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History Channel - Vikings

#101
sagagirl said:
So many varied stories about him. I read from this site that his name meant "hairy breeks" or britches which I had read else where as well. That some times they would tar their pants to make them stronger. Then things would get stuck in the tarred pants, hence "hairy breeks". Here is the link:
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His name also has several spellings, Lodbrok, Lothbrok, loobrok. Given that it was a very long time ago and most people spoke a variation of Old English, Middle English, Norse, Latin etc..There was no universal language back then. Or as Tolkien called it "The Common Speech".

Over the years I am sure things got changed in translation, or mixed up, and embellished. Of course you know how us humans are, we like a good story so as time went by, these hero stories get wilder by the second as they were passed down from one generation to the next.
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I read an article saying that "hairy breaks" is possibly mistranslated. There was an account that said Ragnar got the name because he was summoned before the king and had severe diarrhea at the time and let it flow when he met the king. So it could literally translate to "crappy pants".
 
#102
MJ5150 said:
I'm bored of the Athelstan storyline. He betrayed England, now he betrayed the Vikings. The scene with the monster under his bed was odd.

-Mike
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Agreed..the Athlestan story line needs to step it up. I do feel like he has made the best of his situation(s). What else could he do but embrace what happened to him. There was little chance to escape either of his captors and his agreeable nature saved his life and even made him an asset. I understand how he could be so confused. Both "religions" are now part of him.

I guess he has to wait for his wounds to heal...but I hope his story line starts to reveal something soon. I was bored with him this episode as well.

I hope he runs into Ragnar again although I do not want to see Ragnar be Horik's puppy. Horik is an ASS. If Ragnar listens to him, and allows Borg back into their raiding parties that will be totally messed up. Let Horik go apologise to Borg, let Horik do his own dirty, selfish work. I can't stand him! He is making a mess of things and Aslaug is right to advise Ragnar to not listen to Horik. He is a total putz.

Any way I do hope Athelstan and Ragnar meet again and that we see Athlestan help the Vikings. I've read on some history sites that there was an Athelstan who becomes some kind of major leader in England so maybe he sticks with the English but with fondness for the Pagans, he helps them to establish themselves in England as we know they do from history. They come to stay ,farm and become assimilated into english culture. Maybe Althestan will be the uniting force between the two peoples. Sort of like King Arthur was.
 
#103
Texan said:
I read an article saying that "hairy breaks" is possibly mistranslated. There was an account that said Ragnar got the name because he was summoned before the king and had severe diarrhea at the time and let it flow when he met the king. So it could literally translate to "crappy pants".
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I read that one too, that he actually perished from dysentary. What a terrible way for one so strong to die :( so do we know which it was? Snake pit or Poopy Pants??
 
#105
sagagirl said:
Yep Norse mythology is totally fascinating~~~ I've never been up there but one day I'd like to go. In the summer of course!
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I travel to the west coast of Norway for business a couple of times per year. It is a stunning part of the world. Beautiful countryside and generous people.

Here is my favorite place in Stavanger, it called Sverd i Fell, in english its sword in the mountain. It is the site of a battle that united the kingdoms in lower Norway around 850AD. Yes, those are people next to the swords.

IMG_0121_zpsd025cf39.jpg
 
#106
I don't think Siggy is waiting to go all viper. She keeps trying to make the best of the situations. The roll with King Horik was, imo, merely a brain-fart on her part. Maybe she just thought it would be nice to take a roll with someone that wasn't both a drunk and the most-despised man in town. That being Rollo. She's not a bad looking gal really but honestly I don't think she thought King Horik was gonna hook up with her long term off a little tail.

Logertha - so her nut-busted husband isn't gonna sleep with her and wants to rub it in her face publically? Hmmm, that's worse than having to share Ragnar.. I'd like the story line to unfold thus: she knifes Johnny Crushed-Appleseeds in his sleep, hops on a horse and rides back to Ragnar's.

Horik - can somebody please just kill that ass!
 
#107
Texan said:
I travel to the west coast of Norway for business a couple of times per year. It is a stunning part of the world. Beautiful countryside and generous people.

Here is my favorite place in Stavanger, it called Sverd i Fell, in english its sword in the mountain. It is the site of a battle that united the kingdoms in lower Norway around 850AD. Yes, those are people next to the swords.

IMG_0121_zpsd025cf39.jpg
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Wow~~~ stunning!
 
#108
edpal said:
I don't think Siggy is waiting to go all viper. She keeps trying to make the best of the situations. The roll with King Horik was, imo, merely a brain-fart on her part. Maybe she just thought it would be nice to take a roll with someone that wasn't both a drunk and the most-despised man in town. That being Rollo. She's not a bad looking gal really but honestly I don't think she thought King Horik was gonna hook up with her long term off a little tail.

Logertha - so her nut-busted husband isn't gonna sleep with her and wants to rub it in her face publically? Hmmm, that's worse than having to share Ragnar.. I'd like the story line to unfold thus: she knifes Johnny Crushed-Appleseeds in his sleep, hops on a horse and rides back to Ragnar's.

Horik - can somebody please just kill that ass!
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Ok let us find out....I say Siggy is gonna break, and do something nasty, you say, she is just up to some minor mischief. Game on!

I think Siggy wants power and I think she wants her man to be powerful which is why she encouraged Rollo to trump Ragnar way back in the first season. I also think she sleeps with Horik to some how help turn the tide against Ragnar so Rollo can gain power. I don't know how sleeping with Horik will achieve that but she is up to something.

I don't think she wants to be with Horik, but she is using him for some end we do not know yet. Siggy is plotting and if she gets a chance she will take it I say.
 
#109
I don't see that Athelstan has betrayed the Vikings. He merely answers King Ecbert's questions and suffers from hallucinations. Now, that's not to say that he won't betray the Vikings in a future episode. I'm sure King Ecbert expects him to do just that at some opportune time in the future.
 
#110
When he was cornered by the English soldiers, the first thing he said was "I am one of you". Maybe he'll use his insider info to help Ragnar when the Vikings come back, but for know Athelstan feels like a traitor to me.

-Mike
 
#111
MJ5150 said:
When he was cornered by the English soldiers, the first thing he said was "I am one of you". Maybe he'll use his insider info to help Ragnar when the Vikings come back, but for know Athelstan feels like a traitor to me. -Mike
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I would have said the same thing while contemplating several heavy, iron English arrowtips through the chest.
My take is that he is addled from his injuries, confused by what he had to do to survive and really doesn't know which way he is going. I feel that he had accepted death as his fate up on that cross and is quite shocked to still be alive.
 
#112
I hope the cop out was just for self preservation reasons. Ragnar spared his life, brought him into his family, adopted him into the Viking life, trained him, then he turns his back on Ragnar when Ragnar really needed his support. Then he gets himself cornered by enemy soldiers and claims to be one of them. This all after he turned his back on his own faith and life and submitted to being a Viking. Until he proves me wrong, I still think he's a bum.

Some intriguing comments about the Rollo story line. I could see that happening, him betraying his brother again.

-Mike
 
#113
Unprofessional said:
I don't see that Athelstan has betrayed the Vikings. He merely answers King Ecbert's questions and suffers from hallucinations. Now, that's not to say that he won't betray the Vikings in a future episode. I'm sure King Ecbert expects him to do just that at some opportune time in the future.
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Poor Athlestan! Although I am tiring of his current state of affairs as he sits around and heals from being crucified, I do feel the poor chap is not a bum. What was he to do given his enslavement. I think he is a compassionate fellow who saw the good in Ragnar and Lagertha. He sat in the mead hall and watched Lagertha offer pity, wisdom and good governance in Ragnar's absence. (with the couple who had the baby and the husband was ready to throttle his wife for having sex with the visitor who came to their home) he saw Ragnar's love for his family and his own brand of compassionate leadership.

I think Athelstan is the kind of person who can see the good in things, nothing is black and white to him, certainly not now. He did, I think, genuinely come to care for Ragnar's band of brothers. He stopped seeing them as the barbaric heathens he was taught to fear, and started seeing them as people.

Now...why the heck he stayed behind when Ragnar left is a mystery still and has thrown doubt into the character of Athlestan.

Maybe he thought he wanted to go back to England but now that he is there, he is seeing he is not the same man he was before his capture at Lindisfarn. I think he is truly lost and confused. I agree with the post that he is probably still not sure what to make of the fact that he is actually alive.

He will be tested again, and we will see then where his loyalty is but I really think we won't see anything black and white about him again. He is split right down the middle and will remain so because that is his kind and understanding nature. He cannot wholly agree or disagree totally with the vikings or the English. He has been too intimate with both to choose a side.

My guess is, he will become a uniting force between the two sides. Given that history had the vikings assimilating into English culture, becoming guards for various kings and helping the English with other conflicts over time, we know that some how the two cultures came to accept each other in some fashion eventually. Maybe we will see Athlestan have a hand in that process.

The poor guy! He didn't ask to be captured and he just made the best of his situation. I think he has shown wisdom and incredible inner fortitude through the whole thing.
 
#114
They accepted each other.......after a hundred or two years of war with the Vikings conquering 3 of the 4 kingdoms of what is now England. Anyone who likes this series will love the series of books by Bernard Cornwell collectively known as the Saxon series. There are, I believe, 8 novels (the tale is as of yet, unfinished). The main character is Uthred, who is a Saxon who was raised by Vikings (actually known as Danes in the books). Some of Ragnar's grandchildren feature in one of the early books. There are also two characters named Ragnar, which must have been a common Dane name at the time.
 
#115
cheezewiz said:
They accepted each other.......after a hundred or two years of war with the Vikings conquering 3 of the 4 kingdoms of what is now England. Anyone who likes this series will love the series of books by Bernard Cornwell collectively known as the Saxon series. There are, I believe, 8 novels (the tale is as of yet, unfinished). The main character is Uthred, who is a Saxon who was raised by Vikings (actually known as Danes in the books). Some of Ragnar's grandchildren feature in one of the early books. There are also two characters named Ragnar, which must have been a common Dane name at the time.
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Excellent, thanks for the book tip! Always looking for a good book on historical fiction~~

Little did I know that for years I have been reading about the Norse culture through JR Tolkien. I didn't quite get that much of his Middle Earth was drawn from medieval Norse culture. Now that I've found the source of much of his material I am hooked again.
 
#116
The encounter between Ragnar and Ecbert left me thinking. Ecbert has made it abundantly clear that he is an ambitious man. And the timing of the series is very close to the timeframe when the various kingdoms of Britain banded together to form a united England. Ecbert has to recognize the keen ability of Ragnar and his Northmen to navigate the sea and wreak havoc on the lands that they raid. And he's stated that he wants to visit King Aella of Northumbria. Is it possible that Ecbert intends to conquer Northumbria with the help of Ragnar and his Northmen? And will he offer them lands in the conquered territory in exchange for their help?
 
#117
ShoeManiac said:
The encounter between Ragnar and Ecbert left me thinking. Ecbert has made it abundantly clear that he is an ambitious man. And the timing of the series is very close to the timeframe when the various kingdoms of Britain banded together to form a united England. Ecbert has to recognize the keen ability of Ragnar and his Northmen to navigate the sea and wreak havoc on the lands that they raid. And he's stated that he wants to visit King Aella of Northumbria. Is it possible that Ecbert intends to conquer Northumbria with the help of Ragnar and his Northmen? And will he offer them lands in the conquered territory in exchange for their help?
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Oh I like that scenario~~~ Aella seemed like a spoiled, grotesque, and unprincipled man and I would like very much to see him taken out. Especially if it means no snake pit for our Ragnar!!!
 

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