The Ragnar Detail That Vikings Fans Can't Get Enough Of
Shows with loads and loads of characters tend to have a fairly good chance to have multiple fan-favorite ones, but when "Vikings" fans vote for favorites, it's all about the second greatest character – because few people would disagree that Travis Fimmel's Ragnar Lothbrok is far and away the greatest one.
There are reasons why Ragnar was chosen as "Vikings'" focus, but at the end of the day, Fimmel's performance as the kind-of-sort-of historical character truly makes Ragnar shine. Though the show is very much an ensemble piece, the four seasons Ragnar is around essentially revolve around the character whenever he's on screen.
With such an all-encompassing popularity among the "Vikings" fanbase, it's only natural that fans have singled out certain moments that they feel demonstrate Ragnar's greatness as a character particularly well. Let's take a look at one such Ragnar Lothbrok detail that "Vikings" fans can't get enough of.
Fans admire Ragnar's horse dismount technique
Horse riding can be difficult. Just ask Madonna, who injured herself riding in 2021 despite having plenty of previous experience. As such, when one fan posted on Reddit how easily and nonchalantly Ragnar Lothbrok gets off his horse and appraises his surroundings without a worry in the world, other "Vikings" aficionados were adequately impressed by the Viking leader's easy-going body language. "Ragnar is the definition of swag," u/beancounterferg wrote in admiration. "So much swagger, so much charisma," u/Chibi-Senpai agreed.
To many fans, Ragnar's method of dismounting in one smooth, easy motion and immediately transitioning the movement into his signature carefree strut is just one example of Travis Fimmel's skill in infusing the character with a specific, highly charismatic body language. Redditors like u/OhItsStefan and u/soimn1 recounted another impressive Ragnar moment from the series, which shows the character sitting on a mast and falling back, only to easily and gracefully backflip into the boat below. "The actor had to have practiced so much for these cool little details," u/GirlyScientist wrote.
Much as scenes like these have enamored the viewers, these comments make it pretty clear that they're just small facets of Travis Fimmel's performance as Ragnar, and his work at large has not gone unnoticed. "Travis Fimmel, what a performance! So many layers. #Ragnar is now up there among some of my favourite ever characters," @CallMeSNAKE praised Fimmel's work on Twitter. "Travis Fimmel deserved AT LEAST 3 emmy awards for his performance as Ragnar Lothbrok, his acting was outstanding and one of the best things i've ever seen, he had such range of emotions and he nailed each facet of Ragnar. I just can't believe how underrated he is," @mrsxkati concurred.