The other mystery is, as I mentioned earlier, the Wanderer. Why? The point of this eludes me, unless it is meant to portray the hazards of the Viking life. Floki obliges, but that wound too is untended. Why is that? He’s in obvious pain, and finally he asks Floki to remove his arm. He took an arrow in the upper arm, but no one has tended him, unless you count a few magic mushrooms and Ragnar’s hope that “Freya will lie with you tonight and take care of you” as medical intervention. Now, all through this episode there are two mysterious story lines: the first is the wounded Torstein. She doesn’t see Ecbert’s answering smirk, but we do. “And would you say that about yourself, Father-in-law?” She responds with this episode’s zinger line: Nevertheless, the king warns Judith off of Athelstan, saying that the more complicated a person is, the more dangerous he is. I guess I always have to find one.Įcbert is smitten too – by Lagertha. Michael Hirst! Stay in your own century! That phrase ‘Bless me father for I have sinned’ doesn’t belong here either.
Confessionals probably didn’t appear until the 17th century or later. I hate it when the set designers do this.
#Who was the wanderer in vikings series
King Ecbert’s daughter-in-law Judith appears to have been smitten – along with all the women watching this series – by Athelstan’s bedroom eyes. Throughout the centuries between then and now, there has been no Viking war lord more renowned than Ragnar Lothbrok. It is not looking promising for Lagertha’s folk and, unknown to her, over in Hedeby, her trusted manager Kalf has taken over as jarl. The stage is now set for future conflict between Viking settlers and the Christians – possibly the ones they’ve displaced in this vil. Sure enough, in a later scene, Athelstan’s Christian blessing of the house is interrupted when one of Lagertha’s people prominently displays a figurine of Odin. He delivers Lagertha to her new home, hands her a fistful of dirt, and assures her that he will protect her people. In Wessex King Ecbert is still playing realtor. Burgred, whose stupid battle tactics have already convinced us that he’s an idiot, has to be dragged away from his sister and those dangling heads by one of his thegns. I was reminded of Floki’s words from Episode 1 as he watched Kwenthrith dance among the men in the Viking camp: “No man should trust the words of a woman.” Personally, I don’t trust anything that Kwenthrith says, even the reasons she gives for hating her uncle and brother. The heads of slain enemies – whether warriors, criminals or innocents – were used throughout history to terrify an enemy army or populace.Īs the gruesomely bedecked ships approach the Mercian shore, Kwenthrith calls out to her brother, Burgred, assuring him that he will come to no harm.
Was there historical precedence for this grim scene? Oh yes. Ragnar and company have won a battle against half of the Mercian army (see previous episode), and the Mercian soldiers who remain across the river flee when faced with Viking ships ornamented with Mercian heads. Rollo and Kwenthrith, both intoxicated, are wildly violent, he against the living and she against the dead. Torstein, wounded by an arrow, is in pain and visibly suffering. In Mercia we witness post battle trauma symptoms in Bjorn, Torstein, Rollo and Kwenthrith. The many story lines in this episode, and the many cuts between Mercia, Wessex, Kattegat and Hedeby, were dizzying. What is the technical name for this? I don’t know. The earliest episodes are set-ups, leading toward a dramatic denouement in the season finale. Of course, it’s hard to see what that seasonal arc is going to be until we get very close to the end. If you’ve been paying close attention to this series you know that there is a story arc for each episode, and also an arc for each season. Near the final moments of the episode, he walks into Kattegat – not a dream this time, but real – seeking help for his bloodied right hand. One of his hands is bloody, and in the other he carries a ball of burning snow. He is an outcast – an exile who wanders winter-weary the icy waves, longing for lost halls, a helping hand far or near.*Ĭould series writer Michael Betrayal Hirst be evoking that poem? There is a mysterious figure in this episode who appears in dreams to Helga, Aslaug and Siggi. There is an Old English poem titled The Wanderer. One Wanderer, and not our band of Vikings who are roaming Britain’s green and pleasant land. So, who is the Wanderer of the title of this episode? Note that the title is singular, not plural.
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