'Vikings' - Season 2

Yesterday evening was the season-two premiere of the History Channel series 'Vikings'. It was one of the best episodes yet, with many powerful themes portrayed. If you missed it, it would be easy to catch up by the next episode. The opening scene showed a type of pre-battle warrior ritual that reminded me of the "haka," a Polynesian warrior chant and dance used by the New Zealand national rugby team the "All-Blacks." I just found it amusing that so many people perceive it to be some exotic ritual when many European warrior traditions used similar customs.

The above video is Lagertha defending herself from unwanted visitors when Ragnar was gone. I think it's an awesome scene. The actress Katherine Winnick plays such a strong, beautiful woman. She is actually of Ukrainian descent, but may have Viking roots. There are so many great character faces in this series. The actors seem to all be European, Canadian, or Australian, being that's it's a Canadian and Irish production. They also seem to have a bigger budget this season, which always helps.


4-26-14 ADDITION:

I wanted to add something here, without placing it on a new posting. Now there's only one more episode left of season two. This past episode, 'The Choice', caught my attention more than usual in that the Christian vs. Heathen theme was played up more than usual. That being English Christians vs. Scandinavian Heathens, and the writers didn't "favor" one side in any way I don't believe. At one point, Athelstan further conformed his admiration for the Odinic gods by admitting that he could see, sense, and feel them... while he could not with "his" monolithic God. In particular, the god Thor. At another point, Floki discussed Odinic beliefs. He brought up Odin, Freya, Thor, Balder, and Loki.

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