"Vikings", the epic original series on The History Channel has been keeping strong their ratings this season.  

Airing directly following the surprise hit "The Bible" series for the first 5 weeks helped, but "Vikings" has built a strong following of its own who are now tied into the great story line.  

"Vikings" continues with episode 7 tonight entitled, "A King's Ransom".  Here is the overview of the series from their website.  Three Viking ships sail upriver towards the very heart of power in eastern England: the Royal Villa of King Aelle. Ragnar Lothbrok has come looking for ransom in exchange for peace. However, King Aelle has a different plan in mind for these northern heathens.

The 'Vikings' series, created and written by Michael Hirst ("Elizabeth", "The Tudors") is set in 8th Century Scandinavia. The main character is Ragnar, played by Travis Fimmel, who is a warrior and farmer longing to explore and raid the unknown lands of the west. Ragnar enlists the help of his buddy and boat builder Floki (Gustaf Skarsgard) to construct a ship worthy of rivaling the northern seas. 

The leadership of the community has plans to raid east which is already a growing tension in from the first episode. There is heavy interplay between Ragnar's wife, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) and son early which shows a more heart felt side to the series and shows the tender side of the rough and rugged warrior. 

The series is inspired by the epic sagas about the raiding, trading, and exploring Norsemen of early medieval Scandinavia. It follows the exploits of the legendary Viking chieftain Ragnar Lodbrok and his crew and family. Norse sagas were partially fictional tales based in Norse oral tradition and written down in the 13th century, about 200 to 400 years after the events they describe. Further inspiration is taken from historical sources of the period, such as the Viking raid on Lindisfarne depicted in the second episode. The series is set at the beginning of the Viking Age, marked by the Lindisfarne raid in 793. Ragnar's death is dated to 840 or 865.