Top 50 Quotes From Vikings

Judith: Look what you have made me become.

Rollo: [Viciously rubbing the wrist bearing the bracelet signifying fealty to Ragnar] Ragnar was always chosen over me. By my father. And my mother. And by Lagertha. Why would I not want to betray him? Why would I not want to scream at him saying, I am alive, too! It doesn't matter what I do. Ragnar is my father. He is my mother. He is Lagertha. Siggy. He is *everything* I cannot do. Everything I cannot be. I love him. He is my brother. He has taken me back. But, I am so angry. *Why* am I still so angry? You tell me wise one! Or, I will tell you. It is because I am useless. Hollowed out by failed ambitions. By failed loves. Nothing good could ever come from my life now.
[the Seer starts laughing]
Rollo: What is there to laugh about?
The: Oh, Rollo, if you truly knew what the gods have in store for you, you would go down now and dance naked on the beach.
Rollo: I don't understand.
The: I tell you as I told Ragnar. The bear will marry a princess. And I can tell you that you will be present at the ceremony. Now go and leave me.

Ragnar: [Praying to Athelstan] You think I went too far with Floki. Can you actually believe that he thought that I would let him lead without having an agenda? If I was him, I would worry less about the gods and more about the fury of a patient man.

Kalf: I need to piss.

Ivar: In the name of our dead father, in the name of Ragnar Lothbrok, the greatest hero of our country. And in the name of Odin, we declare war... on the whole world.

King: [Praying] Lord, you know me for a sinner. And I think you have already decided to cast me out into the darkness, like a fallen angel to suffer in purgatory or the fires of hell for all eternity.
[pause]
King: Think you, Lord, that I could look upon such scenes with equanimity? That I do not dream in the dead of night of returning to your light and the promises of heaven? Am I not a man? Like other men?
[softly]
King: And yet, I would sup with the devil if he would show me how to achieve my earthly goals. Your kingdom, Lord, as you have said is not of this world.
[emphatically]
King: But, *my* kingdom *is*.

Ragnar: What do you see?
Bjorn: Power. The power of a king.
Ragnar: Power is always dangerous. It attracts the worst. And corrupts the best. I never asked for power. Power is only given to those who are prepared to lower themselves to pick it up.

Rollo: [to Ragnar and Floki who are arguing about why they fight for the Christians and risk losing their own people] Both of you, save your breath. We have a mountain to climb. Some of us will not see a dawn like this again... not here on Midgard, at any rate. So, let us try and speak well of each other... no matter how much we have been through together.

Lagertha: [At Ragnar's coffin] We don't always know what the gods have in store for us. But this? I could never imagine. If you've gone to heaven, then we will never meet again.
[Going to her knees, whispering]
Lagertha: And yet, I think Odin will rise like the wind to rescue you and take you to Valhalla where you belong, my own sweet Ragnar. And there... there we shall meet again. And fight and to drink and... love one another.

Floki: But warriors don't show their heart, until the axe reveals it.
Bjorn: You are so wise, Floki.
Floki: I'm not wise at all.
Floki: I'm just a joker.

Laggertha: [Lagertha is threatened by a pair of bandits] "You couldn't kill me if you tried for a hundred years".

Floki: [Walking to meet with Rollo] You see how well treachery pays off, Bjorn?
Bjorn: Don't do anything stupid.
Floki: I've never done anything stupid in my life. But, I am beginning to wonder if dying would be better than dealing with this scum!

Lagertha: Lagertha: I've seen enough of war. I have seen enough of death. I have lost so many. I don't want to be a A public person anymore. I don't want to be responsible. I desire to live a totally different kind of life.

Floki: A creaking bow, a burning flame,
Rollo: Tide on the ebb, new ice, a coiled snake,
Floki: Sons of a king, an ailing calf, a witch's flattery.
Rollo: No man should be such a fool as to trust these things.
Floki: No man should trust the word of a woman.
Floki: The hearts of women were turned on a whirling wheel.
Rollo: To love a fickle woman is like setting out over ice on a three year old colt or sailing a ship without a rudder.

King: Come and see. Look around. You thought those paintings were all that there was. But of all Roman things, these are the most precious. Tales of the Caesars. The fall and ruin of Roman Britain. Tales of emperors and empires... It's the stuff of dreams, Athelstan. It's the very fabric of dreams.
King: You can read them, of course.
Athelstan: Yes. Yes, I can read them.
King: Good. That is why I've chosen you.
Athelstan: What do you mean?
King: Well, I've chosen you to be the guardian of these books and their secrets. I want you to copy them. You speak Latin; not many do. Your job will be to preserve these works and these... fragments, for all eternity. But if you ever tell anyone about them, I will let them crucify you.

King: Forgive me Floki. I know I should trust you but I need proof.
Floki: Proof?
King: Yes, prove to me I can trust you. Prove to me you are on my side.
Floki: How can I prove it?
King: Kill someone. Someone who matters.

Rollo: [Rallying the French to do battle against the Vikings] All of my life and all of your lives have come to this point. There is nowhere else to be but here. Nowhere else to live or die but here. To be here now is the *only* thing that matters. So, gather yourselves. Gather all of your strength, all of your sweetness into an iron ball. For we will attack again and again until we reach and overcome their king or die in the attempt! We will attack! Attack! Attack! Blow the horns! Beat the drums! And have courage! For there will be no turning back. Only victory! Or death!

Floki: Rollo! Betrayer of the gods and all the sacred things in Midgard. Come here, you snake. Come me way and let my axe slake its thirst on your blood! Come to Floki. Come to Floki, you bastard, I am waiting.

Princess: Now you go to sleep.
Ubbe: I don't want to.
Princess: Why not?
Ubbe: Because whenever you dream, you never know what is going to happen.

Ragnar: It gladdens me to know that Odin prepares for a feast. Soon I shall be drinking ale from curved horns.
[chains clinking]
Ragnar: This hero that comes into Valhalla does not lament his death! I shall not enter Odin's hall with fear.
[stands up]
Ragnar: There I shall wait for my sons to join me. And when they do, I will bask in their tales of triumph. The Aesir will welcome me! My death comes without apology! And I welcome the valkyries to summon me home!

Ragnar: I'm constantly torn between killing myself or everyone around me.

Ivar: Get off me!
Ragnar: I'm not going to stand around all day watching you try to be normal, when you never will be.
[takes off Ivar's walking tool and throws it away]
Ivar: [shouts] I am normal!
Ragnar: No, you are not. Once you realize that, that is when greatness will happen. Now crawl!

Rollo: [Seated with his back at Ragnar's coffin, his voice low but clear] I have always resented you. It's true. I'm not denying it. I'm sorry your dead, but it happens to all of us, sooner or later. It's just funny that the gods took you first.
[His voice deepens with resentment]
Rollo: I always thought they favored you. You thought so, too.
[a small breathless laugh]
Rollo: It seems we were both mistaken.

Bishop: God help us!
King: I don't think He can.

King: Well if there were no gods then anyone can do anything and nothing will matter. You could do as you like and nothing would be real. Nothing would have meaning, or value. So even if the gods don't exist, it still necessary to have then

Ragnar: I do not believe in the god's existence. Man is master of his own faith, not gods. The gods are man's creation, to give answers that they are too afraid to give themselves.

Athelstan: I came here to talk to you.
King: King Ecbert sent you. You do his bidding. You are one of them.
Athelstan: He offers you a chance for peace. He wants to talk of many things with you. Good things.
King: Yes, and then kill us.
Athelstan: No, he will not, I swear. I know him.
King: You are his dog. You lick his fingers. You lick his arsehole.

Ragnar: [while mourning his friend] Forgive me, my friend, not for what I have done. But for what I am about to do.

Kalf: Earl Ingstad has left you to farm in England. What good is that to us? Peacefully, legally, we have removed the earl that was never here, the earl that came to power by murder, and the earl who has nothing between his legs but a goat's beard.

Siggy: [Floki sees King Horik affectionately touch Siggy's shoulder as he leaves her company; Siggy walks over to Floki] Can you keep a secret?
Floki: [he sniggers] No.

King: Floki, you have betrayed the gods.
Floki: No, King Horik. I only betrayed you.

Rollo: [Fiercely] I love you. And I love my children. But, I cannot deny that part of me which is still Viking. No matter how hard I try.
Princess: Perhaps you don't try hard enough.
Rollo: [Softly, desperately trying to make her understand] When you... you hear thunder... it's only thunder. But for me,
[fierce again]
Rollo: it is still Thor, beating his hammer!

Ragnar: [on Athelstan's grave] What am I to do now? I hate you for leaving me. I ache from your loss. There is nothing that can console me now. I am changed, so are you.

Floki: I'm crazy and cracked. There is something wrong with me...

Ragnar: So have you returned to your faith, renounced ours?
Athelstan: I wish it was so simple. In the gentle fall of rain from Heaven I hear my God. But in the thunder I still hear Thor. That is my agony.
Ragnar: I hope that some day our Gods can become friends.

Floki: [Grieving over Torstein] This is your fault, Ragnar. Torstein has died for a hill he did not want to own. For something which meant nothing to him. He has died a pointless death. How many more of us must die for your Christians? Or have you, in your heart, already renounced our gods and turned to the Christ God? Is that what your friend Athelstan has persuaded you to do? Look. Here we are... under an English sky... burying our dead... those we have sacrificed for Jesus Christ.
Ragnar: We are all fated to die on a certain day, yes? But, it is our own choice to do as we please until that day comes. I did not force Torstein, or any of you to come for that matter. You all chose to be here. My heart is as heavy for Torstein as anyone's. But, I am sure that I will bump into him again soon. In the meantime, Floki, shut your face.

Ragnar: I always believed that death is a fate far better than life

King: This is a good day, Ragnar Lothbrok.
King: For this is the day that the soul of any innocent Christian man, woman, and child that you and your pagans slaughtered shall escape from their purgatory and sing hallelujah.
King: For I am about the Lord's work.
King: God has, without doubt, chosen me as the instrument of His judgement.

Aethelwulf: Queen Kwenthrith, you would be unwise to kill us. It would give my father the very pretext he needs. A pretext to invade Mercia and become its king. He may even have been prepared to sacrifice me to attain his ends. So, if you value your life, and that of your son, then I suggest you sign the documents we have brought with us, reaffirming the fact that Mercia is a vassal state of Wessex, and must, in future, pay not only homage, but also taxes to Wessex for the privilege!

Ragnar: Forgive me, my friend, not for what I have done. But for what I am about to do.

King: He that increases knowledge, increases sorrow.

King: It is my judgement that a boat builder is worth ten earls.
Floki: And how many kings?

Ubbe: Do you have any advice, Floki?
Floki: Advice? Always take stones out of your shoe. That's good advice.

Ragnar: The gods are man's creation, to give answers that they are too afraid to give themselves.

Lagertha: [to Ragnar, while kneeling over Bjorn who was gravely injured] What happened?
Ragnar: He was proving that you don't need the title to be a leader.

Wigstan: [to King Ecbert] If you ever supposed that Kwenthrith could play a calming, stabilizing role in this madhouse we call Mercia, then you are as mad as the rest of them.

Bjorn: The world has changed

Ragnar: Do you think you are a good man?
King: Yes, I think so. Are you... a good man?
Ragnar: [after a small shrug] Yes. I think so.
[pause]
Ragnar: Are you corrupt?
King: [With a pleased smile] Oh, yes. Are you?
Ragnar: Uh huh.

King: Tell me honestly: What do you think of these works?
Athelstan: I find them indescribably beautiful.
King: But they are clearly pagan!
[laughs]
King: You are only a monk, Athelstan, and yet, somehow, I begin to trust you. I feel you... You are a kindred spirit.
King: Who? Who painted these images? What race of man was ever so glorious that they filled our world with such, as you say, indescribable beauty?
Athelstan: I have been told, sire, that you served at the court of the emperor Charlemagne, which I have also visited. I cannot imagine, therefore, that you do not know what I know. That these images were painted by the Romans. They conquered these lands a long time ago. They conquered the whole world. But they were pagans. They worshiped false gods.
King: Never speak of our conversation to any other man here. Nobody else would understand it; they would fear it! They accept an interpretation that a race of giants once lived here...
[chuckles]
King: And that we have nothing to do with them.
[both chuckle]
King: The fact is, Athelstan, we have lost more knowledge than we ever had! These romans knew things that we will never know. Their pagan gods allowed them to rule the world. And what is the lesson that we can learn from that?

King: [to Ragnar Lothbrok] Ask for absolution!