Scandinavia’s northern extremes have been shaped by the elemental forces of fire and ice.
Fire and Ice
Now Streaming
See Scandinavia’s epic landscapes full of fjords, magical forests and fiery volcanoes.
Immerse yourself in these breathtaking Scandinavian landscapes – beautiful fjords, magical forests, fiery volcanoes, and arctic extremes. Watch as surprising wildlife stories, myth, and modernity are all woven into this icy natural world.
Immerse yourself in these breathtaking Scandinavian landscapes – beautiful fjords, magical forests, fiery volcanoes, and arctic extremes. Watch as surprising wildlife stories, myth, and modernity are all woven into this icy natural world.
Scandinavia’s northern extremes have been shaped by the elemental forces of fire and ice.
Fire and Ice
Providing Support for PBS.org
Photos from Wild Scandinavia
1/11
On the Varanger peninsula in Arctic Norway, a white-collared male ruff (Calidris pugnax) may be smaller and less-assertive than his colourful counterparts, but he has his own sneaky way to get a mate.
Albert Michaud
2/11
Each day, a female Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) journeys down to the shore to forage on the tideline in Iceland’s Westfjords.
Russell Barnett/BBC Studios
3/11
Birna skis across the Icelandic Highlands on her adventure to the hot springs at Landmannalaugar.
Russell Barnett/BBC Studios
4/11
In Sweden, a group of skaters search for black ice: freshly formed ice only just thick enough to hold a skater’s weight that is perfectly smooth.
Billy Clapham/BBC Studios
5/11
Sami herder Margret Fjellström moves her reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) to new feeding areas through the Swedish forest by snowmobile.
Billy Clapham/BBC Studios
6/11
Wolves are Scandinavia’s rarest carnivore, hunting as a pack to bring down large herbivores.
Roger Brendhagen
7/11
Even supreme hunters such as golden eagles must rely on carrion during Sweden's freezing winter.
Thomas Bernhardsson
8/11
Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica) battle for access to nesting burrows on Hornoya Island, Arctic Norway.
Tuppence Stone/BBC Studios
9/11
A white tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) expertly plucks fish from the surface of a fjord in Flatanger, Norway.
Jesse Wilkinson
10/11
Basejumper Hege Ringard prepares to fly from Kjerag, a 1000m sheer rock face above Norway’s Lysefjord.
Joakim Sommer
11/11
In Norway’s Arctic fjords, pods of orca (Orcinus orca) are led by group matriarchs to huge schools of herring.
Greg Lecouer
About the Show
Wild Scandinavia celebrates the wildlife and people of the far north of Europe, the realm of Odin and Thor. Breath-taking imagery reveals stories of survival, from the epic Norwegian Arctic, through mythic Swedish and Finnish forests, across vast Danish tidal shores and around erupting Icelandic volcanoes.
About the Episodes
Episode 1 | Life on the Edge
Life on the Edge follows Scandinavia’s coastline from the sheltered Baltic Sea, along the wild Atlantic, north to freezing Arctic waters. Storms threaten seal pups and basejumpers plummet into Norway’s fjords, while Europe’s largest eagles soar. Feisty puffins fight for burrows and orca and humpback whales feast on billions of herring. Those who survive here must navigate this unpredictable frontier between land and sea.
Episode 2 | Heartlands
Heartlands reveals Scandinavia’s magical forests and a labyrinth of waterways across the ever-changing seasons. Ravens outsmart golden eagles to get a winter meal, while Sami herders rely on reindeer in an ancient alliance. Illusive wolves and lynx stalk this secret world, and Osprey dive for fish in beaver lakes. Winter’s return sees skaters take to the first thin ice - a metaphor for our connection with the natural world.
Episode 3 | Fire and Ice
Fire and Ice explores the extremes of Scandinavia – volcanic Iceland, the high tundra and Arctic Svalbard. Musk Ox, Polar bears and arctic fox must all survive in a world ruled by the great pendulum of sunlight – from total darkness to midnight sun. Back-country skiiers embrace winter, while Glaciologists tap into climate change. For some, winter is about resilience until summer feasts, but for others it’s the summer heat which brings the greatest danger.
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