Vikings 3.3: We'll Always Have Paris

My favorite scene in Vikings 3.3 was the one in which Ecbert tells Ragnar about Paris.  It typifies what I most like about this series, the profound world-changing collision and mix of cultures in this age and place. England still has a toe in its Roman past, and a local king - Ecbert - visited a Roman city that still stands, Paris, with Charlemagne enthroned.   Ragnar cannot help but be tempted by this true tale, and we therefore see in this scene the beginning of the Viking presence in a world far beyond England.  The story of the Vikings is really an early chapter in the epic of our planet becoming a global village, which continues today.

The Romans figure in my next favorite scene, Ecbert and Lagertha in a still operational Roman bath. It's cozy, comfy, and conducive to making love.   How far will their relationship go?   In a much less comfortable scene - in fact, it was a bit revolting - Ecbert watches Lagertha bathe herself in the blood of a slaughtered cow and fertilize the field with the blood in a Viking ritual designed to bring forth a good harvest.   Ecbert has now been immersed, almost literally, in Lagertha's culture, just as she has with his.   But is this, viscerally, what he wants?  Some of his advisors have already complained about the lack of Christian faith in the Vikings - which Ecbert doesn't seem to mind - but what about the blood on Lagertha's face?

Althestan and Judith are also in that warm Roman bath, and close together, but Judith demurs.  She later tells Althestan that she wanted him, typifying Althestan's position in this entire story and series so far:  he is wanted by many (usually his intellect, but sometimes more) but rarely gets to be fully immersed in any of it, being so powerfully pulled in different directions.   In that sense, he is much more truly the wanderer than that weirdo back in Scandinavia, who appears after the three lead women dream about him.

Speaking of which, Scandinavia continues to be the lesser theater of action in this third season of Vikings.  But that's just as it should be, as the Vikings move out to the greater world beyond in the West.

See also Vikings 3.1. Fighting and Farming ... Vikings 3.2: Leonard Nimoy

And see also Vikings 2.1-2: Upping the Ante of Conquest ... Vikings 2.4: Wise King ... Vikings 2.5: Caught in the Middle ... Vikings 2.6: The Guardians ...Vikings 2.7: Volatile Mix ... Vikings 2.8: Great Post-Apocalyptic Narrative ... Vikings Season 2 Finale: Satisfying, Surprising, Superb

And see also Vikings ... Vikings 1.2: Lindisfarne ... Vikings 1.3: The Priest ... Vikings 1.4:  Twist and Testudo ... Vikings 1.5: Freud and Family ... Vikings 1.7: Religion and Battle ... Vikings 1.8: Sacrifice
... Vikings Season 1 Finale: Below the Ash

 
historical science fiction - a little further back in time

#SFWApro