Despite the fact that Vikings came to an end with season 6, viewers of the drama created by Michael Hirst eagerly welcomed the Netflix spin-off, Vikings: Valhalla, and there is already talk of the second season that gives continuity to the historical saga. One of the best of recent times by the way. But beyond the plot and unexpected twists of the series, there are great family ties in the series.
Vikings first hit screens in 2013 and both Georgia Hirst and Maude Hirst had starring roles in the series. Maude played the role of Helga, the wife of Floki (played by Gustaf Skarsgård) in seasons one through four. Georgia can still be seen in the series as the shieldmaiden Torvi and the wife of Ubbe (Jordan Patrick Smith). Maude and Georgia are sisters in real life and her father, Michael Hirst, is the creator of the show.
Michael Hirst is an English screenwriter and producer from Bradford. He attended the London School of Economics and studied English and American literature at the University of Nottingham. He then went on to study author Henry James at Trinity College, Oxford. The 67-year-old is best known for his films Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age. He was also the creator of the Emmy Award-winning series The Tudors, which ran from 2007 to 2010. In 2013, he created Vikings, the History Channel’s first serialized drama.
Georgia Hirst, Michael’s youngest daughter, plays shieldmaiden Torvi in Vikings. Torvi first appeared in the show’s second season and later married Bjorn Ironside (Alexander Ludwig). They then decided to part ways and Torvi married Bjorn’s younger half-brother, Ubbe. Torvi is one of the few original cast members still alive and will return for the final 10 episodes. In the mid-season finale of the sixth season of Vikings, Torvi and Ubbe began their journey to the Golden Land in an attempt to find Floki. Before landing the role of Torvi in Vikings, Georgia, 25, studied at the Drama Center in London.
For her part, Maude Hirst is the eldest daughter of Michael Hirst. The 27-year-old studied theater at London’s Italia Conti Academy of Theater Arts, before landing minor roles in the films Nuryan and Cash and Curry. Before Vikings, she played Kat Ashley on the series The Tudors, also created by her father. Maude appeared as Helga on Vikings in the first season in 2013. She played the role of Helga until 2017 and left the show after the fourth season. Ella’s character was killed by Ella’s adopted daughter Tanaruz (Sinead Gormally) during a raid on England and died in Floki’s arms.
Despite strong family ties, Michael Hirst had no choice when deciding to kill the character of one of his daughters and revealed the reasons that led him to such a decision. Through tears, he explained in comparison to Game of Thrones why not moving forward with the idea was a bad choice.
“Helga’s death was difficult for me because Helga was my daughter. But the worst hit was Floki, for losing the three people closest to him: his daughter, Ragnar, and Helga.”
“For me, it was hard to kill my daughter. There were many tears. But it was the story. You can’t fool history.”
“If you kill someone and bring them back, like in Game of Thrones, the trap is so big that you can’t believe the show anymore. I couldn’t even do that to my own daughter.”
