Holy moly, I did not know this started up again. Looks like I already missed 3 episodes!! Anyone else catch these? Thursdays nights @ 10pm. I know we had some pretty good discussions on this last season
History Channel Vikings Season 3
- Thread starter melissatrv
- Start date
Yes! I am back and have been watching and enjoying now that this show is back. Quite a few new and interesting dynamics happening this season vs. last season though...(e.g. Athalstan is really showing a different side of himself).
I just got into this. Out of curiosity I sound a special on Vikings on the History channel, and PVRd it, thinking it was actually about Vikings and not the show.
When I realized it was about the show I decided to check out that week's episode.
It looked interesting so I set my PVR to record new episodes.
I've been trying to find things that could be my new Tudors and I found this and Salem.
When I realized it was about the show I decided to check out that week's episode.
It looked interesting so I set my PVR to record new episodes.
I've been trying to find things that could be my new Tudors and I found this and Salem.
^^ I definitely should.
Right now, I want to concentrate on what's happening this season, but maybe they'll do a Vikings marathon, or something.
Ragnar's hot.
Without getting into it, because I don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen it yet, I knew something was going to happen with the thing with the ice and the thing with the wine, but I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to play out.
Right now, I want to concentrate on what's happening this season, but maybe they'll do a Vikings marathon, or something.
Ragnar's hot.
Without getting into it, because I don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen it yet, I knew something was going to happen with the thing with the ice and the thing with the wine, but I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to play out.
On the latest episode:
Let's talk Harbard. Signs that he is Odin or Loki. I believe he is likely Loki for the following reasons.
- Loki is the trickster "god"
- He is only half-god, explaining when he said that he is "not a god" but wishes he was
- He was there during all those stories where gods were present
- He (like Odin) can disguise himself, I believe he disguised himself AS Odin in disguise adopting "Harbard" [Odin's alias according to legend] to taunt Thor about his wife (Sif's) infidelity
- This is mirrored by his seduction of Aslaug, Ragnar's wife.
- His ability to heal/manipulate is "god-like"
- He could not manipulate Siggy, so he used the children to lure her to the ice pond
- As she came up, Loki disguised himself has her dead daughter, allowing her "let go" and die
- the presence of the "gods" and supernatural have viewers chalking things up to hallucinations because the show is more "realistic" but Odin is seen in the first episode, Athelstan's stigma and visions of blood, the Seer's predictions come true, the three women's clairvoyant dreams of Harbard all suggest that the supernatural is real in this show
- to quote a reddit post someone explained very well, "the story he [Harbard] tells is a variation of a story from the Gylfaginning in the Prose Edda where Thor, Loki, and two human children (pressed into service by Thor because one of them broke his goat's leg) go to Jotunheim and to the hall of Utgard-Loki, a giant. And when Siggy points out that it was actually Thor who performed the deeds that Harbard (a by-name of Odin, by the way) claimed to have done so, he admits that he didn't do them, but he saw them done with his own eyes. So, he's either the human boy (Thjalfi), which is kind of doubtful, or he's claiming to be Loki..."
- But, it is also possible that it's actually Odin and he is a lying jerk.
Let's talk Harbard. Signs that he is Odin or Loki. I believe he is likely Loki for the following reasons.
- Loki is the trickster "god"
- He is only half-god, explaining when he said that he is "not a god" but wishes he was
- He was there during all those stories where gods were present
- He (like Odin) can disguise himself, I believe he disguised himself AS Odin in disguise adopting "Harbard" [Odin's alias according to legend] to taunt Thor about his wife (Sif's) infidelity
- This is mirrored by his seduction of Aslaug, Ragnar's wife.
- His ability to heal/manipulate is "god-like"
- He could not manipulate Siggy, so he used the children to lure her to the ice pond
- As she came up, Loki disguised himself has her dead daughter, allowing her "let go" and die
- the presence of the "gods" and supernatural have viewers chalking things up to hallucinations because the show is more "realistic" but Odin is seen in the first episode, Athelstan's stigma and visions of blood, the Seer's predictions come true, the three women's clairvoyant dreams of Harbard all suggest that the supernatural is real in this show
- to quote a reddit post someone explained very well, "the story he [Harbard] tells is a variation of a story from the Gylfaginning in the Prose Edda where Thor, Loki, and two human children (pressed into service by Thor because one of them broke his goat's leg) go to Jotunheim and to the hall of Utgard-Loki, a giant. And when Siggy points out that it was actually Thor who performed the deeds that Harbard (a by-name of Odin, by the way) claimed to have done so, he admits that he didn't do them, but he saw them done with his own eyes. So, he's either the human boy (Thjalfi), which is kind of doubtful, or he's claiming to be Loki..."
- But, it is also possible that it's actually Odin and he is a lying jerk.
Catching up on the first couple seasons of Vikings.
I know I said I wouldn't, but I wanted to read about the characters and then I got to reading descriptions of the episodes.
I thought, "Why read about the episodes when I could actually watch them?" I got to the end of the sixth episode and I thought I'd share my thoughts (before I go back and watch more!).
(Forgive my train-of-thought posting.)
The raid scenes are tough to watch, but I still find myself resenting the people I feel are "overdoing" it. Odd to say, I know, when I'm watching Vikings invade a village, but it's like, "It's bad enough you're stealing their things and killing them. Do you really need to rape a townswoman, too?"
I remember being pleasantly surprised that during the raids they did things that almost resembled humility:
Ragnar letting the monk keep his cross and his prayer book. Not forcing him to partake in his activities with his wife because he didn't want to.
Rollo going into a hut and finding an old man in his bedroom. (The thought that popped into my head was, "He's no threat! Please don't hurt him!") I was pleasantly surprised when he let the man finish his water before he took the pitcher and cup.
Lagertha getting mad at Knut for attempting to rape a villager and physically stopping him from doing so.
I felt bad for the monstaries and village they invaded, but as we saw in Thursday's episode, the English can be invading jerks, too.
(I remember thinking, "Wow. Attempting to rape a villager. That's REAL good Christianing!")
All that said, I used to watch The Tudors, and I'd rather see a Viking raid than people getting tortured. At least they could either fight back or run. (And not, you know, being tied up and poked with a red hot poker.)
I had to comment after the sixth episode, because that was the funeral for the previous Earl Haraldson. A little background: I'm a huge fan of the Horrible Histories series by Terry Deary and Martin Brown. One of the books in the series was The Vicious Vikings.
I remember watching the sixth episode and realizing there was going to be a scene where a slave girl volunteered to go with the Earl, and I was interested to see how it went, because I remember reading an account about something like that in my Horrible Histories book.
In the book, there's an account of an Arab Traveller named Ibn Fadlan. He was observing the funeral of a rich member of the Rus Tribe.
The account was close to how it was on the show: funeral for an important man, slave girl volunteering to join him and the Angel of Death assisting with the procedure.
The account in my book didn't say how she was prepared beforehand or how the men took in turns to sleep with her. To be fair, it is a kid's book, so the author cleaned it up a bit.
A more in-depth account talked about how she was prepared by being given a great amount of intoxicating drinks while she sang happily.
I'm not going to copy the entire thing, but I'd like to share bits of it:
On the Friday afternoon they placed the dead man on the bed and covered it with a tent. [The bed and the tent are on the Viking ship. - C]
They lifted the slave girl up so she could see her master on the ship and asked her if she'd like to go with him and she agreed. "I can see my master, sitting in Paradise. He is calling for me ... let me go to him!"
So they took her to the ship. She slipped off the two bracelets she was wearing and gave them to the Angel of Death. The Angel of Death led the girl into the tent. The men began to beat their shields with sticks so her cries would not be heard and upset the other women.
Then as the men strangled her, the Angel of Death plunged a knife into her heart.
The dead man's closest relative took a piece of lighted wood and set fire to a pile of wood beneath the ship. Flames swallowed everything - ship, tent, man and slave girl.
(The Vicious Vikings by Terry Deary and Martin Brown, p. 70)
A more in-depth account can be found here:
http://thornews.com/2012/05/12/a-viking-burial-described-by-arab-writer-ahmad-ibn-fadlan/
I know I said I wouldn't, but I wanted to read about the characters and then I got to reading descriptions of the episodes.
I thought, "Why read about the episodes when I could actually watch them?" I got to the end of the sixth episode and I thought I'd share my thoughts (before I go back and watch more!).
(Forgive my train-of-thought posting.)
The raid scenes are tough to watch, but I still find myself resenting the people I feel are "overdoing" it. Odd to say, I know, when I'm watching Vikings invade a village, but it's like, "It's bad enough you're stealing their things and killing them. Do you really need to rape a townswoman, too?"
I remember being pleasantly surprised that during the raids they did things that almost resembled humility:
Ragnar letting the monk keep his cross and his prayer book. Not forcing him to partake in his activities with his wife because he didn't want to.
Rollo going into a hut and finding an old man in his bedroom. (The thought that popped into my head was, "He's no threat! Please don't hurt him!") I was pleasantly surprised when he let the man finish his water before he took the pitcher and cup.
Lagertha getting mad at Knut for attempting to rape a villager and physically stopping him from doing so.
I felt bad for the monstaries and village they invaded, but as we saw in Thursday's episode, the English can be invading jerks, too.
(I remember thinking, "Wow. Attempting to rape a villager. That's REAL good Christianing!")
All that said, I used to watch The Tudors, and I'd rather see a Viking raid than people getting tortured. At least they could either fight back or run. (And not, you know, being tied up and poked with a red hot poker.)
I had to comment after the sixth episode, because that was the funeral for the previous Earl Haraldson. A little background: I'm a huge fan of the Horrible Histories series by Terry Deary and Martin Brown. One of the books in the series was The Vicious Vikings.
I remember watching the sixth episode and realizing there was going to be a scene where a slave girl volunteered to go with the Earl, and I was interested to see how it went, because I remember reading an account about something like that in my Horrible Histories book.
In the book, there's an account of an Arab Traveller named Ibn Fadlan. He was observing the funeral of a rich member of the Rus Tribe.
The account was close to how it was on the show: funeral for an important man, slave girl volunteering to join him and the Angel of Death assisting with the procedure.
The account in my book didn't say how she was prepared beforehand or how the men took in turns to sleep with her. To be fair, it is a kid's book, so the author cleaned it up a bit.
A more in-depth account talked about how she was prepared by being given a great amount of intoxicating drinks while she sang happily.
I'm not going to copy the entire thing, but I'd like to share bits of it:
On the Friday afternoon they placed the dead man on the bed and covered it with a tent. [The bed and the tent are on the Viking ship. - C]
They lifted the slave girl up so she could see her master on the ship and asked her if she'd like to go with him and she agreed. "I can see my master, sitting in Paradise. He is calling for me ... let me go to him!"
So they took her to the ship. She slipped off the two bracelets she was wearing and gave them to the Angel of Death. The Angel of Death led the girl into the tent. The men began to beat their shields with sticks so her cries would not be heard and upset the other women.
Then as the men strangled her, the Angel of Death plunged a knife into her heart.
The dead man's closest relative took a piece of lighted wood and set fire to a pile of wood beneath the ship. Flames swallowed everything - ship, tent, man and slave girl.
(The Vicious Vikings by Terry Deary and Martin Brown, p. 70)
A more in-depth account can be found here:
http://thornews.com/2012/05/12/a-viking-burial-described-by-arab-writer-ahmad-ibn-fadlan/
I'm all caught up now.
I hope it's okay that I comment on earlier episodes here. This is the most current thread.
I didn't cry but I was shocked when Leif volunteered himself to be sacrificed and I was watching that whole sequence with my mouth hanging open. I told my dad about catching up on Vikings (we were checking in and I was telling him how I spent my weekend) and I mentioned this episode and the one where the slave girl volunteered to join the Earl on the journey to Valhalla. We briefly touched on it but he thought they were brainwashed. I agree to an extent, but I think it's a little bit simplistic to just say that. To me, a perfect example of brainwashing is Jonestown, where all the members were persuaded to drink poison laced Flavor-Aid.
I'm not going to say there wasn't any ever because I don't know that, but it was a different mentality back then and they were all about dying with honor and doing what they could to secure themselves a place at Odin's table.
Volunteering to be sacrificed to Odin guaranteed a seat.
I cried when they were torturing that poor priest. Yes, he was mean, "Apostates will be crucified" especially since he said that after Athelstan tried to help him by telling him to hide.
Floki was absolutely the worst person to walk in on them, given his feelings on Christians.
Cut to Athelstan being crucified and it's very clear that the British were just as brutal as the Vikings were.
The Blood Eagle was a very interesting albeit brutal episode. I remember from watching The Tudors that drawing and quartering was the standard punishment for men who have committed treason, so Blood Eagle was the Viking equivalent to drawing and quartering.
The end of the second season was a surprise although I'm surprised they let Erlendur go. You'd think they'd subscribe to the whole "Don't let the acorn grow into a tree" thing.
I hope it's okay that I comment on earlier episodes here. This is the most current thread.
I didn't cry but I was shocked when Leif volunteered himself to be sacrificed and I was watching that whole sequence with my mouth hanging open. I told my dad about catching up on Vikings (we were checking in and I was telling him how I spent my weekend) and I mentioned this episode and the one where the slave girl volunteered to join the Earl on the journey to Valhalla. We briefly touched on it but he thought they were brainwashed. I agree to an extent, but I think it's a little bit simplistic to just say that. To me, a perfect example of brainwashing is Jonestown, where all the members were persuaded to drink poison laced Flavor-Aid.
I'm not going to say there wasn't any ever because I don't know that, but it was a different mentality back then and they were all about dying with honor and doing what they could to secure themselves a place at Odin's table.
Volunteering to be sacrificed to Odin guaranteed a seat.
I cried when they were torturing that poor priest. Yes, he was mean, "Apostates will be crucified" especially since he said that after Athelstan tried to help him by telling him to hide.
Floki was absolutely the worst person to walk in on them, given his feelings on Christians.
Cut to Athelstan being crucified and it's very clear that the British were just as brutal as the Vikings were.
The Blood Eagle was a very interesting albeit brutal episode. I remember from watching The Tudors that drawing and quartering was the standard punishment for men who have committed treason, so Blood Eagle was the Viking equivalent to drawing and quartering.
The end of the second season was a surprise although I'm surprised they let Erlendur go. You'd think they'd subscribe to the whole "Don't let the acorn grow into a tree" thing.
Vikings has been picked up for a fourth season!
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2015/03/26/vikings-renewed-for-season-4
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2015/03/26/vikings-renewed-for-season-4
This supports the theory that the Vikings were part of the Indo-European ethnic group because the same thing happens amongst the kings of India. When a king dies, it was cosidered noble for his wife to be burned alive on the funeral pyre. In reality she was drugged so she would be easy to control. This practice was only banned in the last 200 years.
Ragnar says, "I forgive you, brother, for you know not what you do", who do you think he was directing that to?
I think he said it to Floki. Athelstan embraced his faith. He essentially re-baptized himself and cleansed himself of his sins. ("I have died and am reborn!"). When Floki killed him he was at prayer and at peace with his faith.
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" is in Luke 23:34. It is theologically interpreted as Jesus's prayer for forgiveness for those who were crucifying him: the Roman soldiers, and apparently for all others who were involved in his crucifixion. (Source: Wikipedia article: Sayings of Jesus on the cross).
I am so glad I got all caught up on the show before Thursday's episode. If I hadn't I don't think what happened would have hit me as hard as it did.
(Well, I was in shock when I realized who was in the shroud and then it hit me afterwards. I'm not ashamed to say I cried for Athelstan.)
I think he said it to Floki. Athelstan embraced his faith. He essentially re-baptized himself and cleansed himself of his sins. ("I have died and am reborn!"). When Floki killed him he was at prayer and at peace with his faith.
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" is in Luke 23:34. It is theologically interpreted as Jesus's prayer for forgiveness for those who were crucifying him: the Roman soldiers, and apparently for all others who were involved in his crucifixion. (Source: Wikipedia article: Sayings of Jesus on the cross).
I am so glad I got all caught up on the show before Thursday's episode. If I hadn't I don't think what happened would have hit me as hard as it did.
(Well, I was in shock when I realized who was in the shroud and then it hit me afterwards. I'm not ashamed to say I cried for Athelstan.)