Vikings 5.7: A Looming Trojan-War Battle, Vikings Style, and Two Beautiful Stories

The main part of Vikings 5.7 set the table for the battle that will tear the world of Ragnar apart - the battle between his sons, the battle that will pit his first wife against, in effect, Athelstan's successor, the battle whose outcome is still so difficult to predict.

And that's because, not only are the sides evenly matched, but there are betrayals and regrets under the surface in both camps.  Harald's queen, now that she's pregnant with his child, must be having second thoughts about getting word of his attack to Lagertha (unless she's unsure of the father, since she was repeatedly raped, in which case it's hard to fathom what she is feeling, except unhappiness at her pregnancy).  And back in Lagertha's camp, Ubbe's being politically propositioned by his lover to let Ivar kill Bjorn and Lagertha, because (somehow) that would result in Ubbe becoming King (but only if Ivar and Harald were also killed, so she wants just about all the major players killed).

It's good to see Bjorn back home, and his union with the Sami princess is welcome.  For that reason alone - it would good to see how their relationship develops - I'd hate to see Bjorn killed in this upcoming Achilles vs. Hector battle, where I can't say which of the Vikings are which Greek or Trojan.

And while this is going on, we get two beautiful stories away from home.  One is Floki and his followers - some who see the light, others who don't - in Iceland, where his talk of no king speaks to Iceland being the first country to have a political party created and completely led by women in our real history.  And in between Iceland and Norway, it was great to see Athestan's son, a prince, return to Lindisfarne.

And I'll return next week with a report on the great battle (which is what I said last week, I know, but there are only so many episodes left in this excellent season, so I'll have to be right sooner or later).

See also Vikings 5.1-2: Floki in Iceland ... Vikings 5.3: Laughing Ivar ...Vikings 5.4: Four of More Good Stories ... Vikings 5.5: Meet Lawrence of Arabia ... Vikings 5.6: Meanwhile, Back Home ...

And see also Vikings 4.1: I'll Still Take Paris ... Vikings 4.2: Sacred Texts ...Vikings 4.4: Speaking the Language ... Vikings 4.5: Knives ... Vikings 4.8: Ships Up Cliff ... Vikings 4.10: "God Bless Paris" ... Vikings 4.11: Ragnar's Sons ... Vikings 4.12: Two Expeditions ... Vikings 4.13: Family ... Vikings 4.14: Penultimate Ragnar? ... Vikings 4.15: Close of an Era ... Vikings 1.16: Musselman ... Vikings 1.17: Ivar's Wheels ...Vikings 1.18: The Beginning of Revenge ... Vikings 4.19: On the Verge of History ... Vikings 4.20: Ends and Starts

And see also Vikings 3.1. Fighting and Farming ... Vikings 3.2: Leonard Nimoy ...Vikings 3.3: We'll Always Have Paris ... Vikings 3.4: They Call Me the Wanderer ... Vikings 3.5: Massacre ... Vikings 3.6: Athelstan and Floki ...Vikings 3.7: At the Gates ... Vikings 3.8: Battle for Paris ... Vikings 3.9: The Conquered ... Vikings Season 3 Finale: Normandy

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

Vikings 1.2: Lindisfarne

Lindisfarne is an island off England's northeast coast.  Learned monks lived there for hundreds of years after the Romans left their Christianity in Britain - so learned, that the monks are said to have discovered the properties of antibiotics more than a millennium before Fleming in the 20th century.  Lindisfarne is also known as the beginning the Viking Age - or, rather, the sacking of the island by the Vikings is seen as commencing that age.   It is thus a fitting locale for the tonight's episode 1.2 of Vikings.

Lindifarne represents, from the Viking perspective, the vindication of Ragnar's vision that untold riches resided to the west.  It represents the triumph of Floki's shipbuilding techniques.  Not every Viking who landed there finds fulfillment - Rollo notes with lament the absence of women - and argues briefly with his brother Ragnar about sparing one of the monks who speaks the Vikings' language.  This provides another tile in the mosaic of conflict that is slowly building between the brothers - with Ragnar who had the vision for the voyage, and wants to spare the monk (because Ragnar senses the monk can be of value), the more enlightened.  This conflict will no doubt bear all kinds of dramatic dividends as the story continues.

Ragnar is not quite so enlightened regarding his wife Lagertha, whom he insists must stay at home.  Or maybe that is the intelligent strategy, since a woman such as Lagertha, as beautiful as she is, would not be able to survive a ship full of men (including Rollo), even with Ragnar's protection and her considerable prowess as a shield maiden warrior.  But the point is that, unlike what I thought after last week's episode, it's not the case that Lagertha doesn't want Ragnar to take the voyage - it's rather that she wants to go with him.   And though both courses of action speak to her not wanting to be parted from her husband, Lagertha's wanting to go with him on the sea shows her to be a very different kind of wife and mother than we are accustomed to seeing in history.

The Viking landing on Lindisfarne at the end of the 700s may have signalled the decline of that monastery and the advent of Viking supremacy, but, more important, it also heralded the melding of Viking and Christian culture.   Floki, as ignorant of what could be written in the monastery's books as he is knowledgable in the ways of seafaring, burns the texts of Lindisfarne and with them the monastery.  But Ragnar's interest in the monk who speaks the Viking language signifies the beginning of a profound melding of two cultures, which will serve as a wellspring of who we are today as well as fuel for a fine new series.

See also Vikings ... 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 ... Viking Season 1 Finale: Below the Ash