VillaVillekulla

Were the Vikings saying "uff da!" as they tried to break down the gates with a battering ram, or was that just my half-crazed imagination? I actually felt like I needed even more subtitles than usual for this episode, between the Vikings' war cries and the French being...French. I also loved Ragnar's "Beware the fury of the patient man."

That's what I got from it, too -- he absolutely knew before Judith said anything that Alfred was Athelstan's, but she had to be the one to admit it and say it out loud. I'm sure he had that whole 'revelation' planned in advance, that once she fessed up to who Alfred's father really is, he would act all surprised and shocked and then deliver his little speech about how Athelstan is a holy man, this is the work of a higher power, etc. Ecbert is always up to something. I'm not quite sure what he's up to vis-a-vis Judith and Alfred yet, but something. As an aside, my mom (who also watches the show) can never remember Athelstan's name, exactly, and has taken to calling him Applestand. It amuses me greatly.

Praise the gods for shirtless Rollo. Also, Floki, about that snake and that mouse Ragnar was fiddling with -- guess which one you are, friend.

If she lives in your neighborhood but you haven't met her yet and need Catfish's help to do so...YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A BAD TIME.

Not exactly on topic, but the other day I got accidentally hit in the head with a small light fixture. I'm fine, but the bulb in the light fixture broke. I thought of Ragnar and his headbutts. I must have a thick viking skull. ;)

I plan to do the same with "My petticoats are unspeakable!"

There is also a theory (hi, linguistics major here!) that Old Norse and Old English would have been virtually mutually intelligible; that is, that speakers of one could basically understand speakers of the other, except for the odd word here and there. I think the reasons that Vikings as a TV show didn't go with this theory -- and you can be almost sure they have some language consultants working for the show, so it has probably come up -- are because a) it would take away from the plot if everyone could understand everyone all the time and no one could scheme in his own language and then say something else to the people on the other side, and b) it would honestly read as unbelievable to the audience. It would seem so unlikely that the vikings could just show up and start talking and the English could understand them -- I mean, what are the odds, right? Even though there is historical basis for this kind of thing being possible, it would just seem too convenient for the purposes of the show, and people wouldn't be able to suspend disbelief.

I loved Floki's cheerful reaction to being asked to behead Kwenthrith's dead uncle. Dude didn't even stop chewing on whatever he was eating to do it.

And we're back! Fantastic first episode of the season, I must say. I think my favorite moment was when Athelstan was translating for both Ecbert and Lagertha simultaneously, when they were all riding in the cart together. What Ecbert said vs. what Athelstan chose to translate was hilarious. I've got a bad feeling about Bjorn's wife (? I forget if they're married by now or not) Thorunn. I don't know why, I just am not sure I see her lasting the rest of the season, or even a few more episodes. By the way, this is nitpicky of me I know, but it's Thorunn. Not Porunn. The character that looks like a P is actually a thorn; it's pronounced a lot like 'th' so the easiest way to transliterate her name into the so-called modern English that we're currently speaking is Thorunn...not Porunn. I know IMDB has it as Porunn, but if you ask me they've got it wrong.

I did a little bit of googling and it looks like Stephanie did actually get food poisoning (from food someone else made, not something she made), if her Twitter feed is to be believed. Of course she might be joking, but that's what I could find.

I kept noticing when they said "This is Person X from City Y" a whole lot of them seemed to be from Los Angeles. Lots of struggling actors looking for a break in that town...just saying.

Yeah, it's hard for me to think of a "sounds like" for vocal fry, especially since I'm not sure how long ago you became deaf. But if you ever watched the cartoon Daria, the way Daria's friend Jane Lane speaks involves a lot of vocal fry. It's kind of raspy and creaky (it's also called creaky voice) and happens most often on drawn-out words.

DIAF = die in a fire. I think Squirrely meant "go," not "do" DIAF.

I was able to find it on YouTube. It'll probably get pulled soon enough, but for now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emyHZUZ6aKs

I have to admit, I laughed at "Behold...he woke up like this! Flawless." Nicki as Beyonce as the Virgin Mary. Sure, why not?