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[filimonG]

King Ecbert said that he was with charlemagne before he became king , but in season 3 we see the king of france being grandson of charlemagne ... Am i missing something here ??

[Captanne]

I don't know the history and I don't have time at the moment but I can tell you, anecdotally, that my aunt was a great-grandmother in her own lifetime.  Aunt Mary had Elspeth who had Annie who had twins whose names I don't know.  

 

Times change, healthcare is different, life expectancy is different, but it is possible for a human being to live to see three generations beyond them.

Edited September 16, 2015 by Captanne

[SharonH58]

I guess I have the time. Wiki says Ebert was born 771/775 to  839  and Charlemagne 747 to 814 so time wise possible and it says 'Beorhtric died in 802, and Egbert came to the throne of Wessex, probably with the support of Charlemagne'   I need to read more. 

[formerlyfreedom]

So you have a question, and want to puzzle it out? Here's the spot to do that!

[Babalooie]

Captanne,   I have been doing genealogy for a few years and have found that sometimes my ggggggg-grandmothers in the 13th, 14th, etc. centuries were as young as 12 or 15 years old.  So, yes, they certainly could have lived to see three generations beyond them.    I am blown away at how many of these characters are my direct ancestors, too, both Viking and English.

[green]

King Ecbert said that he was with charlemagne before he became king , but in season 3 we see the king of france being grandson of charlemagne ... Am i missing something here ??

 

Well you have to remember that it's not an historical documentary but rather an historic drama and one that is filmed with a full production company and actors under contract etc and not written in a long, leisurely novel format by a single author who can pretty much work in a vacuum (an editor aside) not having to deal with networks and ratings and renewals etc.

 

So to condense the more dramatic moments amongst the decades where not much happened they have made a jump ahead historically (but not in this story's internal fictional timeline) up to the attack on Paris.  In so doing they have edited out several rulers etc.  Actually a few Saxon rulers post Ecbert some of who only reigned a year or two.  But in doing this they also have kept the main cast together for another season and didn't waste time introducing us to a whole new generation and having to build their personalities/storylines from scratch etc.  Now maybe that would be historical but it would also be very poor dramatic method to trot all those guys out and constantly expect your audience to learn all the new faces every several episodes and say good-bye to so many characters they have invested in so much already.

 

Also it is pretty standard in historal dramas to meld a "type" of character out of several and to have an easier number to manipulate for dramatic means anyway.  Like Omar Sharif's character in the film Lawrence of Arabia was based on at least three Arab leaders who fought with Lawrence as well as a couple of others to a lesser degree.  But dramatically it would make zero sense to have all of them in the film one after the other like endless cameo roles and confuse the viewer when the character of "Sharif Ali" could stand in for their pov quite well on his own and have enough screen time to become a well-rounded character in the process.

 

In other words we are dealing with three different issues here.  Being (1) true to history in a general sense and (2) to the rules of good drama at the same time while (3) dealing with the real world of the nuts of bolts of hundreds of people involved in the production and a network that wants the show to remain popular so it does renew it. 

 

So I wouldn't worry about the years failing to add up at this point.  They started out pretty accurately with the years but I'm sure it became obvious when the show kept being renewed that they needed to fudge a few years here and there to keep the popular characters and the actors that play them around longer and be careful about changing the guard for a new generation a little at a time so as to keep their loyal viewers and not risk turning them off with sudden mass changes which might risk the fate of the show itself.  At least that's my take on it.

Edited September 22, 2015 by green

[Lugal]

 

King Ecbert said that he was with charlemagne before he became king , but in season 3 we see the king of france being grandson of charlemagne ... Am i missing something here ??

 

On the show, like many of the Norse sagas as well, history tends to blend and blur together.  Aslaug herself is the daughter of Sigurd of the Volsung saga.  Like how in the Nibelungenleid (also related to the Volsung saga) although based on historical events, you have characters like Gunther (historical Gundahar 407-436) Etzel (Attila the Hun, died in 453) and Dietrich of Bern (Theodoric the Great, 454-526) all interacting with each other when historically it was impossible.

[Shermie]

Having three generations alive after you (being a living great-grandparent) is hardly some big anomaly. My parents are in their 80s and have a dozen great-grandchildren. No teen pregnancies among them. I know hundreds of old people who are great-grands. Life expectancy is 80+ nowadays, so it's pretty common.

Now in Viking times, less so, but if you survived war and disease back in the day, you could live to a ripe old age.

[SharonH58]

Do we know how many shield maidens are on the show and who plays them?  I am rewatching Season 3 and noticed when Ragnar came back from England (right after Siggy died) that there were mostly women rowing the boat Lagetha was in.

[PatsyandEddie]

I got the impression that those women were Lagertha's personal bodyguard, her most trusted shield maidens.

[MrsR]

I knew a family in which, Gram had Mimsy when she was 17, Mimsy had Jane when she was 17, Jane had Lisa when she was 17, and Lisa had Courtney when she was 17. Gram 68, Mimsy, 51, Jane 34, Lisa 17, Courtney a new born. 

 

I was thunderstruck when 34 year old Jane was bragging she was a grandmother but then she told me about her mother and grandmother.

[SingleMaltBlonde]

When did Ragnar and Aslaug have a daughter?

 

***Nevermind****  I wasn't fully awake and was applying modern and yet outdated gender norms on hair length dictate my perception.

Edited March 26, 2016 by SingleMaltBlonde

[LOA-maker]

King Ecbert said that he was with charlemagne before he became king , but in season 3 we see the king of france being grandson of charlemagne ... Am i missing something here ??

 

No. I don't see the problem. What if Charles's father (in real life King Louis) died whilst young or shortly after Charles was born? it's possible.