Vikings Season 3 Sets Sail February 19th

Season three of HISTORY’s hit scripted drama series Vikings returns on Thursday, February 19 at 10pm ET/PT. In the new 10-episode season, Ragnar (Travis Fimmel), the former farmer, is now King and has great responsibility resting on his shoulders.

With the promise of new land from the English, Ragnar leads his people to an uncertain fate on the shores of Wessex. King Ecbert (Linus Roache) has made many promises and it remains to be seen if he will keep them. This season, the ever-ambitious Ragnar searches for something more – and he finds
it in the mythical city of Paris. Rumoured to be impenetrable to outside forces, Ragnar and his band of Norsemen must come together to break down its walls and cement the Vikings legend in history.

The gripping family saga of Ragnar, Rollo (Clive Standen), Lagertha (Canadian Katheryn Winnick) and Bjorn (Canadian Alexander Ludwig) continues as alliances and loyal friendships are questioned, faith is catechized and relationships are strained. Vikings tells the extraordinary tales of the lives and epic adventures of these warriors and portrays life in the Dark Ages, a world ruled by raiders and explorers, through the eyes of Viking society.

Vikings is the #1 program on HISTORY. Fans can catch up on the exciting first two seasons of Vikings on shomi. Season 2 is also available on Global Go, GlobalTV.com, History on Demand, History Go, and History.ca.

Vikings has a huge fan base and tons of online discussion, factoids and trivia.  Here are some interesting trivia facts I found online that you can impress your friends with:

• The number of episodes in the first season is 9. 9 is a special number in Norse Mythology. There are 9 worlds in the world tree Yggdrasil (that is spelt with 9 letters in modern English), Odin hung himself from Yggdrasil during 9 nights, Odin knows 18 charms (9×2), Hel was given command over 9 worlds, at Ragnarök Thor will take 9 steps after killing Jörmungandr and die from it’s venom, Hermondr rides 9 nights to reach Helheim and free Baldr and Ægir has 9 daughters.
• The music that plays during the raid in episode 4 is a “Fehu” by Wardruna, and it’s played with the kind of instruments the vikings actually used. The lyrics are in Old Norse and based on Norse and Anglo-Saxon rune poems: “Fe [wealth] causes strife amongst friends, The wolf feeds in the forest, Fe is joy to man, strife amongt kin, path of the serpent, The snake lies coiled, Hidden, it waits beneath, like a frost-covered field, Strife that kinsmen suffer.” Ironically, all the parts criticizing wealth are from Norse poems, while “Fe is a joy to man” is from Anglo-Saxon poems.
• King Ecbert and Prince Aethelwulf of Wessex appear to be good and just monarchs whose subjects are treated well; indeed, it almost makes the Vikings Villain Protagonist (particularly King Horik). This would kind of make sense in a mythological way — Aethelwulf’s son, Alfred, was the only English King to ever be called “The Great,” and he was a fair and just ruler with quite a bit of strategic and tactical nous as well.