"If I had a voice I'd sing..."

Anyone who has watched an episode of Vikings will know the colossal part music plays in tying the whole show together. It's the cast member that doesn't get the credit. It ramps up the suspense and makes the tension in some scenes palpable. It sets the pulses of the audience racing as if you were running into battle with the shield maidens and warriors, and is the thumping heartbeat of every battle sequence. It sets the eerie, discordant tone for some of the more unsettling pagan ritual scenes(Season 1 Episode 8 Sacrifice and the human sacrifice of Leif at Uppsala, anyone?). Who can't recall the haunting but beautiful a Capella song that played through his final triumphant moments?!
The opening credits of the show are perfectly scored by Fever Ray's 'If I Had A Heart'. An ominous, atmospheric song that incites the Vikings lust for power, wealth and land, and invokes Ragnar's own insatiable hunger for knowledge and exploration in a single recitation: "This will never end coz I want more. More, give me more, give me more!"
Hats off to Michael Perlmutter and Trevor Morris for their musical contributions to the show.
As much as it is an element of the show, music is a huge part of my life. Since I can remember, I've been making noise and writing songs. The second I picked up a guitar there was no end to my capacity for making a cacophony.
What follows(if you choose to click on the video) is my cover of "If I Had A Heart" by Fever Ray.

VERY IMPORTANT WARNING/DISCLAIMER
1. If you press play, you do so at your own risk. I do not claim to be a good singer/guitarist, I merely enjoy both(aka, you will have no legal comeback if your ears start to bleed).
2. It's probably best to turn the volume down a bit and don't watch this in public...I do not want to be responsible for you getting concerned glances from strangers who think you are viewing questionable cat videos!
3. Yes, I know, the video quality is shocking. It was taken on a severely disfigured iPhone which should have been retired many moons ago(there's a new one in a box in bedroom but I'm kinda waiting to see how long it will hold up considering how mangled it has gotten).
4. Yes, I know, there are a multitude of things wrong with my guitar playing, phrasing and that little bit towards the end where I had to quickly take a breath(I forgot to take one at the correct time and if I hadn't gasped for air when I did I would probably have accidentally suffocated myself whilst trying to entertain you with a little musical number...that's showbiz for ya folks!).
5. No Vikings were actually harmed in the making of this video.
6. No infringement of copyright is intended by this video/blog.

#LikeAViking

"For everything there is a season and for every matter under the sun. A time to be born, and a time to die..."

I have a confession to make...
Hi, my name is Maddie and I haven't seen a single episode of Vikings Season 3 yet :(

I know, this is horrible but it hasn't aired in Ireland yet. And all my great attempts at streaming it online have failed. Even further, despite all my best efforts to ignore all clips and spoilers, I have failed miserably to keep Season 3 a complete surprise for when I do eventually get to watch it. Trying to avoid spoilers on Twitter and Facebook is like trying to dodge the Black Death in the great outbreak in the latter stages of the 1340's...fecking impossible!!

And, in a little bit of a selfish rant, I firmly believe that a new distribution/airing policy should be adopted for situations like this. If you shoot a TV show in a particular country, that's the country it should air in first. Yup, that's my viewpoint and I'm sticking to it. History, sort this out...please...and thank you...if it's not too much hassle...I'm sorry...forget I mentioned it...don't hate me :)

*SPOILER ALERT* (if you just so happen to not know the following, then congratulations, you have way more patience and restraint than I do!)

I know of the passing of Athelstan, to understate the situation completely. This will be a huge loss to the show. It was such a great story line to see him grapple with his beliefs, both his religious struggle and his own personal moral stuggle. And the dynamic of his relationship with Ragnar. This also opens up an interesting new story arc for Travis Fimmel's character as to what he will do without his confidante and, ultimately, his only true friend. After all, Athelstan truely understood and shared Ragnar's curious and worldly nature. What's in store? Only The Seer knows...

Back to my Viking training, I've been busy trying to improve on my Viking-ness. Cast your mind back to Christmas morn(and my first blog post...aw, we've come so far and made so many fond memories already!) and tackling one of the first major hurdles in this journey to becoming a Viking Extra-ordinaire: icy cold water. Getting used to the conditions real Vikings would have had to face in their daily lives when fishing or exploring. You might remember I willingly(but not so gracefully) threw myself into the freezing, December waters of the Barrow along with some other brave souls. To continue on this trend I decided that, since the Vikings would have had to face some crazy and unpredictable situations like storms on the high seas and rough sailing conditions, I would try something that involved choppy water and something scary. So on my travels in New Zealand I got all suited and booted for a rafting adventure. Yes, I clung tight to a inflated piece of rubber that I trusted to get me safely down the Kaituna River through rough rapids and down the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world...a 7.5 meter drop! I have to say the whole thing was far less scary than I iad imagined and the adrenaline buzz was off the charts, even if we were deliberately flipped over after our descent over the waterfall. (See that arm at the right side of the picture at the front of the boat...that's me meeting the bottom of the waterfull with all its might face first and losing a contact lense in the process!)

Jumping from the raft into the fresh but warm water of the Kaituna, letting the river float you through untouched nature. Bobbing along on my back, recalling the traditional maori blessing for a safe journey and a show of respect for the water and land offered on our behalf before we disembarked, you can't help but be in awe of our great planet. With all the raiding and plundering, I wonder did the Vikings ever stop and just take it all in? For me, the journey through New Zealand was one picture perfect moment after another. So much untouched land that around every bend in the road was another spectacular view. But that moment in the river as I floated along trusting nature(and a fairly serious lifejacket) to keep me safe as I took in the unspoiled scenery, I couldn't help but wonder what amazing sights the Vikings would have come across on their travels that stopped them in their tracks, even just for a split moment.

#LikeAViking

Title Quote: Vikings Season 1 Episode 5: Raid

Athelstan praying for Ragnars recovery.

*Because it's a beautiful piece of writing by Michael Hirst, was brilliantly delivered by George Bladgen and was an important moment in the friendship of Athelstan and Ragnar, and sets out the premise for many of the storylines, here is the quote in its entirety.

"For everything there is a season and for every matter under the sun. A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to plant and to pluck up what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal. Mary, Mother of God, listen to me. Do not let this man die!"