Tales of the Vikings

Tales of the Vikings is an American first-run syndicated television series, first telecast on September 8, 1959 and ran through June 2, 1960. The series was produced by Kirk Douglas' production company, Brynaprod.

Tales of the Vikings
Starring	Jerome Courtland Buddy Baer
Composer	Bert Grund
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	39
Production
Executive producer	Edward Lewis
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Brynaprod United Artists Television
Original release
Network	Broadcast syndication
Release	September 8, 1959 (1959-09-08) – June 2, 1960 (1960-06-02)

Plot

Set in tenth century Scandinavia, the series presented the seafaring exploits of Viking chief Firebeard and his two sons, Leif and Finn.

Characters

• Stefan Schnabel as Firebeard, Viking chieftain
• Jerome Courtland as Leif Ericson, Firebeard's younger son
• Walter Barnes as Finn, Firebeard's elder son
• Haldar, Viking crewman - Buddy Baer

Guest stars for the thirty-nine episode run included: Christopher Lee, Patrick McGoohan, Robert Alda, and Edmund Purdom.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Pedigree"	Unknown	Unknown	September 8, 1959 (1959-09-08)
2	"The Black Stone"	Unknown	Unknown	September 15, 1959 (1959-09-15)
3	"The Ransom"	Unknown	Unknown	September 22, 1959 (1959-09-22)
4	"Victory Saga"	Unknown	Unknown	September 29, 1959 (1959-09-29)
5	"Journey to Bretland"	Unknown	Unknown	October 6, 1959 (1959-10-06)
6	"Banished Woman"	Unknown	Unknown	October 13, 1959 (1959-10-13)
7	"The Witch"	Unknown	Unknown	October 20, 1959 (1959-10-20)
8	"Shipwreck"	Unknown	Unknown	October 27, 1959 (1959-10-27)
9	"Treasure of Erin"	Unknown	Unknown	November 3, 1959 (1959-11-03)
10	"Return of the Viking"	Unknown	Unknown	November 10, 1959 (1959-11-10)
11	"Saracen Gold"	Unknown	Unknown	November 17, 1959 (1959-11-17)
12	"Return of Aud"	Unknown	Unknown	November 24, 1959 (1959-11-24)
13	"Doom at the All-Thing"	Unknown	Unknown	December 1, 1959 (1959-12-01)
14	"House Divided"	Unknown	Unknown	December 8, 1959 (1959-12-08)
15	"The Weapon"	Unknown	Unknown	December 15, 1959 (1959-12-15)
16	"The Oathbreaker"	Unknown	Unknown	December 22, 1959 (1959-12-22)
17	"The Bread of Life"	Unknown	Unknown	December 29, 1959 (1959-12-29)
18	"The Treasure"	Unknown	Unknown	January 5, 1960 (1960-01-05)
19	"Port of Thieves"	Unknown	Unknown	January 12, 1960 (1960-01-12)
20	"Cold Steel"	Unknown	Unknown	January 19, 1960 (1960-01-19)
21	"The Bowman"	Unknown	Unknown	January 26, 1960 (1960-01-26)
22	"The Dragon"	Unknown	Unknown	February 2, 1960 (1960-02-02)
23	"The Thing"	Unknown	Unknown	February 9, 1960 (1960-02-09)
24	"The Madness"	Unknown	Unknown	February 16, 1960 (1960-02-16)
25	"Blood Sacrifice"	Unknown	Unknown	February 23, 1960 (1960-02-23)
26	"A Marriage of State"	Unknown	Unknown	March 3, 1960 (1960-03-03)
27	"Days of Blood"	Unknown	Unknown	March 10, 1960 (1960-03-10)

Production

In 1949 Douglas founded his own company, Bryna Productions, named after his mother. Tales of the Vikings was the company's first venture into television. The series, like the Douglas' 1958 film The Vikings, was shot in Europe and used footage, sets, props, and costumes from the film. It was filmed in black and white, and distributed by United Artists Television.^[1] Since Tales of the Vikings aired in syndication, air dates varied from one TV station to another during the 1959-1960 season. It also aired on British television, and in 1962 in Finland.

Courtland has his hair and beard dyed blond for the series.^[2] Ryan O'Neal got his start on Tales of the Viking. His parents, who were living abroad at the time, got the teenager a job as a stuntman, under veteran John Sullivan, learning fights, falls, and duels.^[3] The theme song was written by Bert Grund with lyrics by Sid Morse.