the others all thought it was hysterical that he disdained tossing babies into the air and catching them on spears.

Another example of this sort of re-imagining of ancient morals in the famous incident where Spartacus drives his horse off before the big final battle to show he won't run.  In reality he cut its throat as it is more dramatic and also serves as a sacrifice but that is never done in the films because modern audiences would be repelled by it.  I like my history hard and brutal, and the nice-guy Viking thing doesn't play well with me.  Otherwise great show.

As I said before, certain bands of Vikings would have been more pleasant than others. Have you ever heard of empathy? Ragnar's wife could have felt empathetic towards the Saxon women. This idea isn't that far out. But, yes. I do agree that many Vikings were brutal. I imagine this was because it made their enemies more cooperative later on. I also have to wonder about the sources of Viking cruelty. I'm not saying the Vikings weren't cruel but much of it could be propaganda. Another thing to note is that Viking raiders do not necessarily represent Norse culture as a whole. Vikings were merely raiders and/or pirates that were Norse.

 

[Iltedge]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p45AxrA9lQs&feature=em-subs_digest-vrecs

Is this the show you're talking about ?

 

[Adorno]

No, that's an older show. It's this one:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2306299/?ref_=sr_1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn8lrGYsbVc

 

[Iltedge]

Thank you

 

[Temujin]

Last episode was interesting can't wait for the next one

 

[stevehoos]

Good series, the only thing on TV I watch right now besides Game Of Thrones.

 

[Lord Michlo]

Here you go:

http://www.amazon.com/Vikings-First-Look-Behind-Scenes/dp/B00BLCHL4Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365452550&sr=8-1&keywords=vikings

Cheers.

 

[DerHerbst]

Overall I'd rate the series thus far as an A- or B+

I think the acting is OK and the sets/costumes are good.  The fight scenes leave a lot to be desired tho in my opinion.  The character development is rather dull...I don't really feel any attachment to the characters even after 5 episodes. 

The main problem I have with the show is that I am always thinking to myself, "Wow this show could be SO much more if it was on HBO or Showtime!"  Obviously that's not a fair criticism and they are doing a very good job working in the constraints of basic cable. 

I think that after last night's episode the series has a great chance to take off.  I won't post any spoilers here of course.  But yeah, last night's episode really opened a lot of new doors in terms of plot development. 

I'm not sure if the series is slated for another season but I really hope it happens!  Watching any show set during Viking or Dark Ages is like mental masturbation to me!

***Does anyone know if that Mel Gibson Viking movie is still a possibility?  He's a prick of course but I bet he'd make the **** out of that movie!

 

[lymond]

I believe the show has been confirmed for a second season.  It deserves it.  I'm really enjoying it.  Yeah, it has a few flaws but overall it is entertaining and takes me to another time and place.  I can't believe how good this show is and how crap that Bible series is.

I think the monk character is very interesting.