Why do people watch "Vikings"? If it's to learn about them, what good is it if the facts are all jumbled up? Hirst would have had just as much right to call it "Hirstings," because you would not have known the difference, right? Are we so anti-intellectual as a culture that facts—even basic facts—don't matter at…

I feel exactly as you do. When I have to admit that "Vikings" may be shown up by "The Last Kingdom" if Hirst ventures into its historical period, I tell myself that there is room, on the DVD shelf reserved for films about D-Day, for both "The Longest Day" and "Saving Private Ryan." If I were Hirst, though, I would…

Do we really know for sure that she is the daughter of an emperor? Since Hirst will not be a slave to fact-checkers and timelines, she is anything he darn well wants her to be.

But even historical fiction has to follow some rules, right? These characters can't run around wearing wristwatches, for example. Audiences will draw the line at certain anachronisms, or else they will see the tale of Robin Hood blending into the crazy high-jinx of "Men in Tights," a parody. Of course directors can…

Kudos to any reviewer who knows the Shakespeare cannon well enough to claim that “echoes of two great Shakespearean kings sound throughout” this episode. But you cannot just say, “This character is like Lady Macbeth because she’s always washing her hands.” Why? Because you could say the same thing about Jack…

If redstain connotes bleeding gums, the cause would be scurvy, a Vitamin C deficiency widespread during this period. But scurvy does not cause addictive behavior like Ragnar's at this point in the STORY. Since Hirst will not be a slave to fact-checkers and timelines, it's anything he darn well wants it to be.

I agree that Aslaug nursing seemingly in the nude did seem sexualized the way it was done. However, reading works by experts on Scandinavia in the Middle Ages, I learned that in the summer, when it was hot, they routinely slept in the nude. This scene would have occurred in the summer because the Vikings only went to…

I think we're all knowing a little bit about how this comes out, at least in the textual records that exist. These give Hirst a bit of latitude in future seasons. Since he's been renewed, I'm going to expand on this disability perspective with respect to Ivar, based on something in your response.

Thanks for the correction. So the two sons Ragnar takes with him are Ubbe and Hvitserk. Interesting how, with respect to childrearing, the handover from mother to father takes place in both King Ecbert's realm and Ragnar's at about the same time.

Let’s look at this from a disability perspective. Widespread in the Middle Ages, it was a folk custom, even among Christians, to expose to the elements any infant with physical impairments. According to the superstition, the changeling would then become perfect, be raised by the fairies, and live happily among them.…

Which character saves Ivar from being left to die as a would-be changeling?

For an intermittent viewer like myself, the grim tally brings me up-to-date. Watching "The Americans" in the context of geopolitics today, I am struck by how these two periods of terror in the U.S.—much of it psychological—are alike. As a nation, today's Americans must decide how to deal with the current threat…

I have a theory about why the women are so great on "Vikings" and not so great in other television series of this kind. As historical fiction, “Vikings” is based on incomplete historical records embellished with material from the rich tradition of Norse mythology and folklore.

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The Last Kingdom: the sublime; The Bastard Executioner: the ridiculous.

Not to try us all with details, but the Gunnar/Ragnar connection originates with the historical records. Based on centuries of oral tradition, the earliest manuscript of the Volsunga Saga, which recounts the legend of Gunnar in the Snake Pit, is a late thirteenth-century Icelandic prose version to which is added,…

They could do some very convincing cutaways comparing Loki imagining the myth of Gunnar in the Snake Pit at the same time Ragnar takes on Aelle's snake pit, the way Hirst handled Athelstan appearing to King Ecbert and Ragnar at the same time in the "Mercy" episode.

Is Ragnar's death in a snake pit a matter of historical record? If so, was it meant to emulate Gunnar in the Snake Pit from the "Volsunga Sagas"? If so, probably a bit of anachronism enters in, although the sagas recount stories from oral tradition predating them.

Anachronism R Us when it comes to historical fiction on television these days.