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One of the great things about
Vikings
is that it’s based on
real people and historical
events. Series creator Michael
Hirst joined an archaeological
dig and made an unexpected
discovery…
“It was good for me to get my
hands dirty at a site in a place
called Repton in the midlands in
England, where a great Viking army
led by Ivar the Boneless [the son of
Ragnar Lothbrok] had their winter
camp,” he recalls. “The warrior
grave contained a tall body… with
a sword and axe, who was probably
Ivar the Boneless. If so, I’ve held
the tooth of Ivar the Boneless in
my hand.
“They did some more exploration
recently and found another two
tombs,” he continues. “I went for
two days and they’d uncovered a
mound, suggesting a significant
burial. And they found some Viking
ship nails in the mound, which
meant whoever was buried there
was important and buried in a ship
– the first ship burial that had ever
been discovered in England.
“I was digging away on my
first morning as an archaeologist
and I dug up a bit of metal about
four inches long, and I said to the
professor, ‘I think I’ve found another
ship’s nail’, and he looked at it
and said, ‘I think this is a Viking
arrowhead’. The amazing thing
about this is that only four Viking
arrowheads have ever been found
in England, which suggested even
more that this was an important
grave.
“Half an hour later I dug up a
second one, and I showed it to the
professor and his face fell and he
said, ‘I’ve been digging for 35 years
and you’ve been here for three and
a half hours!’”
on set and pick up that sword and shield, and you have
the body armour and get the braids on, and there’s
blood… you just get going!”
With the attention shifting to Paris this season, where
does that leave King Ecbert (Linus Roache) and Wessex?
“He’s going to continue to pursue his own ambitions,
which is to be king of kings,” offers Michael Hirst. “He’s
a fascinating character and a good foil for Ragnar – there
are many things they have in common which they both
recognise, and they may ultimately get the chance to
talk about those things.
“Wessex continues to be alive in the show. What I
like about the show is that we do have different places
and cultures. And we’re probably the only show on
US network TV that has four dead languages in it. The
academics are excited about it because the language
they speak in Frankia hasn’t been spoken or heard for
thousands of years.”
•
Vikings:
Season 4, Vol.1
is out Oct 12
27
FEATURE
DVD&BD
A lot of this year is [Ragnar's]
fascination with death. But he's
not afraid of dying
Digging up
history