Vikings hit the History Channel

I stayed up to watch the Superbowl, because I love American Football (it requires more commitment in the UK, by the time the Ravens won it was 4am) sadly I missed out on this superbowl ad until the morning.

The History Channel, apparently remembering a time when they were about historical figures and events instead of people with ridiculous professions have launched their first scripted series.

Awesomely, it focuses on the Vikings.

It's not 100% clear from the trailer what the storyline will be in the series but given the constant references to 'Going West' it almost seems they're doing some version of Erik the Reds life, or possibly his son Leifs (discovered Greenland and America, respectively).

That being said, while Erik was certainly an Icelandic Outlaw and something of a rough and tumble man generally he doesn't fit the cry of 'This Man has no respect for our Traditions!' because he was actually the quintessential Viking. Pagan to a fault, a man who fought at the slightest insult and who was a master sailor. It was the rapidly Christianizing Iceland that had moved on without him.

A quick trip to IMDb and it seems the story will focus on Ragnar Lothbrok who, while a hell of a Viking in his own right, is hardly the first man to think of raiding West. In fact, as Ragnar was largely active during the mid to late 800s, he was active at the peak of Viking raiding. The first raids, meanwhile, were back in 793 when a group of Norwegian Vikings sacked the monastery on Lindisfarne (modern evidence suggests that Scandanavian traders and sailors were active on the British Isles even before this date).

Now, aside from those historical quibbles the tone and brief glimpses of action seem spot-on for the Viking world and I for one will be looking forward to this most eagerly.