Vikings (2013)
Vikings is a 2013 action & adventure series created by Michael Hirst. It stars Katheryn Winnick, Gustaf Skarsgård and Alexander Ludwig.
Ragnar Lothbrok is a restless farmer who believes the seas hide lands worth raiding, and his ambition drags his people out of legend and into history. Michael Hirst's series follows Ragnar from obscurity toward the throne of the Viking tribes, tracing his brothers, his shield-maiden wife Lagertha, and the sons who inherit his hunger. Battles come often and bloody, but the show invests just as heavily in Norse faith, the pull of Odin, and the collision between pagan raiders and a Christian Europe. Shot in Ireland with a granite, weather-beaten look, it treats myth and mud as one.
Quick answers
What is Vikings about?
Ragnar Lothbrok is a restless farmer who believes the seas hide lands worth raiding, and his ambition drags his people out of legend and into history. Michael Hirst's series follows Ragnar from obscurity toward the throne of the Viking tribes, tracing his brothers, his shield-maiden wife Lagertha, and the sons who inherit his hunger. Battles come often and bloody, but the show invests just as heavily in Norse faith, the pull of Odin, and the collision between pagan raiders and a Christian Europe. Shot in Ireland with a granite, weather-beaten look, it treats myth and mud as one.
When was Vikings released?
Vikings was released on 3 March 2013.
How many episodes does Vikings have?
Vikings has 89 episodes across 6 seasons.
Who made Vikings?
Vikings was created by Michael Hirst.
Where can I watch Vikings?
Vikings is available on Netflix, Amazon, AppleTV and Fandango at Home.
Where to watch Vikings
Stream: Netflix
Buy: Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango at Home
Cast
- Katheryn Winnick as Lagertha
- Gustaf Skarsgård as Floki
- Alexander Ludwig as Bjorn Lothbrok
- Georgia Hirst as Torvi
- Peter Franzén as King Harald Finehair
- Alex Høgh Andersen as Ivar Lothbrok / Ivar the Boneless
- Jordan Patrick Smith as Ubbe Lothbrok
- Clive Standen as Rollo
- Travis Fimmel as Ragnar Lothbrok
- Marco Ilsø as Hvitserk Lothbrok
- Maude Hirst as Helga
- Jennie Jacques as Judith
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A few thoughts on Vikings
Vikings runs on the fantasy of the north, and games have chased that feeling hardest. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim drops you into a Nordic world of dragons, mead halls, and shield-brothers that could be Ragnar's own. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt shares the mud, monsters, and moral grey of its Northern Realms. For the raiding faith beneath it all, few things fit better than the sagas retold in Norse verse.
Games where the Norse gods and their warriors come alive
Vikings follows Ragnar's climb from an unnoticed farmer to a raiding chieftain, treating longships, battle-axes, and Odin's favor as one continuous world. These games hand you that same weight of steel and myth directly: frozen north country, old gods pressing on daily life, and warriors who earn a name through combat rather than birth.
Shows about kings, conquest, and who gets to rule next
Vikings spends as much time on succession and shifting alliances as on raids, since Ragnar's real ambition is the throne his people never imagined a farmer could reach. These dramas share that same hunger: crowns changing hands through battle, marriage, and betrayal, with legendary or half-legendary rulers fighting to hold a kingdom together while everyone around them plots to take it.
The real myths and sagas behind legendary warrior cultures
Vikings treats Odin and the old Norse faith as real forces shaping Ragnar's choices, not set dressing, and keeps that collision between pagan belief and encroaching Christianity at the center of the story. These picks go back to that same source material: the actual sagas, myths, and legendary warrior codes that history handed down, dramatized or translated rather than merely referenced.
Shows about raiders, rebels, and pirates who answer to no crown
Vikings never lets Ragnar become a polished king; even at his most powerful he answers to raiders, rivals, and his own restlessness more than any court. These shows share that same outlaw pulse: pirates, gladiators, and rebels who build their own code because the official one was never built for them, told with the same unglamorous, blood-and-mud realism.