Hem till Midgård

This is the height of Swedish culture, it accurately represents the life of a regular viking. It is an epic drama with ups and downs that will make you ball your eyes out and experience true happiness. An integral part of Swedish society and a Swede who hasn't watched the entire series from start to end ain't no real Swede.

"Hem Till Midgård" Is a really funny series that was first shown on TV in Sweden and is now out on DVD "Hem till Midgård I" and "Hem till Midgård II" 6 parts per DVD.

The plot: The son of the viking chief Snorre and his warriors had made their last loot raid in the far east, Then we follow his failure son Lill-snorre to control his village Midgård with the help of his dumb friends. Lill-snorre got a mission from his father to guard his booty the beautiful Cassandra. But Lill-snorre can`t keep his hand to him self and starts a forbidden relationship with Cassandra. The rest you must see for your self.

So far I have not found any subtitle. The series remains in Swedish.

Hem till Midgård is the funniest show on earth!! It's from the middle age and they're so funny and they get themselves in trouble that you can't even believe! It's very "see-able"! You gotta see it! :D It's the best ever! :D Lillsnorre is the leader over Midgård and he's girlfriend Cassandra is SO cranky and angry all the time Tyke he's SO stupid but he gets SO angry every time someone calls him stupid. Runar he's the hunk of this group. he gets all the chicks. Halvdan he's SO ugly and so funny. He's laugh, it's the funniest! :D If you don't like you have very bad humor! See it on DVD now! It's only two seasons, which is too bad because it's a killer show! See it!! This is my last advise to you: SEE IT!:D Now!

You can't really say that "Hem till Midgård" contains high quality humor. At best, it can serve as pastime if you have nothing better to do.

However the series, despite taking place in the Viking age, actually reflects today's Swedish society in some interesting ways, and what makes Sweden contrast to the rest of Europe. For example:

* The episode Stripporna ("Strippers", season 1, episode 7), where Lill-Snorre hires some decadent Eastern European women as strippers, to make his pub more attractive. But it all ends with Lill-Snorre and his male friends, as poetic justice, being forced to striptease themselves instead.

* The episode Tyskarna ("The Germans", season 2, episode 4) where a wealthy German family visits Lill-Snorres village Midgård. The Germans, however, turn out to be swingers. It all ends with the morally outraged Midgård village people beating up the supposed, dirty German pigs.

These things would be unthinkable in a Danish or other European sitcom. This is far from the 1970's image of Swedes as "liberated" people, and has more in common with American puritan culture.

So despite being bad entertainment, I find "Hem till Midgård" to be a funny contemporary document of Sweden in the 2000's.

Hem till Midgård is one of the funniest Swedish TV-comedy series ever done. By all means Hem till Midgård has an intellectual level between average an awful, but it is done with great humor and great warmth. Its easy-going slapstick humor and disrespectful vulgarity really works for those who can take it. For those who can't, I don't recommend this.

Hem till Midgård really kills the myth of the vikings being tall, blond, strong muscular guys who is completely unafraid. These guys instead are the straight opposite. Lill-Snorre, the chief, is clumsy, childish and confused. Tyke, his main henchman, is a dribbling berserk who gets mad when anyone calls him "dumb". Runar, the hunk, is a tall bimbo who think he is every girls dream. Halvdan, is a slimy wiseacre, who annoys Lill-Snorre with his ironic comments and sheepish laugh and gets bashed up repeatedly.

Lill-Snorre also has a girlfriend, the oriental beauty Cassandra, the former slave of his father whom he has promised to protect. She is vain, hot-tempered and determined and Lill-Snorre has all kind of trouble keeping her satisfied. Other colorful characters are Gammelman, the village elder, who is an unhygienic wizard and his main occupation is to make living sacrifices to Oden. Also there are Petter-Nicolaus (In Swedish it means the same as Mr Wiggly), a bullied monk who doesn't have any success in Christianize the village of Midgård. Instead he is forced to work as a bartender in the local pub Balders In.

The best actors are Stefan Roos (Halvdan) who also is one of the writers. He is just so funny and convincing as the ugly, greedy and cowardly Halvdan. Also Sara Sommerfeld (Cassandra) makes a great impression as the oriental shrew. She is just as talented as beautiful and has made a lot of good screen performances.

I give Hem till Midgård the rating 6 out of 10. A high rate for the humor which really appeals to me and a low rate for the intellectual standard.