Ketil

Ketil (ケティル) is a farm owner in Jutland, Denmark. Thorfinn, Einar, and Arnheid were his slaves.

Appearance
Ketil has long, blond hair and a large beard. He is starting to show some wrinkles.

Personality
He believes that even slaves are deserving of fair treatment. So much so that he gives everyone, except Arnheid, a chance to work for their freedom. Despite being the owner of the farm, Ketil does not look down on his subordinates and instead he works closely with them to cultivate. Ketil is also a kind and soft-hearted man, almost tearing up when he heard that two kids robbed him because they had to take care of their sick mother and regretted being forced to punish them.

He despises the use of violence to resolve any conflict and never wants to participate in war, to the point of making a deal with the King Sweyn which consists in paying him every year a great amount of his products in exchange of having the king's protection for his farm. He also refuses to let his younger son Olmar enter a life of war.

When things get out if his control, Ketil tends to panic and hide in any way possible. The cumulation of several stressful events such as his two sons murdering Canute's men, the plot of Canute to take his lands and hearing that Arnheid tried to escape with her husband, made him eventually snap and react filled with rage and disappointment, choosing to declare war to Canute even though anyone with common sense would consider this as a suicide act, especially against trained warriors like the Jomsvikings.

However, behind Ketil's "nice and soft-hearted" persona, is actually a disturbed and cowardly man. Ketil won't allow any of his slaves to escape and keeps Snake's troupe, a group of vile criminals, around the farm so that they stop the slaves from running away and punish them. Although he gives his slaves a chance to work for their freedom, he never gave Arnheid any choice. He was obsessed with her, using her as his emotional and sexual relief. Although he's the owner of the farm, he's a weak man who's easily influenced and intimidated. When he had the choice to prevent a young boy from being beaten up for stealing, he was too weak-willed to step up and make that choice, and instead beat the kid up with a stick. Afterwards, he went to Arnheid for emotional relief and felt sorry for himself, instead for the kid. Although he's not a fighter, he uses the name, feats, and accomplishments of the fierce warrior "Iron Fist Ketil" as his own. It's gotten to the point that everyone except Snake and his troupe believe that lie, and even Ketil himself seems to be so delusional that he believes that he's a fierce warrior, as he was ready to take Canute and his army on despite being a fraud. The fact that Arnheid was pregnant with Ketil's child, proves that he raped her and has used her as a sex slave, although Arnheid and the unborn child died because Ketil beat Arnheid to near death with a stick.

After the battle and Canute leaves the lands, being convinced by Thorfinn, Ketil, learning the death of his favorite slave Arnheid, he collapses and ends as a broken man, a shell of what he used to be.

History
He originally appeared as a kind and empathetic slave owner who gave his slaves a chance to bug their own freedom after working enough to build an entire field on his farm. Later on, it is shown in his inner monologue (and later said by Snake), that he is not truly the fierce warrior; Iron Fist Ketil, and instead claims that person's feats and accomplishments as his own.

In October 1018, he is invited to have an audience with King Canute and is very hopeful the outcome of their audience will be well received and pleasent, donning a large grin on his face the entire time leasing up to it. However, Canute is merely looking for a reason to invade Ketil’s farm in order to take his wealth and land, for the sake of his country. He initiates a plan to seize his land after Ketil’s son, Olmar, disgraces himself in front of his father and Canute. When Olmar murders Canute’s messenger, and his other son, Thorgil murders several other of his men, he is mortified and sneaks back into his farm with the help of Leif Ericson, hiding in a barrel the entire time.

Once he gets back and discovers Arnheid, his favorite slave who he relies heavily upon, tried to escape with her old husband, he gets filled with rage and claims everything is slipping between his fingers. He finds Arnheid in a stable and proceeds to beat her close to death in a fit of rage.

He then leads a charge to fight Canute and his men, eventually failing, and getting knocked unconscious by one of Canute’s men.

After he awoke and recovered from his wounds in the battle, he is seemingly distraught to find out that Arnheid had died and entered retirement.