Sorry!
I missed the vital spot! I'll put you at ease--
Askeladd...
I wanted to be friends with you...
Yeah. Bjorn...
You...
You are my only...
friend.
Send me off...
Well, then, sorry to keep you waiting, kid.
Come.
I'll play with you.
LONE WOLF
Damn.
He's acting different than usual.
So? Who do you think is going to win, prince?
Want to make a bet?
I don't care who wins.
I'll stop the duel before someone dies.
You're no fun!
You don't get to see duels between such skilled warriors every day.
Well, then, which one do you think is stronger?
Me? Well...
I guess Askeladd. I bet one pound of silver on him.
I'm not going to make a bet. Why do you think so?
Just a feeling. It's his aura.
Thorfinn defeated you.
Is Askeladd even better than that?
You. Prince. Who do you think I am?
There's no way that I'm the weakest one out of us three. Right?
It's not that simple to tell who's stronger and who's weaker.
Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. It's not easy to rank people. That's the fun part.
I'm not interested.
You must be a woman.
What's wrong, Thorfinn? Come.
I want to finish this before the snow gets worse.
I have no choice.
Look. Now, it's easier to attack me, right?
Come, boy.
Right?
You still don't understand why it turns out like this?
I take back what I said just now. This isn't a duel.
Askeladd knows Thorfinn's habits. He can see through his cover.
These two must have dueled many times. What's the reason for the duel?
I don't know. No one told me.
Unbelievable.
You never learn, kid.
Did you get full of yourself after you beat Thorkell?
I'm sick of you.
Stop! That's enough!
Did you think you could beat me with only one arm?
Come on.
Today, I'm feeling damn good.
Stop!
Stop. He's passed out.
You win.
You're really going to stop them?
Thorfinn! Hey! Thorfinn!
Do you understand? The duel is over.
You lost.
Enough. It's over now.
You bastard!
You passed out.
He already delivered the deathblow.
Start over again once your right arm has healed.
It will end the same way even after your arm heals.
It's not because of your wound.
You're an idiot who loses because he's an idiot.
Normally, you know how to think while you fight.
But once you lose your temper, it all goes to waste.
I can tell from where you're looking that you're going after my neck.
Losing your temper, shouting loudly,
and waving your sword around is how an idiot fights.
Unbelievable. Everyone's the same.
There's no beauty in it.
Bjorn is right.
I hate warriors.
Especially Norse warriors, Vikings.
The first man I ever killed was also a Norse warrior.
He was not a beautiful man.
He was my father.
Kid...
I'm going to tell you something for future reference.
I'm going to tell you how to kill someone you hate.
All right!
-I'm getting old. -Watch out behind you.
My mother was a slave.
My mother was sick and couldn't work.
So, ever since I was old enough to remember,
I was working in the blacksmith's shop and the stable.
My body was always covered in
ash, coal, or horse manure, and was always white or black.
They gave me the nickname "Askeladd."
It means "covered in ash."
Olaf has returned!
He was victorious again!
My father was from a powerful family in Jutland.
-Olaf! -Welcome back, Olaf!
He loved booze, women and killing people.
He was a Viking, just like those you'd find anywhere else.
I heard he had lots of kids like me with random women here and there.
But he only named the older kids he had with his legal wife.
He probably didn't even know what his other kids looked like.
I heard that my mother
was one of my father's favorite slaves when she was younger.
But after she fell ill, he treated her like a dog.
For me, life had always been hard.
But it was different for my mother.
My mother often told me about the hero Artorius, one of our ancestors.
She told the same story many times.
The legend was about a general who protected my mother's homeland
from being invaded by savages 500 years ago.
My mother believed the legend's prophecy that the hero would be resurrected.
She believed that he would return to free her from illness and enslavement.
She kept repeating it.
So, I started to believe it, too.
She said that far to the west,
in a land across the sea where ordinary people cannot reach,
there lies a paradise where the hero Artorius lives.
A paradise, where peace, prosperity and eternal life is promised.
The hero is still there now, healing his battle wounds.
Someday, he will come leading an army to slay the savages
and conquer the world.
My mother's family kept waiting for him.
They waited for 500 years.
The hero hasn't appeared yet.
But just think about it.
If our ancestor really was living in such a nice place,
he'd never choose to come back to a world like this.
When I was 11, my mother's heart finally snapped.
Mother!
Of all the things that could happen, she thought that my father, who was just passing by,
was the hero Artorius.
I realized in an instant.
If Artorius wasn't going to come save my mother in that moment,
then he's never going to come.
Do you understand, kids?
Someone must do it.
A person, not a hero, and not a god.
It's weird.
I had never used a sword before but it felt right in my hands.
I knew how to swing it.
I thought of it as proof that I had the blood of that damn bastard flowing through my veins.
I'm so ashamed.
It makes me want to cry.
You.
Are you her child?
Are you my child?
Yes.
You have potential.
You live in the hall starting today.
I knew he wasn't someone who an 11-year-old could kill.
But I succeeded in getting my father to notice me.
I behaved myself in the hall.
I didn't slack off in my training for the military arts or horsemanship.
I even got along well with my half-brothers.
Good job, Askeladd.
I always made sure I showed respect to my father.
I was a loyal son and didn't forget that he saved me from my life as a slave.
Before long, everyone started to accept me as my father's son.
I worked on it for two years.
I was after two things.
I wanted to catch him with his guard down, and I wanted the right to inherit his property.
I wish you could have seen it.
His face had this look, like he was asking, "Why?"
I used my brother's sword.
I chose someone who didn't get along with my father and stole his sword.
My other brothers thought he was the one who did it and hanged him.
They're so simple-minded.
They're stupid and filthy.
The have nothing except for their own greed.
People without beauty like them started popping up everywhere
and throwing their weight around.
There's no end to it, no matter how many I kill.
I don't care whether it's Artorius, Ragnarok, or the Last Judgment.
If you're really going to come, then you'd better hurry.
Well, when that happens, I bet they're not going to let me keep on living either though.
Well, that was a long story. Anyway, Thorfinn...
you still can't even kill me even though it's been 10 years.
That means you're an idiot.
Shut up!
I'm...
I'm going to kill you, no matter what happens!
I'm going to kill you, no matter what!
Come on.
You're still saying that? Right after what I told you?
You're just like a dog chasing after food.
I really am thankful for all your hard work.
All I have to do is put on an act having these duels with you.
And then you'd go run off and even fight someone like Thorkell.
You're a useful kid.
Unbelievable.
I must thank Thors, too.
Wait.
Wait!
Stop.
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Be quiet!
Now is the time to heal your wounds.
I said wait.
Won't you stop?
How pathetic.
Oh, dear. You're stiff now, Bjorn.
Why me?
You're the hero's descendant, Askeladd.
And you're quick-witted.
Don't you want to become the king yourself and change the world?
You're joking, right?
Weren't you listening just now?
You're more suited to be the king.
More than me or King Sweyn.
I can tell by looking at your face.
I'm just a Viking.