The widely-received TV series, Vikings is back for the third season with more sagas of Viking Ragnar Lothbrok, one of the best-known mythological Norsemen of early medieval Scandinavia.
Read on to find out more about the fantastical story plots and filming experiences of this 13th Century work in this interview transcript with lead actor Travis Fimmel below, plus a few fun facts to know about the Vikings' diet!
(Interview Transcript courtesy of HISTORY)
[About Vikings Season 3]
Season 3 of Vikings begins with Ragnar
as King and will follow the great responsibility that now rests on the
shoulders of the former farmer. With the promise of land from the
English, Ragnar leads his people to an uncertain fate on the shores of
Wessex. King Ecbert has made many promises and it remains to be seen if
he will keep them. But ever the restless wanderer, Ragnar is searching
for something else, something more and he finds it in a mythical city of
Paris. Rumored to be impenetrable to outside forces, Ragnar and his
band of brothers must come together to break down its walls and cement
the Vikings legend in history.
Qn: What are some of Ragnar’s biggest challenges in Season 3?
Travis Fimmel (TF): The biggest challenge would be King Ecbert: to see if King Ecbert is a liar and to get the land he promised. We go through that, then in the middle of the year, our biggest challenge ever is trying to get into Paris. Getting into Paris is very difficult and I won’t give it away if we did get in there, but there are about five episodes of trying to get into Paris.
Qn: In the past, they build the sets for you guys in order for the cast to get into the whole feel of what it was like back then. For Paris, I believe they used a lot of CGI, so how different is it working on an actual set and up against a green screen?
TF: Yes, you will need a good imagination. I find it annoying that I’m really excited to see how it looks, because for us actors, we have no idea what it looks like, so I’m really looking forward to seeing those things. I think it is going to be really good.
Qn: Ragnar has many enemies who increase as the season goes on. With all the murders in order to establish power come back to bite him in Season 3?
TF: A lot of things come back to bite him in Season 3 but I don’t think he regrets any of it. He will do whatever he can for his people and a lot of times, people don’t realize that. It’s tough being a leader you know, you got to make tough decisions and not everybody is going to like it.
Qn: Do you think Ragnar really existed or is he just a myth?
TF: It’s really hard to say. There’s a lot of mystical stuff about the Vikings in general. They never wrote down any of their experience and there are a lot of Norse legendary sagas and now we’re partially fictional and partially true and it’s all from an oral tradition. And this wasn’t written until 200 to 400 years after the actual events.
Qn: How do you feel about the evolution of your character? In Season 1 where you were just a farmer who had a big vision, and now, in Season 3, where you have established yourself as a king.
TF: Makes it a lot more interesting as a character. You don’t get boring characters. Ragnar is a very driven man and it’s great to play someone driven like that.
Qn: Can you see yourself as Ragnar?
TF: Well, I look like him! I’m a farm boy – I grew up in a farm and I go back every year. I just got back from 3 months being there so I get the farming aspect of it and I like women as well – he likes women.
Qn: Speaking of Vikings, is there a particular Viking movie that you like or an actor playing a Viking that you like?
TF: I got to say ours is the best one, cmon!
Qn: After playing a Viking for three seasons, are you open for more roles like this in the future?
TF: Yes or no, this depends on the script. But I would rather not have to dress up in leather and have a normal haircut.
Qn: Speaking of your costumes, are there any changes to it now that you’re king?
TF: Not really, I don’t think Ragnar has ever been about the material stuff. I think Ragnar is only into conquering places. He doesn’t care about the money and he just wants to continue travelling and exploring. He’s never been into that sort of stuff… I think I wore a bit more black stuff this year. That’s the only difference.
Qn: What will be a shout-out to the fans about Vikings Season 3?
TF: I think you guys are going to love it. We had a great time making it and Michael scripted it really good and I can’t wait to see Paris!
In addition, here are some fun facts about Vikings to gear up for the Vikings Season 3 premiere on Friday, 27 February!
1. A poor Viking ate much better than an English peasant during the Middle Ages.
Vikings' food was healthy, fresh, and even a poor Viking ate much better than an English peasant during the Middle Ages. For most Vikings, meals consist of any creature that’s slow enough to catch or big enough to feed a whole village. That’s not to say that the Viking diet didn’t have inadequacies, but on the whole, the Viking diet was a model of efficiency and innovation in a time when cooks had to make the most out of some very limited ingredients.
2. All Vikings, from kings to common sailors, ate meat every day.
A major benefit of the Viking diet was the fact that every level of society, from kings to common sailors, ate meat every day. Their meals were largely made up of fish, chicken, meat, meat and more meat. Often this would have been pork, as hogs were easy to raise and quick to mature, but Vikings also ate beef, mutton and goats. Vikings were avid hunters, and would capture reindeer, elk and even bear to bring back to the hearth fires..
3. Vikings most often boiled their meats instead of roasting and frying.
While we might tend to think of Vikings standing over huge roasting pits with joints of mutton dripping onto hot coals, evidence suggests roasting and frying weren’t the favored cooking methods of the time.
In fact, Vikings most often boiled their meats. Indeed, the centerpiece of the day’s meals was a boiled meat stew, called skause. As meats and vegetables were taken out of the pot, new ones were added, and the broth became concentrated over days of cooking. Skause was eaten with bread baked with all sorts of grains, beans and even tree bark–birch bark can be dried and ground and is actually very nutritious.
4. Limited vegetables and fruits were available.
Vegetables and fruits were much more wild than any of our modern varieties. Carrots would have been added to the daily skause, but they weren’t orange; white carrots were the only ones available. Viking farmers cultivated cabbages, beans, peas and endive, and wild apples and berries were also available to Middle Age diners. A wide range of herbs and seasonings helped flavor Viking food, with spices like coriander, cumin, mustard and wild horseradish making an appearance at the table.
5. Most Vikings suffered from parasites in their intestines.
Despite the overall balanced nature of the Viking diet, there were some major pitfalls. We know from archeological excavations of Viking cesspits and sewers that most Vikings suffered from parasites in their intestines: Bluntly put, they had worms. And the same cesspit excavations revealed undigested seeds from the whole wheat breads Vikings ate, some of which came from weeds that are highly poisonous to humans.
To discover more about the mythical lives of Vikings, tune in to the premiere of Vikings S3, on HISTORY (StarHub Ch. 401), 27 Feb at 10pm, with subsequent episodes on every Friday, 10pm!