Tales of the Vikings

There was this time where the Vikings got stuck on this magnetic mountain. And another time they went to Spain where everyone wore 16th century clothes and fought with rapiers. They all had knitted chain-mail and Fifties-style haircuts. It amazes me that Max (Jethro Clampett) Baer was in this and I didn't recognize him later on. I think the "Beverly Hillbillies" was a step UP for him.

The theme song began, "From out of the North came an icy wind" but I don't remember any more of it. I think it had a few notes out of something Wagnerian, but I don't know which opera it came from. If there were an MP3 somewhere, I'd love to hear it.

Les

Inspired by the movie, "Tales of the Vikings" regularly used stock footage from "The Vikings" and starred Jerome Courtland (Brave Eagle, Andy Bernette, Major Rogers of Rogers Rangers on the show "Northwest Passage") as a quite civilized, charismatic, and sophisticated Viking adventurer. After we see the stock footage from "The Vikings" where Ragnar's ship hits a rock and sinks, Jerome Courtland as Lief would find himself shipwrecked and in a strange land. He'd have to prove himself by undergoing "Viking Tests" of sticking his hand in a fire, wrestling with the locals, and drinking a brew of grog, soil, and untold "spices." Of course, Jerome Courtland would always prevail. Inspired by such TV "Viking Tests", my adolescent brother and I invented and engaged in our own "Viking Tests" which were downright dangerous. In the interest of public safety, I will not give out the details here. Thirty years after the series had played on American television, I was taking a PhD course in Educational Research at the University of Hawaii and struck up a friendship with a fellow teacher/graduate student. When we were exchanging tales of the various places of the world in which we had lived, he mentioned spending some time in Norway, adding, "I won't tell you why I went there because you'd think it silly. Well, OK. It was because when I was a kid I was nuts about a TV show called 'Tales of the Vikings.' You probably never heard of it." Instead of saying, "I've heard of it", I sang him the theme song to "Tales of the Vikings."

I remember that scene with the magnetic mountain. Erik goes to swing his sword, and it sticks to a rock on a mountain pass wall. Or maybe it was an adversary swinging it at Erik. Too long ago to remember clearly.

There was also an episode where Erik had a villain's girlfriend as a hostage. He stood her on a wall, and cut the sleeves and skirt off her dress with his sword! It left her in a sort of Danskin affair, quite modest. He did it just to show he meant business, you see.

The bad guy was really peeved at that. He kept threatening Erik with awful tortures, when he caught him. But of course, Erik got out of it. Don't ask me how.

Even though I was only nine, that episode got me all hot and bothered. I dug Vikings before the show, but after that, they were my favorites.

I vaguely remember that Spanish episode, and boy, it was a drag! I knew that the Vikings would have needed a time machine to get to that version of Spain. They did that all the time on TV back then. Robin Hood would show up in Australia, Zorro would meet George Washington. Drove me crazy!

What they might have done was to show how a young (13!), Viking king Sigurd Jorsalfar, went to Palestine, just after the First Crusade, in 1107. Erik and the gang could have tagged along. His large fleet stopped off in Spain, and aided local Christians in one of their periodic wars with their Muslim neighbors. (Hey, it was a Crusade, okay?) Then they went to Palestine, did some fighting for the King of Jerusalem, and went home. I think they sailed into the Black Sea, and up the Russian rivers to the Baltic, to get there. Those guys got around! But I guess the show's writers weren't up on that.

And yes, The Thirteenth Warrior is damn good. It's based on a novel called Eaters of The Dead, by Michael Cricton, which is also quite good. It's the Beowulf story, with a new twist on Grendel. It's way cool!

So is the film The Long Ships, with Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier, as the Emir of Morocco. Check out the giant scimitar slide. Nothing like that in any theme park these days! But the orgy scene is more fun.

And the bad guy in Viking film, that the TV show was based on, was named (Wait for it!)...Egbert! How many movie villains can claim that?

We were just talking about the Tony Curtis and Kirk Douglas film, The Vikings, and that got me remembering the TV series.

I remember it was on Sunday nights here in St. Louis, and was sponsored by the local Laclede Gas company.

Let's see...

"From out of the North like an icy wind, came Odin's fair warriors free... With broadaxe and spear, they conquered...(something)

Don't remember much more!

I recall that Buddy Baer had a huge club carved into the shape of a woman which he called the "little maiden".

I'm wondering if this was only on kinescope, and no copies remain?

Jeff Hill is incorrect on 1 point; Jerome Courtland did not star in Brave Eagle or Northwest Passage; those roles were played by Keith Larsen. Larsen also starred in the show The Aquanauts for 1 season, until he was replaced by Glenn Corbett and the show was retitled Malibu Run.

As for Tales of the Vikings, I remember loving it as a kid! I especially loved the opening shot of the viking blowing the giant horn, until I found out it was stock footage from the Kirk Douglas Movie.

I remember one episode where the brothers wind up in Toledo (Spain, not Ohio)and there was a long digression about Toledo steel and about making rapiers. Even as a kid, I remember thinking that the vikings didn't belong in a Spain that looked like it was waiting for Columbus to return.

JL