The series tells the saga of Ragnar's band of Viking brothers and his family as he rises to become King of the Viking tribes
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Vikings is an Irish-Canadian historical drama television series written and created by Michael Hirst for the television channel History.
Filmed in Ireland, it premiered on 3 March 2013 in the United States and Canada
Vikings is inspired by the sagas of Viking Ragnar Lothbrok, one of the best-known legendary Norse heroes and notorious as the scourge of England and France.
The show portrays Ragnar as a former farmer who rises to fame by successful raids into England, and eventually becomes king of Denmark, with the support of his family and fellow warriors: his brother Rollo, his son Bjorn Ironside, and his wivesthe shieldmaiden Lagertha and the princess Aslaug.
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The series is inspired by the tales of the raiding, trading, and exploring Norsemen of early medieval Scandinavia.
It follows the exploits of the legendary Viking chieftain Ragnar Lothbrok and his crew and family, as notably laid down in the 13th century sagas Ragnars saga Loðbrókar and Ragnarssona þáttr, as well as in Saxo Grammaticus's 12th century work Gesta Danorum. Norse legendary sagas were partially fictional tales based in Norse oral tradition, written down about 200 to 400 years after the events they describe. Further inspiration is taken from historical sources of the period, such as records of the Viking raid on Lindisfarne depicted in the second episode, or Ahmad ibn Fadlan's 10th-century account of the Volga Vikings. The series is set at the beginning of the Viking Age, marked by the Lindisfarne raid in 793.
Ragnar
Travis Fimmel is an Australian actor and former model. He is best known for his high-profile Calvin Klein campaign, for co-starring opposite Patrick Swayze in the TV series The Beast and for his role as Ragnar Lothbrok in the History Channel's series Vikings.
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Lagertha
Katheryn Winnick is a Ukrainian Canadian actress.She is best known for her roles in Amusement, Bones, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, Vikings, and The Art of the Steal.
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Aslaug
Alyssa Sutherland is an Australian actress and model. Sutherland was born in Brisbane. Her modeling career began when she won the 1997 annual Bonne Belle model search of Girlfriend, a teen magazine in Australia. Following her win, she was signed to a contract with Vogue Australia.
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Rollo
Clive James Standen is a British actor best known for playing Rollo in the History Channel TV series Vikings, Sir Gawain in the Starz series Camelot, Archer in the BBC TV series Robin Hood, and Private Carl Harris in the British sci-fi show Doctor Who.
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Floki
Gustaf Caspar Orm Skarsgård is a Swedish actor. He is best known outside Scandinavia for his role as Floki in the History Channel series Vikings. Gustaf Skarsgård was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård and his first wife, My, a physician. He has five siblings: Alexander, Sam, Bill, Eija and Valter, and two half-brothers from his father's second wife Megan Everett, Ossian and Kolbjörn. Alexander, Bill, and Valter are also actors. His godfather is Swedish actor Peter Stormare
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Siggy Haraldson
Jessalyn Gilsig has an extensive list of theater credits to her name. A graduate of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, Gilsig received her theatrical training at the American Repertory Theatre's Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University. Among the American Repertory Theatre projects in which she appeared are "The Cherry Orchard," "Henry V," "The Oresteia," "Tartuffe" and "The Tempest." She also appeared in the Alliance Theatre production of "The Last Night of Ballyhoo," and in numerous other live productions and television commercials.
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Athelstan
George Paul Blagden is an English stage and film actor. He is best known for his role as Athelstan in the television series Vikings. He also played Grantaire in the 2012 film adaptation of Les Misérables and is also portraying Louis XIV in the French-produced television series drama Versailles.
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Bjorn
Nathan O'Toole is an Irish actor, known for playing the part of young Bjorn Ironside in the first two seasons of the 2013 TV series Vikings. He also played in the series The Borgias as Vincenzo. He lives in Dunshaughlin.
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Bjorn
Alexander Richard Ludwig is a Canadian actor, singer and model. His notable film credits include The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, Lone Survivor, Disney's Race to Witch Mountain, and The Hunger Games. He currently appears in the History Channel series Vikings.
King Horic
Donal Francis Logue is an Irish-Canadian film and television actor, producer and writer. His notable roles include starring in the film The Tao of Steve, Sons of Anarchy, Vikings, the sitcom Grounded for Life, the television series Copper and the detective series Terriers. He currently stars as detective Harvey Bullock in Fox's Gotham and had a recurring role in NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Lt. Declan Murphy.
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King Ecbert
Linus William Roache is an English actor. Roache was born in Manchester, Lancashire, the son of Coronation Street actor William Roache and actress Anna Cropper. Roache was educated at Bishop Luffa School in Chichester, West Sussex and at Rydal School. He studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He married Rosalind Bennett in Malvern, Worcestershire in 2002.
