Shaw Media’s History Television will begin airing the nine-part scripted series Vikings (pictured) on March 3 at 10 p.m. EST.

Vikings is an Irish-Canadian coproduction between Toronto-based Take 5 Productions and Ireland’s World 2000, in cooperation with History Channel in the U.S. It is the second commissioned scripted series for the U.S. specialty, following the success of its Hatfields & McCoys earlier this year.

The Dark Age drama portrays the bloody conflicts of the Norse warrior society through the eyes of a Ragnar Lothbrok (Travis Fimmel), a young, frustrated farmer with ambitions to discover civilizations across the ocean.

The series is created and written by Michael Hirst and also stars Gabriel Byrne.

Gustaf Skarsgard, Canuck actresses Katheryn Winnick and Jessalyn Gilsig, and George Blagden and Clive Standen also star.

Canadian director Ken Girotti has also signed on to direct several episodes, joining Johan Renck who directs the first three episodes of the series.

Hirst, Morgan O’Sullivan of World 2000, John Weber of Take 5 Productions, Sherry Marsh, Alan Gasmer, James Flynn and Sheila Hockin serve as executive producers. Dirk Hoogstra and Julian P. Hobbs are executives in charges of production for History.

MGM Television will distribute the series outside the United States, Canada and Ireland. The series will also premiere on History in the U.S. on March 3.