Episode 35

"Kings and Swords" (王と剣) is the thirty-fifth overall episode of the Vinland Saga anime and the eleventh episode of Season 2, produced by MAPPA.

Synopsis
Ketil, Thorgil and Ormal visit Jelling, where Canute is staying. There he meets Leif Ericson, who is still searching for Thorfinn. Canute, on the other hand, to cover the maintenance costs of the troops stationed in England, chooses Ketil's farm as a strategic point.

Summary
Canute is practicing with Wulf, which surprises Estrid as she sees them. As Canute manages to dodge an attack aimed at his leg, the men observing them are impressed at how well is Canute moving considering his heavy armor. Gunnar tells Estrid that there is no need to worry as Wulf is skilled enough to not seriously injure Canute, but to Estrid, thinks doesn't seem like that. Gunnar explains that as a king Canute needs to be strong as Norse men don't follow weak men.

Canute gets tired and steps aside. Wulf tells him that he has a bad habit of retreating when he is tired, and as a king he needs to keep advancing and cut his way through the enemies. Both his enemies and his men are watching how he fights. Canute notes that Estrid is also watching, as he must have noticed it too, that explains why Wulf started attacking more aggressively. Wulf states he won't fall for that and Canute tells him to forget about it then as Estrid seems lost in conversation with the man next to her. Wulf then checks to see if that is true, but in that moment Canute throws his shield at him. In the last moment, Wulf manages to react and block the shield, but Canute moved in and put his sword at Wulf's throat, making him concede. His men are impressed. While Canute won only one in five rounds, he did manage to make Wulf admit defeat, although they wonder why Wulf looked away in the end. Gunnar then comes and tells Canute that he finished preparing the documents about what he wanted him to investigate and they can review them in Canute's room.

In Canute's room, Gunnar explains that there aren't many rich men and even if they manage to squeeze them, they will get at most 3,000 pounds a year. Aside from that, their only other option is to raise the taxes on the overall population. One one of the documents, Canute sees Ketil, and Gunnar recommends him, stating he is a wealthy farmer with a large land. Canute doesn't see the families military forces on the document and Gunnar explains its hard to say without visiting them in person. Canute wants to know those numbers and tells him to check it and report back. Gunnar is concerned of a backlash as they will be raising the taxes soon after the previous king died.

After Canute became King of England, he needed to find funds quickly. He kept his Danish force directly under his control, but he was maintaining it with English taxes, which resulted in discontent of the English. He needs to secure funding from Denmark or he will be forced to downsize his army in England.

Canute tells Gunnar that they have two options. One is to bring more land under their control. Gunnar states it will take them some time until they cultivate it and yield a profit. However Canute states they will acquire more farmland without having to develop it first. Gunnar realizes he means requisitioning land. Canute explains its better than raising taxes and creating a discontent among the people. He can't downsize his army as that army is what allows him to govern the region.

Ketil arrives in Jelling and his son Thorgil meets him and explain that King Harald is dead. Ketil realizes he came for nothing, but that if Thorgil is here, it would mean Canute is here as well. Thorgil confirms and explains that he is serving as the king now. Ketil asks Thorgil if he can arrange a meeting with Canute as he needs to establish a good relationship with him. As Thorgil agrees, Ketil wonders where is Olmar and learns that he went into the town alone. Ketil then start to worry that Olmar probably bumped into someone already and started a fight. Meanwhile, Olmar had indeed bumped into someone and caused him to drop his cloth that he was going to sell into the mud. Bug-Eyes is angry about it, but Olmar guesses he did it on purpose so that he can force him to pay for his goods. Olmar continues to provoke him and Bug-Eyes prepares to fight, however Olmar draws out his sword. Bug-Eyes states it isn't fair, but Olmar acts cool and states that if he is walking around unarmed it just means he isn't a real Norseman. Ketil shows up angry and asks Olmar who brought him that sword. Ketil yells at Olmar for always getting into fights and punches him. He then hands a small pouch with coins to Bug-Eyes, wondering if its enough to compensate him. Bug-Eyes' eyes shine and states its all fine. Leif then tells Bug-Eyes to give the man his change. Bug-Eyes is surprised he was watching and Leif explains he wanted to see how he would settle the fight, but is quite disappointed and can't trust him with big deals. Leif then apologizes to Ketil for his son and introduces himself.

The four of them go to eat together. Leif explains that Bug-Eyes is his adoptive son and tells him to introduce himself. Bug-Eyes states he name is Thorfinn, but everyone call him Bug-Eyes. Ketil is surprised and explains that one of his men is also called Thorfinn, who is quiet and hardworking, making him wonder if he should have named Olmar - Thorfinn too. Leif wonders if that Thorfinn is a slave and Ketil confirms, stating he didn't mention his status to not offend Leif. Leif the asks if he is Norse with blond hair and brown eyes, about the same age as Bug-Eyes and Ketil again confirms. Leif then asks if he is from Iceland and a former warrior. Ketil recalls that Thorfinn had lots of scars on his body. Ketil wonders why he is so interested in him. Leif explains that he is looking for him and that he is a friend's son, who got enslaved.

Leif asks Mols that they take a detour and visit Ketil's farm and explains that Ketil agreed for them to follow him. However hearing that it will take 5 days to go, Mols states they are wasting 10 days. Leif is sure that this time its indeed Thorfinn, but Mols complains that if they don't hurry back, the Greenland Sea will freeze over, and states he can't come with him this time.

Ketil is surprised he is getting to meet Canute already. Thorgil himself is surprised as usually Canute is quite busy and guesses that Canute liked some of Ketil's gifts. Moments later Ketil and his sons are called to meet Canute, who asks if the crops he brought are grew on his land and Ketil confirms. Canute explains that he has no intention on changing how things were done between Ketil and his father and Harald, and wants Ketil to continue serving the nation as a strong farmers are the treasure of Denmark. Ketil is quite happy and thanks him. Olmar then stands up and asks Canute if he can join his forces. He is ready to demonstrate his skills and starts drawing his sword, but Ketil stops him, telling him he shouldn't draw his sword in the presence of the king. While the two argues, Canute states its all fine and wants to see how Olmar handles a sword. They bring a roasted pig and Canute explains its the soldiers dinner, so he cut it. Olmar then prepares to cut it. He starts yelling and tries to saw it, making people outside wonder what is that screaming. Seeing how bad it is, Canute tells him its enough with Olmar out of breath stating that bones are hard. Canute tells him he will consult with his captain and tell him tomorrow if they will take him.

Later, Ketil is crying in his bed out of shame. Thorgil tells Olmar that his men will be teasing him for a long time. Olmar is also crying, but Thorgil tells him what is done is done and he should only be careful to not embarrass the family again. Wulf tells Canute that there are lots of men like Olmar, all pride, but no skill, and are the first to die in a battle, so he wouldn't want him in his squad. Canute states he heard his opinion as the Captain of the Guard, but now he wants to hear his opinion from the other perspective. Wulf then states that Olmar can be quite useful. Canute agrees. He is sorry that they must pay the price, but its so that people can live in peace. He then states that Ketil's farm will be the first they requisition.

Characters in order of appearance

 * Canute
 * Wulf
 * Estrid
 * Gunnar
 * Ketil
 * Thorgil
 * Olmar
 * Bug-Eyes
 * Leif Ericson
 * Mols