S05.E07: Full Moon

[Ohwell]

13 hours ago, Haleth said:

I like the (possible pairing of) Torvi and Ubbe.  If anyone deserves to rule Kattegut, they do.  Both are kind, thoughtful people, as much as any bloodthirsty Vikings can be.  If only they could kill Ivar and send Harald home to live in wedded bliss with his new bride and baby.  And Bjorn will leave Princess Reindeer Balls soon enough to explore more lands  

I would love for all of these things to happen.  

 

52 minutes ago, Captanne said:

(I'm thinking in particular of Torvi and Bjorn's "divorce".  They are clearly emotional about it in their own ways -- Bjorn selfish and stoic; Torvi crying by herself and kind of torn -- which makes sense because it was his idea and not hers.  But no Shakespearean dramatics about it.  At least not that we've seen yet.)  Their social structure seems to be very egalitarian and, to my mind, reasonable.

We've seen the marriage ceremonies, but I wonder if in Viking culture there was actually a thing such as "divorce"?  Or was just telling someone that the marriage was over enough?

[Captanne]

Were Bjorn and Torvi formally married?  I was only using the term loosely to make a different point.

 

https://vikingsociety.wikispaces.com/Women+and+their+role+in+marriage+and+divorce

http://viking.archeurope.info/index.php?page=viking-marriage-and-divorce

Edited January 5, 2018 by Captanne

[green]

I agree that the endless sex scenes are boring, stupid and not why people want to watch Vikings.  It also has prevented me from recommending the show to several friends who would otherwise love it.  Stupid "Hollywood think" Hirst-style. 

It made sense when Athelstan was first invited to bed with Ragnar and Lagertha to show cultural difference and later when Athelstan struggled with his vows.  Or when young Bjorn was scandalized by his father and Aslaug's first hook-up.  It made some sense some other times. 

But otherwise?  It is just garbage time especially starting with that Frankish pervert's dungeon and continuing through Reindeer Balls Princess.  Stop already.

[Ohwell]

In general, the sex scenes don't bother me and I don't think it diminishes the show at all; however, I did think that the Reindeer Balls Princess sex stuff was stupid though.

[green]

12 hours ago, Son of the Norse said:

Laggy remembers Ragnar, which is sweet; but she also thinks fondly of when she was a nobody. What Viking/Shield Maiden ever wanted that?

...

People love how much FH is excited, and are falling in love with this "new" man.... I say, he has always been this man.  We just got turned off on how much he didn't mind pissing and setting fire to a few JC worshipers.  Maybe doing those things in his past was to him, the same way we feel about stepping on an Ant?

 

1.  Maybe Lagertha, like Ragnar, finally grew up and grew out of this silly murder and revenge and name and fame game that is all empty nothingness in the end.  She was much happier on the farm as was Ragnar.  With age and looking back and digesting your life there sometimes actually comes wisdom.

2.  I think FH is suppose to be Harold.  Hard to tell by initials but by context I would say it was.  Anyway to this I would say that I'm sure a lot of neo-Nazis feel this way about Hitler and the Jews because they too were mere "ants".  Harold was a murdering sadist.  I don't forget war crimes even in fictional TV shows.

[StrictTime]

16 hours ago, Stratego said:

 

There is protocol people. Lagetha is royalty so it is appropriate for her to speak directly to a king. Bjorn is like a knight--but no higher. It would be presumptious for him to approach the king uninvited to discuss his daughter.

 

It's as if everyone forgot that the Vikings have different customs than we do with respect to love/marriage/fidelity. That difference was shown in Season I with Athelstan and Lagertha/Ragnar as well as Ragnar with Aslaug. Bjorn did say he would provide for his children but made it clear that it was "over" for him and Torvii. That seems consistent with what we learned about the Vikings earlier.

Thank you.  I had hoped someone would point that out, about royal protocol. IMO, it showed how much respect Bjorn has for Lagertha as queen and ruler.

[Babalooie]

2 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I wonder if in Viking culture there was actually a thing such as "divorce"?

Section VI

http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/wedding.shtml

[Ohwell]

Thanks!

[The Kings Foot]

2 hours ago, Captanne said:

Were Bjorn and Torvi formally married?  I was only using the term loosely to make a different point.

 

https://vikingsociety.wikispaces.com/Women+and+their+role+in+marriage+and+divorce

http://viking.archeurope.info/index.php?page=viking-marriage-and-divorce

They were never formally married. This was mentioned in previous seasons 

[LOA-maker]

the scene between bjorn and the princess was like porn. no sex scene in the show has been that graphic. at least not showing full boobs and shit.

A;fred teling the priest/abbot about learning is telling of the real life Alfred the great who wanted the massaes to learn.

[Son of the Norse]

                                                             "Remember my Sexy new name you twisted Fan Boys"!!!!!

Reminder to all the CVF (Crazy viking fans):

99% of my posts are just for fun, and I don't take them seriously; so please don't either. :)

And for those of you that would like a glossary:

ItB = Ivar the boneless

HtB = Halfdan the Black

FH = Fine Hair aka Harald fine hair

SK = Skank hair aka Astrid

B = Bishop aka the Bishop aka the Crazy Bishop aka Heahmund

Boy Band = Hvitserk

Laggy = Lagertha

Bj = Bjorn

Floks = Floki

FFW = Floki's future wife aka Mrs. Floki aka the lady that is standing up for him in Iceland

Ubs = Ubbe

The King = Aethelwulf

RRNNG = Rudolf the RedNose NutGnasher aka Sami Chick aka Snaefrid

Bitcher Bitchersson = Mr. Doom and Gloom aka The guy that is giving Floki a hard time in Iceland and questioning all his decisions

Bitchess Bitchersdottir = the previous turds wife

"M" = equals Ubbe's wife aka Mrs. Blah blah blah

Ugly Son = Torvi's first child

Fish Eyes = Torvi

Flokhalla = Iceland

and last but not least, the most obvious one to most everyone!

JC worshipers = John Carter, warlord from Mars fans LOL

 

Hit me up peeps if ya'll need some further tutoring! :)

 

Oh wait....

Peeps = people

Edited January 6, 2018 by Son of the Norse

[Son of the Norse]

21 minutes ago, LOA-maker said:

the scene between bjorn and the princess was like porn. no sex scene in the show has been that graphic. at least not showing full boobs and shit.

A;fred teling the priest/abbot about learning is telling of the real life Alfred the great who wanted the massaes to learn.

Full Globes!?  Are you getting the Albuquerque underground feed?  I must have missed that! LOL

[LOA-maker]

nah, amazon prime. jeff bozos (or however you spell his name..) apparently has no issues with that. 

[Son of the Norse]

2 hours ago, LOA-maker said:

nah, amazon prime. jeff bozos (or however you spell his name..) apparently has no issues with that. 

Had no idea Amazon Prime was different, that's Super Awesome!!  Thank you!

 

 

**disclaimer; I was in no way compensated for this obvious endorsement of Amazon, Amazon Prime, or it subsidiaries. :)

Edited January 6, 2018 by Son of the Norse

[raven]

On 1/4/2018 at 1:08 PM, Silverglitter said:

Ivar and Heahmund have kind of a brothery thing going on. I know a lot of people want to see it as some kind of 'hawt attraction' thing (and yeah, I know some of you are probably just joking), but I keep seeing something almost familial in their scenes. Like, with Heahmund as an older brother or cousin type.

I agree and think Ivar is looking for an equal.   He clearly doesn't see Hvitserk as one; if Ubbe had stood up to him, that might have worked.  

JRM as an actor is not working on the same level as AHA.   JRM just seems to stand there with his eyes open wide.  I should be wondering if he is really going to help Ivar or hinder him but he's just a blank slate.  Still, I enjoy their scenes because Ivar at least laughs once in a while, seems curious and has a sense of humor, as well as being unpredictable. 

The issue with the show for me is that, except for Ivar, no one is planning anything.  I understand that Lagertha has less people than Ivar, but she is Lagertha damn it, who killed an Earl to get an Earldom (which..whatever happened to that?)  She shouldn't be just waiting around for Ivar and his army to get there, logistics be damned :)

Though I like the actor playing Bjorn and I really liked his scene with Lagertha (I think she was basically telling him she wishes she could retire, heh) - Bjorn's sexcapades aren't interesting; neither is Ubbe listening to Margrethe complain.   I felt for Torvi and her broken heart but the kiss with Ubbe came out of nowhere.  Can't the show think of anything else to do with these people other than musical beds?

Not interested in Harald, Astrid or Alfred.  I don't think the actor playing Alfred is compelling enough to follow on a separate journey.  It's fine for him to lecture the monk about Ragnar, but we all saw it, Ragnar's group DID murder, rob and enslave the monks.   I can't really blame them for viewing Ragnar as the devil (and I very much miss Ragnar, the magnetic Viking with a plan).

What a bunch of whiners following Floki.  They are Vikings, aren't they used to hard work?  Did they expect to have things handed to them?  They are supposed to be the true believers after all. 

[Silverglitter]

54 minutes ago, raven said:

I don't think the actor playing Alfred is compelling enough to follow on a separate journey.  It's fine for him to lecture the monk about Ragnar, but we all saw it, Ragnar's group DID murder, rob and enslave the monks.   I can't really blame them for viewing Ragnar as the devil (and I very much miss Ragnar, the magnetic Viking with a plan).

So I'm not the only one! Yay!

I feel like we're supposed to love Alfred (and Judith for birthing him) just because he's saint Athelstan's kid. The only thing that plot ever did is piss me off.

[Captanne]

I haven't seen enough of Alfred to make a decision about the character or the actor but, if what I saw in the last episode is an example, he's certainly the same calibre as the rest of the cast.  I'm fine with the character.  I really like that they are giving a bit of the "think outside the box" to his nature.  Something has to stand out for him to eventually get the name "The Great."

[tennisgurl]

I like Alfred so far. He seems like a smart guy, and I enjoy his attempts at connecting with his dead father. Granted, it came from the Judith/Athelstan hook up, which was a total mess (people on this show are always making terrible relationship choices) but I can get into seeing more of this kid. 

[magdalene]

I wasn't sold on recast Alfred early on this season -  I had really liked the young actor who played him last season.   But his scenes this episode have convinced me that he will be able to pull "the Great" off as long as the writing is there.

And quite frankly even if the actor was crap I would still root for Alfred against Ivar.   I categorically refuse to glamorize or drool over that sadistic psycho.  One of the advantages of having actually dealt with "bad boys" in real life is that I am immune to the "charms" of the real and the fictional ones.

[Silverglitter]

Oh, I'm still rooting for the Saxons against the Vikings. Always have, always will. Doesn't mean I can't find Alfred's actor boring or Ivar's compelling.

[Captanne]

Nods to magdalene.  As much as I intellectually appreciate the acting ability of Ivar's performer, I am utterly immune to his nuttiness.  Unlike Floki, though, the writers and actor have given him original nuance and I love that.  

I am very, very old and grew immune to Bad Boys and their ridiculous strutting several decades ago.  I appreciate a good scandal, but it seems childish and boring to me now, if that's all they can come up with.

Edited January 10, 2018 by Captanne

[Captanne]

So I'm at work and taking a break for lunch.  Reading my Twitter feed and one of the establishments I follow is the Bodleian Library.  This was posted about a lecture on Alfred the Great: 

Bodleian Libraries‏Verified account @bodleianlibs 1m1 minute ago

More

He was a viking fighter *and* a graphic designer. You can get up close to the decorative details in King Alfred’s writing at our excellent, ongoing exhibition, Designing English. #BODdesigning http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/whatson/whats-on/upcoming-events/2017/dec/designing-english …

 

So, it's possible that Alfred was also known for his graphic design and illustration.  Showing either Hirst is tremendously lucky in his story or he did his homework and that is another gift from Athelstan to his son.

 

Here is the full link to the Bodleian lecture:  http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/whatson/whats-on/upcoming-events/2017/dec/designing-english

Edited January 10, 2018 by Captanne

[green]

6 hours ago, Captanne said:

So, it's possible that Alfred was also known for his graphic design and illustration.  Showing either Hirst is tremendously lucky in his story or he did his homework and that is another gift from Athelstan to his son.

And don't forget Hirst also had his mother, Judith, make a big deal of studying illuminated illustration despite the ban on women learning it.  So his version of Alfred gets it from both sides of his family.

[Haleth]

14 hours ago, green said:

And don't forget Hirst also had his mother, Judith, make a big deal of studying illuminated illustration despite the ban on women learning it.  So his version of Alfred gets it from both sides of his family.

But of course in real life

Spoiler

 

neither of those people were Alfred's parents.

 

[green]

Yeah I know.  That's why I said Hirst's version, heh.