Susan Gray - Viking Cookbook: Spice Up Your Kitchen for Royalty Recipes

It's impossible to begin any kind of narrative about the Vikings series without starting with the main character of the show - Ragnar Lothbrok.

We believe that in the entire history of historical TV drama, there's been no character quite like Ragnar. Not only was the character brought to life amazingly by Travis Flimmel, we simply couldn't get enough of the twists, the mystery, and the elegance that surrounded Ragnar.

The plot of Vikings might seem pretty straightforward: a bunch of pagan Norsemen raiding new lands in England and France. Killing everything in their path. For the Vikings, it was simply about the thirst for adventure, for exploration and also for the riches that they discovered on each triumph. But for Ragnar Lothbrok, it was a lot more than that.

What made Ragnar so unique was his way of thinking. The typical Norseman is hot-tempered and erratic in behavior. However, Ragnar was different. The way he analyzed and saw things was almost divine.

This is one of the reasons we simply couldn't get enough.

Ragnar's rise from a farmer to the king of Norway is also something that needs to be studied in schools. He was an ambitious man. Yet not too ambitious. He was a leader. Yet wanted to live a very normal and low-profile life. As you go deeper into the series, you will realize that for Ragnar, it wasn't about power or control. He just wanted to fulfill his dreams of exploring new lands for his people and fathering many sons that will carry his legacy.

Of all Ragnar sons, Bjorn, for us, was the biggest disappointment. Everything he had in strength, he lacked in wit and strategy. It's no surprise that Ivar is the one carrying the torch of the series after Ragnar died.

This show had everything. The way the intensity of the plot increased with each episode was nothing short of brilliant. Despite the fact that the series was hinged on an immoral premise of darkness, violence, power struggle and the sheer brutality of the Vikings, we loved every single thing about it.

Do all of these equal the greatest television drama of all time?

Well, it's not a far-fetched claim. Many might say Game of Thrones and while that show was nothing short of absolutely insane, Viking's true genius was in its blend of storytelling and narration. Politics and insane close action fights. We've never seen anything like it.

Now in its final season, we are nearing the end of quite possibly the most underrated series of all time. One of the ways we want to immortalize Vikings is by writing this book of recipes for your perusal in the kitchen. Each recipe is laced with a story from Vikings to make sure we preserve this series for all its magnificence and to give you that extra bit of spice you need in your kitchen.

The following recipes have been made to bring the needed creative transformation to your kitchen just the way Ragnar's story was. Sit tight and let's get cooking.