The first thing that may come to mind when you mention Vikings is how barbaric they were. But think about the role of women, too.

The History Channel series "Vikings" shows that when the Norse warriors arrived in England and France at the end of the eighth century, it was not unusual for women to be part of the looting and pillaging.

"Vikings" is a nine-part scripted series, created by Michael Hirst ("The Tudors"), based on the real-life character of the young farmer Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel) who was adventurous and smart enough to get the Vikings to invade their neighbors to the west. He's joined on these adventures by his wife, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick).

"She is a famous shield maiden. Her job was to stand back and find out where the attacks were coming from and then she would plug up any holes," Winnick says. "There's certainly not a lot written on the era, but what has been found is that the Vikings were definitely very forward thinking because women were able to be mothers and warriors. They had a very strong voice."

The physical demands of playing a shield maiden -- a warrior who can use anything as a weapon -- came a little easier to Winnick because of her third-degree black belt in tae kwon do. Long before she was starring in films like "Stand Up Guys" or TV shows like "House," "Nikita" or "Bones," the Canadian actress competed in martial arts tournaments as a teen. Winnick opened several tae kwon do schools and became a licensed bodyguard.

It's been a while since she's had to use her martial arts training, but Winnick says it was a lot like riding a bike -- it came back quickly. The big difference was that when she was competing, Winnick would train four to five hours a day. Finding that kind of time on a TV or film set is a little trickier.

There also weren't many gyms available since the series filmed for 18 weeks in a remote area in Ireland. It was so far away from civilization, there was no cell reception, something Winnick loved. It helped her to better understand the simpler lifestyle of the Vikings.

"I felt more connected to nature. We would just sit around telling stories. I was really surprised how much I loved it," Winnick says. "And then when we filmed, I wore minimal makeup because the Vikings only used some coal for war paint when they went into battle. I loved not having to go through so much hair and makeup because the dirtier we got, the better.

"They just kept saying put more blood on me."

She shares many of those battles with Fimmel, whom she calls an intense actor who can be a lot of fun. She found working with him made her work harder as an actor. The feeling was mutual for Fimmel, who calls Winnick "a sweetheart."

Fimmel also came with a strong acting background with the TV shows "The Beast" and "Tarzan." The physical part was easy because when he's not in front of the camera, the Aussie returns to the family farm where he will spend months working the land. He didn't have time to do any extra training because he was cast a week before filming started.

"That was OK because there were a lot of good stuntmen working on the show and the fight choreographer made it easy on me," Fimmel says. "I think a lot more when I'm doing a big monologue than when I'm trying not to hit the stuntmen too hard."