How ‘Vikings’ reignited a love for Norse mythology

After six seasons, the hit Amazon show ‘Vikings’ is drawing to a dramatic end. Tufayel Ahmed speaks to screenwriter Michael Hirst about the show’s legacy and why its fandom is more important than awards

It may not have garnered much awards attention, but ‘Vikings’ is one of the most-streamed shows on Amazon Prime (Amazon LOVEFiLM)

After seven years, six seasons and 89 episodes, hit historical drama Vikings is preparing to join the great television Valhalla in the sky – but it leaves behind an enormous legacy as one of the most popular TV series in the world, rivalling Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead.

Although Vikings, which first launched in 2013 on the History channel in the US, has never quite won the big accolades as Emmy award-winning Game of Thrones, it has consistently proven to be a force in its own right. The drama is among the most-streamed shows on Amazon Prime Video, which carries it in Britain, Ireland, Germany and other countries, and at one point it was second only to The Walking Dead in online demand ranging from internet searches to social media chatter. Less auspicious, Vikings is also one of the most-pirated shows around the globe. Whether it’s the cinematic reenactment of Europe’s little-known viking history, the sprawling long shots of scenic Norwegian fjords, the visceral and bloody brawls or the high-stakes political intrigue for the throne of Kattegat – the seat of power in the show’s mythology – fans have flocked to Vikings over the last six seasons.

“It’s spread around the world and people watch it in the Sahara desert, and they watch it in many places where the vikings themselves never went to,” the show’s creator, Michael Hirst, tells me.