Hjalti

Hjalti was the son of Arnheid and her husband, Gardar.

Appearance
Hjalti was a 1-year-old boy with short dark blonde hair and blue eyes. When the dying Gardar has a vision of reuniting with six-year-old Hjalti in Episode 41, his hair has grown and he has bangs. He wears a blue tunic.

History
Hjalti is first mentioned in Chapter 80, when Gardar arrives at Ketil's farm. Arnheid tells Thorfinn and Einar about her past and Hjalti in Chapter 81.

Hjalti was raised by his parents in a small village in Svealand (a historical region of Sweden). When Hjalti was 1, Gardar left along with the rest of the village's men to fight over the rights of a recently discovered iron deposit marsh. He told Hjalti he was going to fight to protect him — Arnheid was confused by this statement, as she thought staying by Hjalti's side would be the best way to do that. Some weeks later, enemies came and raided the village. The old were slaughtered and the very young (including Hjalti) were taken away, since female slaves would fetch higher prices if they hadn't been married.

In October 1018, when Gardar asks where Hjalti is after attacking Snake, Arnheid lies and says she sent him to Gardar's brother in Birka for safety before the raid. When they talk about Hjalti shortly after, Gardar asks how old he is now and Arnheid replies that he is 6. In an anime-original scene in Episode 41, as he takes his last breaths, Gardar has a vision of coming home and hugging six-year-old Hjalti.

In Chapter 91, the dying Arnheid has a vision of riding in a carriage with Gardar, holding her newborn baby with Hjalti asleep on her lap. When she briefly wakes, she tells Thorfinn and Einar that she is going somewhere far away to the home she thought had burned, where Gardar and her children are waiting for her. As Gardar is dead and Arnheid believes her unborn child has passed on, this strongly implies Hjalti was killed on the day of the raid.