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Vikings: Why The Characters Really Lick The Seer's Hand
Vikings has shown some interesting traditions and rituals, and one that has raised many questions is that of licking the Seer’s hand – here’s why the characters do it. Created by Michael Hirst, Vikings was originally planned to be a miniseries and made its debut on History Channel in 2013. The series was very well received by critics and audiences, and so it was developed into a proper TV series, allowing viewers to truly get to know Ragnar, Lagertha, Rollo, Floki, and the rest.
Vikings has changed a lot since those first episodes, and its protagonists now are not the same seen in season 1. The series originally followed legendary Norse figure Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) and his travels and raids alongside his Viking brothers. Vikings gradually shifted its focus to Ragnar’s sons and eventually made them the protagonists, as Ragnar’s time came to an end in season 4. Other notable characters who didn’t make it to Vikings’ sixth and final season are Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick), Athelstan (George Blagden), Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland), and the Seer (Jonathan Kavanagh), and with the latter, a very strange tradition died as well.
The Seer was the oracle of Kattegat, a being of supernatural powers and whose past is unknown, though he stated many times that he had lived hundreds of years and now dwelled between life and death, and he was believed to be able to communicate with the gods and answer questions about the future of those who approached him. Because Vikings believed their fate was already decided, they often turned to the Seer to translate the gods’ wishes and intentions. Most of his prophecies (although many of them quite cryptic) turned out to be true, which made him a very respected man. Every time someone visited him to inquire about their future, they licked the Seer’s hand as a sign of respect, but the real story behind the licking is very different.
Unlike many other details in Vikings, licking the Seer’s hand is not something taken from historical records, but something that came up on set. In an interview with TRNTO in 2014, Katheryn Winnick revealed that the hand licking wasn’t in the script, but they wanted to add “something unique and different”. Travis Fimmel was the first one to do it, and the producers liked it so much the scripts were revised and added the hand licking for those who visit the Seer. Winnick recalled that the first time she had to lick his hand 14 times, which was covered “with all these prosthetics, and all this alcohol and makeup”. As not much is known about the religious practices of the Vikings, those seen in the series are mostly fictional, and licking the hand of the Seer came up as a sign of respect towards someone with contact with the gods.
This gesture has also made way for a fan theory regarding Floki and the new oracle. When Floki met the Seer, the oracle had a very interesting reaction, telling him he had been waiting for him “in the space between life and death”, and then licked Floki’s hand. This has made many fans believe that Floki is “the chosen one” to take the Seer’s place as the oracle, more so as the Seer was killed by Ivar in season 5. If that were to happen, then those who visited Floki for advice would have to lick his hand, per tradition. Vikings has become a combination of historically accurate elements and others that had to be added for narrative and creative purposes, sparking a lot of curiosity over Viking history.
