I’ve been looking for someone who knows history that has written about the show as they follow along. Haven’t been able to find that, so I’m going to do it. I’ll start with S1, E1 and post as I watch.

S1, E1: What Happened In The Show

We get introduced to the show in the late 8th century - CE 793 to be exact. Ragnar and his brother Rollo are shown raiding the Baltic shore to the east of Scandinavia. We meet Ragnar’s family, his village, and his lord, Earl Haraldson. Ragnar wants to raid west, Earl doesn’t. Ragnar has been working on his westward plans by commissioning a more seaworthy boat and obtaining new navigational tools.

What’s Going On In Real History

The time period that we’re dropped off in to begin the series is the very beginning of The Viking Age.

This is the early medieval period in Europe - the Dark Ages. Rome had fallen some 300 years prior. Various Germanic tribes had moved into previous Roman-held European lands.

By the 8th century, Europe was a totally transformed place from its Roman Empire days. The Roman Empire, actually, still existed. In Constantinople, the eastern half of the Roman Empire never fell. Referred to as the “Byzantine Empire” by historians, people in the 8th century knew them only as the Romans.

The eastern Romans controlled Anatolia, the southern Balkans, Greece, Sicily, and southern Italy at this time. Elsewhere in Europe, though, the political landscape was vastly different than the Roman days. In modern day France, Germany, and northern Italy, the Franks had developed an empire by 793. In fact, the ruler of the Franks as we begin the show is none other than the famous Charlemagne.

The Franks were, by far, the most successful Germanic peoples to come out of the fall of the western Roman Empire. Charlemagne’s grandfather, Charles Martel, had stopped the muslim caliphate from advancing into Europe beyond the Pyrenees in 732 at the battle of Tours. From there, Charlemagne’s family had consolidated power and built the most powerful empire in Western Europe.

Speaking of the caliphate, by 793 the Muslims had successfully conquered most of the western world and boasted the largest and most powerful empire in the world, along with Tang China. The Muslims controlled land stretching from India in the east to the Iberian peninsula in the west.

In Eastern Europe, the Slavs were beginning to build states, Bulgaria’s first empire was flourishing, and a group of Swedes mingled with eastern Slavs in modern Ukraine resulting in Rus being born.

In Britain, the various Anglo-Saxon germanic petty kingdoms that arose after the Romans left Britain had consolidated into 3: Wessex in the south, the powerful Mercians in central England, and Northumbria (where the Lindisfarne monastery is) in the north of England. Scotland and Ireland was still dominated by small petty kingdoms.

So that’s the geopolitical situation in Europe in 793 as the show begins. A quick word on the state of Scandinavia around that time and then I’ll wrap it up.

Scandinavia was still dominated by petty kingdoms. The most powerful area in Scandinavia was Denmark, which, because of its proximity to the Frankish empire and their wealth and sophistication, was beginning to consolidate into a larger kingdom. The Swedes were a little behind them and Norway was still solidly petty kingdoms. One beef I have with the show is that that Ragnar is clearly supposed to be from Norway, but in real history he would probably be from more powerful Denmark.

Last point. Unlike what’s portrayed in the show, the Vikings had already explored, traded with, and engaged politically with the west. They certainly knew there was land west, especially the Franks and Britain. Anyway, solid show so far and looking forward to watching more.