It's here! It's here! Can't contain excitement! May have had a moment of incontinence as a result! ;)
#LikeAViking
Showing posts with label Athelstan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Athelstan. Show all posts
Friday, 10 July 2015
SEASON 4 TRAILER IS HERE!
It's here! It's here! Can't contain excitement! May have had a moment of incontinence as a result! ;)
#LikeAViking
Wednesday, 8 July 2015
"Our whole lives are just stories..."
WARNING: Should you continue to read the rest of this particular blog post, I cannot be held accountable if you can never view "Vikings" in the same way again!
Going to level with you. This post has absolutely zero per cent got to do with anything regarding my 'training' to become an extra on History's Vikings. No, this is by far my most random post and a little out there, but bare with me, it will provide a giggle or two when you realise it's quite accurate. Confused yet?
Back in the day, the Sagas and legends of the Vikings were passed along by skalds and their poetry. Preserving(and possibly taking serious artistic license) the heroes and villains, Kings and warriors, and rights and wrongs of their society and history. And by word of mouth at that! Nothing was written down. Entire accounts of people and events were dependent on how much a skaldic poet was being paid, how creative he/she was and how much they liked you(and probably how much mead had been consumed too...to be fair). They were the Michael Hirst's and Walt Disney's of their day...without the multimillion budgets, animation/CGI skills, crew of hundreds and leading men and ladies to bring it all to life...but you get the picture.
These dudes and dudettes were inspired by the living history around them. Either f'row on the battle field taking in all the action, or front and centre on stage providing light entertainment for the gathered masses. Recounting the valiant blow by blow heroic victory of his or her employer, or ridiculing the dismal or nonexistent display of gallantry by the losing force. Their job was to be inspired!
Eventually a record of these tales was kept. Thank you Mr Snorri Sturluson. And it is that, along with other accounts, that inspired Michael Hirst to bring to life the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and his many sons...
Sitting in on a rainy day watching Disney movies with my little nephew I couldnt help but notice a couple of storyline/theme parallels with my favourite TV show of all time. Maybe it was the lack of fresh air from sitting in out of the rain in the middle of the day. Maybe it was the lack of vitamin D from having the curtains closed pretending we're in the cinema. Maybe it was the third cup of coffee I'd consumed in two hours in a vein attempt to keep up with the energy levels of a six year old, whose energy stores would only be comparable to that of an energiser bunny who main lines skittles and Red Bull all day. But whatever it was, my mind had gone to an altered state of realisation. Michael Hirst is undeniably inspired by the greatest saga of all time...
THE LION KING!
FLOKI/RAFIKI
The eccentric, spiritual one, with a penchant for face paint and a bit of a tree fetish!
ROLLO/SCAR
A serious case of fraternal jealousy going on, and a hunger for recognition and power that leads him to stoop to drastic measures to achieve his ambitions.
RAGNAR/MUFASA
Intelligent and just. Family is the most important thing to him, even his selfish brother. Revered by all. Will go to great lengths to protect his family and kin.
BJÖRN/SIMBA
Impatient to prove himself as a worthy ruler. Foolish in the face of adversity and 'Just cannot wait to be king'(Be honest, you sang that last bit, didn't you!?!).
ATHELSTAN/ZAZU
The reserved, well travelled one. Adviser, friend and confidante to the King. Not best liked by the King's brother.
LAGERTHA/SARABI
Alpha female, mother and equal counterpart to her King. Not to mention the 'what's going on there?' relationship with her husband's brother!
PORUNN/NALA
The love interest of the righteous heir to the thrown but wants to prove she is more than an equal to her male counterparts.
THORSTEIN & ARNE/THIMONE & PUMBA
Good time boys extolling their own unique perspective of the ways of the world to a young impressionable future leader. Not the most well adjusted of individuals but charming and carefree in their own way(Hakuna Matata!).
I did warn you! I told you it was a bit out there. But good luck watching Vikings in the future without your subconscious flitting back and forth between the comparisons!
In other news, I did tell some friends I'd give them a mention for their Twitter account. So give some love to the ladies of TeamStanden. Your one stop shop for all things relating to Clive Standen. He seems to be a bit of a fan of the account himself judging by the retweets! #Standenites
#LikeAViking
TITLE QUOTE: Season 1 Episoode 7 A King's Ransom
Lagertha to husband and wife seeking council about their child
Going to level with you. This post has absolutely zero per cent got to do with anything regarding my 'training' to become an extra on History's Vikings. No, this is by far my most random post and a little out there, but bare with me, it will provide a giggle or two when you realise it's quite accurate. Confused yet?
Back in the day, the Sagas and legends of the Vikings were passed along by skalds and their poetry. Preserving(and possibly taking serious artistic license) the heroes and villains, Kings and warriors, and rights and wrongs of their society and history. And by word of mouth at that! Nothing was written down. Entire accounts of people and events were dependent on how much a skaldic poet was being paid, how creative he/she was and how much they liked you(and probably how much mead had been consumed too...to be fair). They were the Michael Hirst's and Walt Disney's of their day...without the multimillion budgets, animation/CGI skills, crew of hundreds and leading men and ladies to bring it all to life...but you get the picture.
These dudes and dudettes were inspired by the living history around them. Either f'row on the battle field taking in all the action, or front and centre on stage providing light entertainment for the gathered masses. Recounting the valiant blow by blow heroic victory of his or her employer, or ridiculing the dismal or nonexistent display of gallantry by the losing force. Their job was to be inspired!
Eventually a record of these tales was kept. Thank you Mr Snorri Sturluson. And it is that, along with other accounts, that inspired Michael Hirst to bring to life the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok and his many sons...
Sitting in on a rainy day watching Disney movies with my little nephew I couldnt help but notice a couple of storyline/theme parallels with my favourite TV show of all time. Maybe it was the lack of fresh air from sitting in out of the rain in the middle of the day. Maybe it was the lack of vitamin D from having the curtains closed pretending we're in the cinema. Maybe it was the third cup of coffee I'd consumed in two hours in a vein attempt to keep up with the energy levels of a six year old, whose energy stores would only be comparable to that of an energiser bunny who main lines skittles and Red Bull all day. But whatever it was, my mind had gone to an altered state of realisation. Michael Hirst is undeniably inspired by the greatest saga of all time...
THE LION KING!
The eccentric, spiritual one, with a penchant for face paint and a bit of a tree fetish!
ROLLO/SCAR
A serious case of fraternal jealousy going on, and a hunger for recognition and power that leads him to stoop to drastic measures to achieve his ambitions.
Intelligent and just. Family is the most important thing to him, even his selfish brother. Revered by all. Will go to great lengths to protect his family and kin.
BJÖRN/SIMBA
Impatient to prove himself as a worthy ruler. Foolish in the face of adversity and 'Just cannot wait to be king'(Be honest, you sang that last bit, didn't you!?!).
The reserved, well travelled one. Adviser, friend and confidante to the King. Not best liked by the King's brother.
Alpha female, mother and equal counterpart to her King. Not to mention the 'what's going on there?' relationship with her husband's brother!
The love interest of the righteous heir to the thrown but wants to prove she is more than an equal to her male counterparts.
Good time boys extolling their own unique perspective of the ways of the world to a young impressionable future leader. Not the most well adjusted of individuals but charming and carefree in their own way(Hakuna Matata!).
I did warn you! I told you it was a bit out there. But good luck watching Vikings in the future without your subconscious flitting back and forth between the comparisons!
In other news, I did tell some friends I'd give them a mention for their Twitter account. So give some love to the ladies of TeamStanden. Your one stop shop for all things relating to Clive Standen. He seems to be a bit of a fan of the account himself judging by the retweets! #Standenites
#LikeAViking
TITLE QUOTE: Season 1 Episoode 7 A King's Ransom
Lagertha to husband and wife seeking council about their child
Sunday, 29 March 2015
"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 :(
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!)
Title Quote: Vikings Season 1 Episode 5: Raid
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
*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!"
Thursday, 29 January 2015
The Vikings Are Coming...
It is but a few short days until Season 3 of Vikings drops. And it is such a credit to the fans of this show that the History Channel are putting everything into creating engaging content for the shows following. Up first is the premiere installment of, what will hopefully be, a long series of video journals from Athelstan(George Blagden). Serves as both an insight into how the actors get inside the heads of their characters to convincingly portray them, as well as a handy little recap on everything leading up to the new season!
And if that doesn't get you all excited for new raiding and the escapades of our slightly cleaner than their stereotype warriors of the sea, for good measure, the people of the History Channel have spoiled us all rotten with a quick taster and behind the scenes look at what is in store in the next 10 episodes. Grab your drinking horn, fill it with meade, and enjoy this little teaser...#LikeAViking
(If you're confused about where to view this video, the hashtag is the link...click it...click it! Or if you are one of those people who are motivated by mischief and act out the exact opposite of what you are instructed then DON'T CLICK THE LINK ON THE HASHTAG! A little bit of reverse psychology for you there :) )
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