New Viking Saga Coming to the History Channel

[Thagarr]

I just ran across this interesting bit of information while I was doing my daily search for pirate news. The History channel will air a new 10 part "historic" drama called Vikings. This of course grabbed my attention immediately, though there hasn't been any real history on The History Channel for a long time now. None of the pictures of the cast showed them with horny helmets, so that is a good thing, however the men were mostly all shirtless.

Supposedly, the series is based on the life of Ragnar Lothbrok, one of the first and greatest of the Viking leaders! There is certainly potential for some great story telling here, as Ragnar and his band were among the first Vikings to push south and raid England and France and most of the rest of Northern Europe. They were also the first invaders to ever successfully lay siege to Paris. Later, his sons would siege the town again, and conquer and settle Normandy.

Unlike past movies and dramas that caricatured them as barbarians VIKINGS will not look at Viking culture from the outside, but from within the heart

of Viking society. It will be a series high on adventure, exploration, conflict, warfare and bloodshed — for these were extreme times — but, at its heart, it will also be a family saga. The show will boast a polished, stylized look that pushes the boundaries of television drama. Imaginatively choreographed battles will emphasize individual points of view, strategies and ruses rather than mindless, graphic slaughter. Fast-paced battle sequences will be balanced against the astonishing beauty of the fjords and Viking longboats, works of art on a bloody canvas.

That part about the "polished, stylized" look has me more than a bit concerned, as that phrase usually translates as "modernized and completely fabricated". You can read the full article, and see the entire cast HERE!