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The Vikings Overview:

The Vikings (1958) was a Action - Adventure Film directed by Richard Fleischer and produced by Jerry Bresler.

The Vikings BlogHub Articles:

The Vikings (1958)

By Beatrice on Sep 7, 2016 From Flickers in Time

The Vikings Directed by Richard Fleischer Written by Calder Willingham; adapted by Dale Wasserman from a novel by Edison Marshall 1958/USA Bavaria Film/Byrnapod S.A./CurtLeigh Productions First viewing/Netflix rental First you have to get past the casting of Ernest Borgnine, Kirk Douglas and Tony... Read full article

THE VIKINGS On Blu-ray

By Dan Day Jr. on Mar 22, 2016 From The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog

I was very excited when I first heard that Kino was going to release THE VIKINGS (1958) on Blu-ray through their Studio Classics line. I hadn't seen THE VIKINGS in a while--for some reason this movie is rarely shown on television--and seeing it in HD widescreen was a treat. THE VIKINGS is pure rip-... Read full article

Valda Valkyrien: The Last of the Vikings

By Janelle Vreeland on May 10, 2013 From Curtains

Although she wasn’t born with it, during the height of her fame, the woman once dubbed the most beautiful woman in Denmark was known by just one name: Valkyrien. Her beauty and nobility made her desirable to film companies across the world, but her star fell faster and sooner than many of her ... Read full article

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The Vikings Quotes:

Aella: Hold out the hand that has defied me.
Morgana: Do you know which of the oceans is the widest?
Eric: The Poisoned Sea.
Morgana: No. The ocean between a Christian and a heathen.
Eric: [takes her hand] Our hands can reach across it as easily as that.
Einar: Oh, stop shouting. You sound like a moose giving birth to a hedgehog.
Einar: Take your magic elsewhere, holy man!
Ragnar: [to Einar] You see, the English are civilized.
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The Vikings Facts
The movie was recorded in Norway, in Kvinnherad, which is a small community by the Hardanger Fjord. Many locals still remember "when Hollywood showed up in Kvinnherad", and many of the extras are local inhabitants.
The three Viking ships in the film were designed using blueprints for an actual Viking ship salvaged from the water and restored by a Viking museum in Norway. It turned out that the boats built for the film were too accurate, because the modern actors were taller than their historical counterparts. Every other oar hole had to be plugged so the modern men would have room to row with a full oar stroke. Otherwise, they would hit the backs of the oarsmen seated in front of them when pushing the oar handles forward to start each new stroke.
Ernest Borgnine plays the father of Kirk Douglas. In real life Borgnine is one and a half months younger than Douglas.
At the end of the film, a Viking ship is set afire by flaming arrows in a rendering of a traditional Viking funeral. Director Richard Fleischer took great care to have the archers practice the moment, training them to release the arrows on the count of "three," and hoping at least some of the arrows would arc properly to hit the sail of the ship and set it on fire. When the time came for the live shot, the director only reached the count of "two", when one over-eager archer loosed his arrow. As luck would have it, the arrow arced perfectly and hit the sail. Then, Fleischer called, "Three!" and the other archers loosed their arrows. Fleischer decided that he liked the one, single arrow being launched first, and kept the shot in the film because it looked like part of the ceremony.
The story has it that King Ælla killed the father of Ivar, Halfdan and Ubbe Ragnarsson by throwing him into a snake pit. Halfdan and Udde tried to avenge their father but were beaten by Ælla. In a second attack by the two brothers, some time later, Ælla was captured. It was Ivar who suggested that Ælla be killed by having the bloody eagle carved on his back.
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