Gearing up for #VIKINGS ! Character Discussion: #ROLLO

By elithanathile on Tumblr

The Shieldmaidens of History (Protecting the Innocent from Anachronisms) welcome you back to our series on the History Channel show Vikings. 

Historical fiction author Sandi Layne is with me again to discuss the historical aspects of the show. Sandi has written her own series on Vikings, both well-written and carefully researched. (You can read my review of the third book in the trilogy, Éire's Devil King, here.)

.¸¸•.¸¸.•´¯`• (¯`•ღ•´¯)•´¯`•.¸¸.•.¸¸.

Heillir! We—Lissa Bryan and Sandi Layne—are two historical fiction authors with a serious thing for Vikings. And for VIKINGS, the amazing series that is going to begin its fourth season on HISTORY CHANNEL.

Follow us on twitter, #ShieldGeeks, at 8pm Eastern for the next seventeen days as we talk about the main characters of the show, including special features for Thorsdays, er, Thursdays, as well as We Ship It day on the 14th and even a Favorite Dead Character feature.

Then, on February 18th, VIKINGS, Season Four will begin and Sandi and I will be live-tweeting during each episode, as has been our custom since Season One. We’ll follow up with a more detailed discussion on our websites the following day.

We are SO excited! So, Warriors and Shieldmaidens all, get your weapons and armor ready, because it’s going to be an amazing season!

We’re going to begin by rolling in with ROLLO.

ROLLO

Rollo is played by the gorgeous (and often shirtless!) Clive Standen.

Courtesy of princessgisla on Tumblr

Standen has, during the season, an active presence on Twitter and Facebook.

Rollo is Ragnar Lo∂brok’s brother, and he often feels overshadowed by him.

Courtesy of lecterlannister on Tumblr

Time after time, Rollo is tempted to betray Ragnar—who seems to be favored by the gods—but has so far supported Ragnar at the moment when that support is most direly needed.

But, at the end of last season, Rollo was readying himself to marry Gisla, a Frankish princess with attitude to spare.

Courtesy of alaynes on Tumblr

Will this serve Ragnar’s greater cause? Rollo’s ambitions? History gives us some idea, but we don’t know how that will be interpreted by History Channel!

What will happen this season? Will he be loyal to his Viking brother or his new father-in-law?

Courtsey of princessgisla on Tumblr

His marriage did not have an auspicious start, with his bride proclaiming publicly that she'd rather be raped by dogs than have him touch her. Gisla seems a little unclear on how this "ninth century princess" thing works, and is outraged that her father gave her hand in marriage without consulting her.

Courtesy of fyeahclivestanden on Tumblr

But more on her another day! (As you may imagine, we have tons to say!)

Rollo could be tempted to forge his own destiny in France, rather than being dependent on his brother. The Seer told him he would dance on the seashore if he knew what the gods had in store for him. We also heard that the "bear" will be crowned king... but could that be Björn, whose name means bear?

Rollo is a fierce warrior, charismatic and intelligent, but he often lets himself be swayed by pride. The pride that will push him to equal or outshine his brother Ragnar might be the means by which he succeeds to make his own name and his own legend.

It also might be the force which destroys him.

Courtesy of  ladyofglencairn on Tumblr

.¸¸•.¸¸.•´¯`• (¯`•ღ•´¯)•´¯`•.¸¸.•.¸¸.

What are your thoughts? Join Sandi and me, Lissa Bryan, tonight as we chat at 8PM EST on Twitter about Rollo and what the series might have in store for him. Use the hashtag #ShieldGeeks to join in the fun!