The Fate of Athelstan

[katikat]

When I first learned of Vikings, History Channel's TV show, I thought that Athelstan was a made up character, someone used to introduce the viewers to the viking culture. Apparently, I was wrong. The creator, Michael Hirst, based Athelstan on a real historical figure.

What did Michael Hirst say about Athelstan:

First of all, I was doing my reading and discovered that there were at least two monks that had been written of who had been captured by Vikings and taken back to Scandinavia. In fact one of them, later on, was captured by the Saxons raiding back in England and they crucified him as an apostate. So I knew that I had an interesting character, but also interesting because, I realized that he was a way through for our audience into the Vikings' world. One would assume that he shared a lot of the values that the audience would share and would be shocked or surprised by what he saw in Scandinavia. I’m taking the audience through his struggle then with his faith, which I find a very powerful subject because of course, the big thing for him is ... his faith is obviously profound and not easily shaken, but he does have a query about whether God has abandoned him. What possible plan could God have to let him be captured and taken into a pagan household?

So, he has this issue. He’s also grateful to Ragnar for sparing him, for taking him in. In order to survive, he of course has to accommodate Viking ways, dress more like a Viking, grow his hair just to fit in, to survive. But his faith continues to be a big issue. He perhaps even tries to believe in the pagan gods, but of course, he’s not sacrificed because he’s still a Christian. These issues will continue. They are real issues for him. They lead him into some pretty dark and dangerous places in the second season. I agree, he is a fascinating character and George plays him tremendously well I think.

Source

Gosh, it'll be like Spartacus all over again, won't it? All in stress to see how my favorite character will fare...