(Photograph shows the 3 Viking Swords near Stavanger in Norway)
Confined (rather ironically, in view of the topic) to a recliner after hip surgery, I have been searching high and low for good shows to occupy my attention, especially in the wee hours of the morning when the pain often is most difficult for me... I resisted 'The Vikings' originally because it did not look terribly accurate and it is a period in history and a culture in which I actually specialised and taught at one time.
My neighbours across the road both love it, however, so I decided to give it a chance. It is highly entertaining, packed with battles and duels as well as intrigue. It is based very loosely on the old saga centred on the very colourful (and heroic) character of Ragnar Lodbrok (aka Ragnar Hairy Breeches). You can find a lot of original source material about Ragnar but this particular show appears to be based primarily on 'The Tale of Ragnar's Sons':
The Tale of Ragnar's Sons
As a child, I loved tales of heroes and their courageous deaths, their ability to defy pain and the appearance of the Grim Reaper in the most awful circumstances. I loved the tales of Cuchulain, the Hound of Ulster, who bound himself to a rock after being disemboweled, stuffing his entrails back into his body, in order to remain standing, facing his enemies in combat at the moment of his death.
Here is the original account:
'Then he went dawn the road of Meadhon-Luachair, by Slieve Fuad, and his enemy, Erc, son of Cairbre, saw him in the chariot, and his sword shining red in his hand, and the light of his courage plain upon him, and his hair spread out like threads of gold that change their colour on the edge of the anvil under the smith's band, and the Crow of Battle in the air over his head.
"Cuchulain is coming at us," said Erc to the men of Ireland, "and let us be ready for him." So they made a fence of shields linked together, and Erc put a couple of the men that were strongest here and there, to let on to be fighting one another, that they might call Cuchulain to them; and he put a Druid with every couple of them, and he bid the Druid to ask Cuchulain's spears of him, for it would be hard for him to refuse a Druid. For it was in the prophecy of the children of Calatin that a king would be killed by each one of those spears in that battle.
And he bid the men of Ireland to give out shouts, and Cuchulain came against them in his chariot, doing his
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three thunder feats, and he used his spear and his sword in such a way, that their heads, and their hands, and their feet, and their bones, were scattered through the plain of Muirthemne; like the sands on the shore, like the stars in the sky, like the dew in May, like snow-flakes and hailstones, like leaves of the trees, like buttercups in a meadow, like grass under the feet of cattle on a fine summer day. It is red that plain was with the slaughter Cuchulain made when he came crashing over it.
Then he saw one of the men that was put to quarrel with the other, and the Druid called to him to come and hinder them, and Cuchulain leaped towards them. "Your spear to me," cried the Druid. "I swear by the oath of my people," said Cuchulain, "you are not so much in want of it as I am in want of it myself. The men of Ireland are upon me," he said, "and I am upon them." "I will put a bad name on you if you refuse it to me," said the Druid. "There was never a bad name put on me yet, on account of any refusal of mine," said Cuchulain, and with that he threw the spear at him, and it went through his head, and it killed the men that were on the other side of him.
Then Cuchulain drove through the host, and Lugaid, son of Curoi, got the spear. "Who is it will fall by this spear, children of Calatin?" said Lugaid. "A king will fall by it," said they. Then Lugaid threw the spear at Cuchulain's chariot, and it went through and hit the driver, Laeg, son of Riangabra, and he fell back, and his bowels came out on the cushions of the chariot "My grief!" said Laeg, "it is hard I am wounded." Then Cuchulain drew the spear out, and Laeg said his farewell to him, and Cuchulain said: "To-day I will be a fighter and a chariot-driver as well."
Then he saw the other two men that were put to quarrel with one another, and one of them called out it would be a great shame for him not to give him his help. Then Cuchulain leaped towards them. "Your spear to me, Cuchulain," said the Druid. "I swear by the oath my people swear by," said he, "you are not in such want of the spear as I am myself, for it is by my courage, and by my arms, that I have to drive out the four provinces of Ireland that are sweeping over Muirthemne to-day." "I will put a bad name upon you," said the Druid. "I am not bound to give more than one gift in the day, and I have paid what is due to my name already," said Cuchulain. Then the Druid said: "I will put a bad name on the province of Ulster, because of your refusal."
"Ulster was never dispraised yet for any refusal of mine," said Cuchulain, "or for anything I did unworthily. Though little of my life should be left to me, Ulster will not be reproached for me to-day." With that he threw his spear at him, and it went through his head, and through the heads of the nine men that were behind him, and Cuchulain went through the host as he did before.
Then Erc, son of Cairbre Niafer, took up his spear. "Who will fall by this?" he asked the children of Calatin. "A king will fall by it," they said. "I heard you say the same thing of the spear that Lugaid threw a while ago," said Erc. "That is true," said they, "and the king of the chariot-drivers of Ireland fell by it, Cuchulain's driver Laeg, son of Riangabra."
With that, Erc threw the spear, and it went through the Grey of Macha. Cuchulain drew the spear out, and they said farewell to one another. And then the Grey went away from him, with half his harness hanging from his neck, and he went into Glas-linn, the grey pool in Slieve Fuad.
Then Cuchulain drove through the host, and he saw the third couple disputing together, and he went between them as he did before. And the Druid asked his spear of him, but he refused him. "I will put a bad name on you," said the Druid. "I have paid what is due to my name to-day," said he; "my honour does not bind me to give more than one request in a day." "I will put a bad name upon Ulster because of your refusal" "I have paid what is due for the honour of Ulster," said Cuchulain. "Then I will put a bad name on your kindred," said the Druid. "The news that I have been given a bad name shall never go back to that place I am never to go back to myself; for it is little of my life that is left to me," said Cuchulain. With that he threw his spear at him, and it went through him, and through the heads of the men that were along with him.
"You do your kindness unkindly, Cuchulain," said the Druid, as he fell. Then Cuchulain drove for the last time through the host, and Lugaid took the spear, and he said: "Who will fall by this spear, children of Calatin?" "A king will fall by it," said they. "I heard you saying that a king would fall by the spear Erc threw a while ago." "That is true," they said, "and the Grey of Macha fell by it, that was the king of the horses of Ireland".
Then Lugaid threw the spear, and it went through and through Cuchulain's body, and he knew he had got his deadly wound; and his bowels came out on the cushions of the chariot, and his only horse went away from him, the Black Sainglain, with half the harness hanging from his neck, and left his master, the king of the heroes of Ireland, to die upon the plain of Muirthemne.
Then Cuchulain said: "There is great desire on me to go to that lake beyond, and to get a drink from it."
"We will give you leave to do that," they said, "if you will come back to us after."
"I will bid you come for me if I am not able to come back myself," said Cuchulain.
Then he gathered up his bowels into his body, and he went down to the lake. He drank a drink and he washed himself, and he returned back again to his death, and he called to his enemies to come and meet him.
There was a pillar-stone west of the lake, and his eye lit on it, and he went to the pillar-stone, and he tied himself to it with his breast-belt, the way he would not meet his death lying down, but would meet it standing up. Then his enemies came round about him, but they were in dread of going close to him, for they were not sure but he might be still alive.
"It is a great shame for you," said Erc, son of Cairbre, "not to strike the head off that man, in revenge for his striking the head off my father."
Then the Grey of Macha came back to defend Cuchulain as long as there was life in him, and the hero-light was shining above him. And the Grey of Macha made three attacks against them, and he killed fifty men with his teeth, and thirty with each of his hoofs. So there is a saying: "It is not sharper work than this was done by the Grey of Macha, the time of Cuchulain's death."
Then a bird came and settled on his shoulder. "It is not on that pillar birds were used to settle," said Erc.
Then Lugaid came and lifted up Cuchulain's hair from his shoulders, and struck his head off, and the men of Ireland gave three heavy shouts, and the sword fell from Cuchulain's hand, and as it fell, it struck off Lugaid's right hand, so that it fell to the ground. Then they cut off Cuchulain's hand, in satisfaction for it, and then the light faded away from about Cuchulain's head, and left it as pale as the snow of a single night. Then all the men of Ireland said that as it was Maeve had gathered the army, it would be right for her to bring away the head to Cruachan. "I will not bring it with me; it is for Lugaid that struck it off to bring it with him," said Maeve. And then Lugaid and his men went away, and they brought away Cuchulain's head and his right hand with them, and they went south, towards the Lifé river.
At that time the army of Ulster was gathering to attack its enemies, and Conall was out before them, and he met the Grey of Macha, and his share of blood dripping from him. And then he knew that Cuchulain was dead, and himself and the Grey of Macha went looking for Cuchulain's body. And when they saw his body at the pillar-stone, the Grey of Macha went and laid his head in Cuchulain's breast: "That body is a heavy care to the Grey of Macha," said Conall.
Then Conall went after the army, thinking in his own mind what way he could get satisfaction for Cuchulain's death. For it was a promise between himself and Cuchulain that whichever of them would be killed the first, the other would get satisfaction for his death.' (END Of EXCERPT)
In similar fashion, the death of Ragnar Lodbrok is one of the most heroic, having been thrown into a pit of serpents by the horrible King Aelle of Northumbria primarily for refusing to renounce his religion and convert to Christianity. According to tradition, he showed no fear and died as he lived, a follower of the All-Father Odhinn...
Which brings me back to 'The Vikings'. I will deal with other inaccuracies in the series, but first and foremost, the idea that the Old Religion was an intolerant one is erroneous for the most part. In the Poetic Edda, it actually states that Odhinn himself is known by many different names in many different lands and worshipped according to many different traditions.... The Old Religion embraced other traditions in a way that Christianity refused to do. It is the Christians who cut down all the Holy Groves of the Pagans on the Continent and the Christians who condemned those who refused to convert to torture and death. Yes, human sacrifice was part and parcel of the Old Religion but it was NOT sacrifice that was done because some one refused to convert! Indeed, such sacrifices were deemed to be an honour, not a punishment for the most part.
I have no doubt that there were many individuals like Flothi who were themselves intolerant of other paths and religions but that was something that was not encouraged, unlike the way in which early Christianity in Northern Europe went out of its way to attempt to eradicate ANY other paths or traditions.
To many of the Northern Europeans, Christ was the 'White God', a generous Lord in the manner of any Northern Lord, a Ring-Giver who sacrificed himself like Odhinn heroically for the world. The Northern European version of the Life of Christ shows as much. It is beautifully written and creates a portrait of Our Lord that may be more valid in many ways than the one promoted by the Church in Europe, who used their religion as a scourge and a way in which to gain temporal power.
The landscapes of 'The Vikings' are gorgeous and the show does depict the difficult life of the far North, eking out a living by fishing and hunting and farming poor soil. What I find a little problematic is the way in which the Vikings themselves are depicted. They look more like a contemporary motorcycle gang than anything else. I think farmers in general are conservative by nature. They do not defy tradition for the most part. The berserkers and other fighters who joined animal totem societies were different from the ordinary Viking farmer who went raiding during certain seasons, but so far, I have not seen any mention of this in the series and no distinction is made between the ordinary fighters and the berserkers. There is no view of berserker traditions either.
What I discovered during my studies of comparative mythology was a great similarity between Northern European pagan societies during the 'Viking era' and the cultures of the Plains in North America later in history. The Plains tribes, like the Northern Europeans, had very strong totem societies, as well as religious figures who devoted themselves to singular lifestyles that placed them outside the ordinary traditions. In the Plains societies, these religious figures sometimes were called 'Clowns'... they often dressed as women, even lived as women, although they were men, using gender confusion to step outside the boundaries of ordinary existence. This occurred as well in the world of the Northern European pagans but again, it is something else that is missing from 'The Vikings'. They show 'priests' in Uppsala, but they simply are bald men in robes chanting bits from the Poetic Edda and the shadowy figure of the 'seer' in the village is simply more bizarre than anything else. Is he a victim of some childhood blight or disease, a victim of leprosy or...? It is unclear.
The Northern sagas and poems are rich with allusions to religious traditions such as the pagan equivalent of baptism but I see nothing of that in 'The Vikings'. Instead, the writers have chosen to manufacture peculiar rites of their own not found in any original source.
I think that there is a determination NOT to look at historical timelines to some extent. The era in which Ragnar lived was fairly late in the history of the so-called 'Dark Ages'. Vikings had founded the kingdom of Russia and had served as mercenaries in the Holy Land and Constantinople long before he was born. The Vikings were not a primitive people unknowing of art! They had traveled far more widely than most of the Christians at this point in time and, unlike the social restrictions imposed on ordinary Christians by the priests, who guarded their knowledge of reading and writing jealously, it was ordinary men and women who ventured far afield in Northern pagan society to explore the world beyond their own lands.
Another oddity is the way that Anglo-Saxon society is defined as 'peaceful' and 'agrarian' when in fact, it had its roots in the same traditions as the Vikings of the far North. The Angles and the Saxons were invaders, much like the Viking raiders, who finally settled on England's soil and negotiated with Romano-British society to fight alongside in tribal wars.
Nor is Christianity as fully ingrained in England at this point as the series would like one to think. The famous ship burial at Sutton Hoo shows pagan traditions alongside Christian ones... although it predated the life of Ragnar by a couple of centuries, some aspects of paganism still flourished in Great Britain at this point. The Anglo-Saxon rune poem is far later than the original Germanic version... the poem obviously represented a longstanding vibrant tradition.
The real strength and power of 'The Vikings', I would contend, is not in its depiction of history or religion, but in its characters. The main characters have a depth and complexity that is seldom found in these 'action' dramas. The character of Ragnar in particular goes far beyond the sagas and original sources. He is shown as a man who above all thirsts not for blood but for knowledge, a man who is quite capable of delivering the force of a blood eagle sacrifice upon an enemy but who yet can be merciful when logic and justice demand it. He is capable of perceiving the value of another society and a foreign religion. He is a true King, in the oldest meaning of the word, a real leader whom men follow not because they are forced to do so, but because his character and his ambitions are compelling. Moreover, his love of his family and his children drives him and makes him a very sympathetic character. He takes his disabled son out to the forest to be exposed in a sacred grove, but then defers to his wife's decision to rescue the child.
Ragnar as depicted in this series may desire power but he desires it in order to further the safety and security of his people, to give them a better life. This sort of man actually is found quite often in the ancient Northern tales and sagas.
More later... two fingers of my left hand remain 'dead' and have been so since the surgical procedure when they damaged my nerves with the I.V. It still is difficult for me to type.
Before I end this portion of my post, however, I would like to share an interesting theory about one of Ragnar's famous sons, Ivar the Boneless. Although it clearly is stated in original sources that Ivar was born with some sort of deformity in that his bones 'resembled gristle' rather than proper bones, it is only recently that a man with a similar deformity has done some serious study of the matter and conclued that Ivar suffered from brittle bone disease. Here is a video that deals with this matter:
Ivar the Boneless, the Strangest Viking
Viking Burial at Repton
Personally, I am more inclined to support the theory of Ivar being a small, disabled man who chose the bow because of his disability than the unsupported theory that it is his gigantic bones that are buried at Repton! The idea that he was a giant of a man is not given in any original source, but there are quotes about him being hoisted on a shield by his men in order to be carried into battle.
Furthermore, those who contend that a disabled or mutilated man could not be king are confusing Celtic traditions with Norse ones. Odhinn himself had only one eye and Tyr only one hand, both of them having undergone deliberate acts of sacrifice in order to save the world... It is only the Celts, an entirely different culture and people who forbade a disabled or mutilated man from becoming King.
