Vikings music: the theme song & Ragnar’s Snake Pit Poetry

The music you remember after the scene ends.

The opening titles and Ragnar’s final ordeal do different jobs. One establishes the series’ atmosphere before the story begins; the other gives a particular farewell its shape. Start with the question you came here to answer, then follow the official release rather than a fan edit with an uncertain title.

This guide discusses Ragnar’s season 4 story. For episode context, follow the linked companion; for listening, the artist and label pages let you check the actual recording and available formats.

What is the Vikings theme song?

The theme is If I Had a Heart by Fever Ray, the project of Karin Dreijer. It appears on the self-titled album Fever Ray, originally released in 2009. It was an existing recording before it became associated with Vikings, rather than a song first released as part of a Vikings soundtrack album.

Why it fits the opening

The insistent repetition and dark electronic texture make the titles feel suspended between a physical landscape and an imagined one. That is a useful way into a series where ambition, belief and fear keep changing the meaning of a voyage. Listen to the recording on its own and the association becomes clearer: the track has a complete musical life beyond the shortened sequence familiar from television.

Find the recording

Look for the song on Fever Ray. A later repress can carry a recent release date without making the underlying album new. The title sequence, a live performance, a cover and the original album recording are different listening choices.

Opens the record label’s album page in a new tab. Check its listening options and format availability.

The music written for Ragnar’s final ordeal

Snake Pit Poetry was written by Einar Selvik for Ragnar’s fatal encounter with the Northumbrian snake pit. The released studio version features Icelandic singer Hilda Örvarsdóttir. The two-track EP also includes Snake Pit Poetry – Skaldic Mode, an acoustic treatment.

What to notice in the scene

Ragnar’s captors intend the execution as a public reduction of his power. The music helps the moment take on a different scale: a death becomes something that can be remembered, retold and used by the people who survive him. Return to his private instruction to Ivar before watching the farewell again. The public image and the message sent home work together, even though they reach different audiences.

That is a reading of the drama, not evidence for how a historical Ragnar died. The series makes a modern performance out of legendary material. Its emotional force does not resolve the historical uncertainty.

The artist’s release page identifies the piece and both versions. Listen there before choosing a recording.

Find the version you actually want

If you remember a scene rather than a title, start with the episode and the action taking place. A popular video pairing a song with Vikings footage does not establish that the track was used in that episode. Tribute edits can be moving while still answering a different question.

For the opening, distinguish Fever Ray’s original song from a cover or remix. For Snake Pit Poetry, compare the studio recording with Skaldic Mode. They share a composition but offer different performances; the longer studio release should not be mistaken for a timestamped copy of the television sequence.

Official artist and label pages are the best starting points for the recordings linked here. Check the selected format, territory and current terms there. Nothing plays automatically on this page.