Chapter 20

"This is the twilight of the world, Bjorn. Might as well raise some hell."

- Askeladd

Ragnarok (ラグナロク, Ragunaroku) is the 20th chapter of the Vinland Saga series.

Overview
It is November 1013 A.D., in a farming village near Bath. Thorfinn dreams he is a happy child, living with his family in a warm place that is not Iceland. In his dream, Thors tells him to give up on his revenge, before being riddled with arrows. Thorfinn wakes up to some of Askeladd's men about to rape a screaming woman at the other end of the barn. He refuses to join them and leaves. In the village, Askeladd's crew are antsy, as their pull that year was not good and they are still raiding small villages while the rest of the main force has long gone north. Bjorn notes that there may not be a next year, war is coming to an end. Thorfinn finds a quiet spot on a nearby hill, but Askeladd is already sitting there. Askeladd tells Thorfinn of the Roman ruins around them and says that the sun is rising on the twilight of man. They spot a lone rider and bring him to the village when he tells them he is from Ragnar's band. The rider tells them that Thorkell and his five hundred men left London and killed all but four hundred of Prince Canute's force of four thousand, kidnapping the prince. He seeks the main force so that they can regroup and rescue the prince. Askeladd agrees to join, and to everyone's surprise, suddenly beheads the man. He fires up his crew, telling them they alone will rescue the prince and be the sole recipients of any reward there is for rescuing the heir to the Danish throne.

Summary
Helga and Ylva are doing chores as Ari and the village boys slack off on shepherding duty. Thorfinn, playing with a snake, realizes it is dinner time and that he has to call his father. He runs across the field to find him. Thors hoists Thorfinn up on his shoulders and comments he'd forgotten it was nearly Yule since it's still so warm. He says moving was the right choice, as it is a good place to live with plenty of grazing land. They laugh that Ylva complains they cannot get any slaves there, although they never had any to start with. Thorfinn notes that he likes it there and that Helga has been feeling much better since they came. Thors tells him he has to protect his mother and sister, that they are both waiting for him to come home and that it is a wonderful thing to have someone waiting for you. Thorfinn says he understands. Thors says what he means is that Thorfinn should give up on the revenge nonsense. He asks if he really things it would make him happy. In the distance, Thorfinn sees the village being attacked. He yells out for his mother and sister, but archers point their bows at Thors and riddle him with arrows. As young Thorfinn screams out for his father in his dream, he wakes up in a barn, sleeping in a pile of hay. It is November 1013, in a farming village near Bath, ninety miles west of London. Thorfinn thinks back on his dream and realizes it was not home or Iceland, as it was warm and full of rippling plains. He is brought out of his musing by an English woman screaming on the other side of the barn. Four Viking men are holding her down, hitting her and getting ready to rape her. One of the men realizes Thorfinn is there and asks if he'll join in for once, after they're done with her. Thorfinn does not respond. He briefly makes eye contact with the gagged woman, frowns, picks up his blanket and leaves the barn. One of the men comments Thorfinn is always looking down on them, but another says to just forget him, as he's still a boy.

Thorfinn walks right past the rest of the men, who are drinking, eating and having fun in the village. One of the men, eating by the fire, talks to his comrades and says he does not understand what Askeladd is thinking, keeping them there to attack small villages when the main forth has long gone north to the Danelaw and winter is approaching. One comments they haven't pulled in much this year, and another wonders why they aren't plundering bigger towns if they're here to squeeze the place out of money, though he is reminded they barely number a hundred men. When a man says they'll get another few villages and that there's always next year, Bjorn wonders aloud if there will be a next year. He says they've been bleeding England dry for a decade and with the English king abandoning the throne, Denmark has won and the war will be over. A man points out Thorkell is still holding London, but Bjorn says that despite his strength, Thorkell is Nordic and could turn on England at any time. Two men start fighting with weapons. When Bjorn asks what is happening, he is told Ake called Tore a fool and refused to apologize, insulting him further and calling him a cow thief. Bjorn says there is no point stopping them and asks the man who told him what was happening to report to Askeladd if one of them dies. Thorfinn, who had been walking away from the village and all of the noise, stands on a hill next to old ruins. Looking out at the landscape, he notes it is a fertile land like the one in his dream, not at all like Iceland, where snow is probably piling up about now. He thinks back to his father being riddled with arrows and holds his shortsword. Sitting close by, Askeladd remarks that Thorfinn is up early and tells him to forgive the noisy men, who are blowing off steam after all the marching around and being on edge. Thorfinn coldly tells Askeladd to stop talking to him like that. He says Askeladd and his men have been getting the wrong idea and reminds him he is not one of them. He tells him that Askeladd can keep thinking that he is a clever manipulator tricking him into doing his work, but that the day is coming when Thorfinn will slit his throat. Askeladd gets up and tells Thorfinn that time is on his side, as he is young and will likely beat him someday as he grows up while Askeladd grows old. He tells Thorfinn that it's natural that even the strongest man die. He points out to the ruins near them and says they were not stones carved by the Saxons living in England now, but the mighty Romans that came before them, living in "Britannia" before the Saxons wiped them out five centuries prior. He tosses Thorfinn an old Roman coin that was on the ground and says they were more advanced a civilization than any today. Thorfinn tells him he's going in circles and asks him what his point is. Askeladd says he is impatient and should listen to his elders. He says the world of man is slowly but surely growing old, and that as the Saxons wiped out the Romans, they are now wiping out the Saxons. He says according to Christians, the Final Judgement is coming in twenty years, a day when God will kill all humans and the current world will cease to exist. Thorfinn recognizes this final battle as Ragnarok. Askeladd tells Thorfinn that the sun rises on the twilight of man.

In the distance, Thorfinn and Askeladd spot a rider approaching. Askeladd finds it strange, since the rider is from their side when they're supposed to be the only troops in the area. He identifies himself and asks the rider to stop and tell them where he's coming from. The rider mistakenly believes he has reached the main force and tells Askeladd he is with Ragnar's band, under Prince Canute. Askeladd tells him the main force is long gone north and that they are preparing to return as well. The rider disapproves of Askeladd's band leaving the force without permission, noting he'll likely be punished. Askeladd brushes him off and asks him if he wants a fresh horse. At the village, the man reports that Thorkell is chasing after the main force along with five hundred men from London, closing in fast and expected to reach Marlborough soon. Askeladd asks what happened to the Siege of London and Prince Canute's force of four thousand. The rider says the siege has shattered long ago, and that he is one of the four hundred men remaining from Canute's force, who were run through when Thorkell struck out from the city with his men. The rider says Prince Canute was taken prisoner by Thorkell and that the force's survivors are seeking out the main force to regroup and take him back. He asks Askeladd's band to join, as even a hundred men would help. Bjorn tells Askeladd it is his call. Askeladd says it is no use waiting to fade into the sunset with the sound of Ragnarok's footsteps drawing near. Askeladd slices off the rider's head, to the shock of everyone, even Thorfinn and Bjorn. Askeladd instructs his men to bury the rider and his horse. Calling out to his men, Askeladd says they are now heading to rescue Prince Canute and that they will take on Thorkell and his men alone to be the sole recipients of the possible reward for rescuing the heir to the Danish throne, son of the conqueror of both Denmark and England. The men enthusiastically cheer. Bjorn asks Askeladd why he fired up the men like that and if he has a plan. Askeladd says he will see, and that they might as well raise some hell since it is the twilight of the world.

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * Helga (dream)
 * Ylva (dream)
 * Hakon (dream)
 * Mord (dream)
 * Ari (dream)
 * Thorfinn
 * Thors Snorresson (dream)
 * Bjorn
 * Tore
 * Ake
 * Askeladd