Listen closely, Thorfinn. You don't have any enemies. No one has any enemies. There is no one who it's okay to hurt.— Thors to Thorfinn
"Sword" (剣 Ken?) is the second episode of the Vinland Saga anime, produced by WIT Studio.
Synopsis[]
In the year 1002, the war between England and Denmark intensifies and the English massacred a band of Vikings in Northumbria. A band of Jomsvikings, led by the intimidating Floki, visit Thorfinn's village in Iceland to enlist Thors in their war against the English. Thors was their former commander known as the Troll of Jom and is forced to join Floki along with a ship and men in order to protect the villagers from being taken as hostages. Thorfinn and the young men in the village and are excited by the prospect of going to war but have little understanding of what it is really like. Meanwhile, Floki conspires with Askeladd in the Faroe Islands to slaughter Thors and his crew when they arrive as punishment for deserting fifteen years earlier.
Summary[]
On November 13th, 1002 A.D., the Vikings of a settlement in Northern England, Earldom of Northumbia, are all bathing themselves, which is customarily done on Saturday. The narrator states that the English were well aware of this custom, as soldiers marched to settlement in a stream of water. The English soldiers ambushed the naked Vikings, who were unprepared and quickly overwhelmed. The English commander tells his men to slaughter everyone, including women and children, and burn the settlement to ground on the king's orders.
In Iceland, the children of the village are practicing to use a swords, shield, and spears. As the children pretend to go to battle, Thorfinn and Faxi pretend to be dead corpses on the battlefield. Thorfinn complains about the other kids moving the battle away from them and that he always gets 'killed' fast whenever they play. Faxi tells him that dead bodies don't talk, Thorfinn counters that he always dies first. Faxi says that in Valhalla he could eat meat every day, but Thorfinn says only powerful warriors are allowed to enter Valhalla, which makes him wonder if his mother and sister can come too. Leif Ericson approaches Thorfinn and tells him if he dies in the snow, he'll get sick, while laughing at him.
The three go to Leif's ship, where Thorfinn is surprised to learn that Leif is leaving tomorrow. Thorfinn says that he is lucky and asks where will he go this time. Leif says that he is going to Norway, not for fun, but to trade goods. Leif says that he can trade rugs and furs for wine. Thorfinn wants to come along, but Leif naturally refuses, much to Thorfinn's disappointment. As he crosses himself, Leif says that he needs to get some wine before the end of the year, because in Greenland, there going to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Thorfinn says that his father likes mead more than wine and tells Leif to ask him for some, but Leif says it has to be wine. Leif says he thought that this Iceland village would have some wine, but he will have to cross North Sea for it. Leif looks to the horizon and tells Thorfinn to give his father a message: A warship is approaching Iceland. Meanwhile, at a blacksmith workshop, Thors Snorresson is learning to a fix a hole in a pot, but fails, much to his teacher's amusement. Suddenly, Thorfinn appears and tells his father that another warship is coming to there village.
At the docks, a group of warriors in white demand to speak with "Thors the Troll", but the villagers doubt its their Thors and recognizes they are greater warriors than Halfdan's crew. Thors and Thorfinn go to the docks, where the former presents himself to the Jomsvikings. The Jomsvikings all bow to Thors in respect, much to the villagers' confusion. Thors calls their leader by name and tells Floki that he never expected him to come all this way to find him. Floki says that they haven't seen each other since the Norway campaign and that he never expected him to hide at the ends of the earth in Iceland. Thors tell him to state his business, but first, Floki asks for permission to land.
At Thors' house, Ari, Thorfinn, Ylva and other boys quietly watch Thors and Helga greet Floki and wonder who he really is, while Thorfinn notices that his father seems upset. Floki mentions the English ambush on the bathing Vikings that happened earlier in the episode, and says that many Danes were killed by the English in the Danelaw. He also says that Princess Gunhilde, sister of King Sweyn of Denmark was also killed. Now the king can use the death of his sister as an excuse to start a war with England and Floki says that warriors like he and Thors will play apart of it. Floki says that the Jomsvikings will join the army of Denmark and the invasion of England will begin in spring. Thors tells Floki to do as he wishes and that this small village in Iceland has no concern about affairs of the big countries across the northern sea. Floki says that will not do, as Chief Sigvaldi has ordered the entire Jomsviking fleet to return to Jomsborg; no exceptions, even for a deserter like Thors. This revelation shocks all the children secretly watching. Floki says that Thors is required to participate in the coming battle as a Jomsviking Captain. Thors quietly drinks a cup of mead, while Floki says that the chief is being merciful giving him this offer and after fifteen years, Thors can return to the battlefield with honor. Floki says that Chief Sigvaldi truly values Thors' skill and wants him back. Thors tells Floki that he didn't have to bring a warship just to tell him that and the villagers are afraid. Floki laughs and says that either Thors has changed a lot or maybe this village has. He looks at the boys who have been eavesdropping on his conversation, which causes them to run away in fear. Floki says that the village is peaceful and the children have lived free of war, which earns him a scornful look from Thors.
Meanwhile, the boys are excited that they can fight in a war for first time in their lives. Ari tells Thorfinn that they came across the sea to recruit Thors and says that his father must be amazing, much to the younger boy's happiness. Magni wonders if Thors would take them with him, but the others call him weak. Ari says they would take strong warriors like himself and that none of them have ever killed someone, before accidentally bumping into a Jomsviking. Ari quickly apologizes, but the warrior stares menancingly at him. At Thors' house, Floki says that he isn't a powerless messenger and if Thors refuses to fight in the war, his mission will be a failure and the chief's reputation will be damaged. While the Jomsvikings patrol the area, Floki tells Thors that he won't go home empty-handed, effectively holding the village hostage for Thors' aid. Thors realizes how powerless he is in this situation and gives an angry look. At the docks, Leif tells the boys that the Jomsvikings are an army based out of Jomsborg, a port town far to the east in Wendland and that he never imagined that Thors used to be a Jomsviking. Ari asks if they are strong and Leif says that they're so strong, the King of Wendland was unable to collect any taxes from them. He also says that they take pride in being the strongest army in the North Sea. Floki leaves Thors' home and orders all of the Jomsvikings to return to the ship. The Jomsviking that Ari bumped into early angrily stares at him, before joining the others, much to the boy's confusion. Floki tells the villagers who he is and that he was tasked to recruit Thors Snorresson. He adds that Thors will be provided with his own warship and encourages the bravest among them to come with him to Jomsborg. The Jomsvikings take their leave and Floki tells Thors they will meet again on the battlefield. Ari happily declares that they will go to war and the entire village celebrates, other than Thors, Thorfinn, and Leif. While everyone cheers, Leif watches a dejected Thors walk away.
At Thors' home, Thors tells Leif and Helga what Floki said. Leif understands that he couldn't have refused, but Thors blames himself for the whole ordeal. Thors tells Leif that he used to make a living by killing other people, but one day, he grew tired of killing, so he run away from the battlefield. Thors thought he succeeded in faking his death, but he has been discovered. Leif says he could simply do it again, Thors points out that village will suffer in his place if he runs away again and that the Jomsvikings never forgive deserters. After finishing his drink, Thors tells Leif and Helga that he must now face his past. Elsewhere, Thorfinn watches in happiness as the village celebrates the impending war.
Afterwards, the men of the village pull their warships to the docks, while Leif sits on a barrel and watches. Ari approaches Leif and asks why isn't getting ready leave on his trip. Leif says that Thors asked him to leave with them in the warship fleet. Ari says that's much safer and they'll protect him. Leif wonders to himself why everyone loves to battle. Elsewhere, Thorfinn easily defeats the other kids in a training match. The children decide to surround him and one boy attacks Thorfinn from behind with a fake spear. He is happy that he beat him, but Thorfinn brutally attacks the boy in anger while he is distracted. One of the boys calls out Thorfinn for breaking the rules, but he too is attacked and beaten by Thorfinn. The other boys are angry, but Thorfinn angrily walks away and wipes the blood off of his nose.
At the docks, Thors and the other men are attaching a mast to their ship. One man approaches Thors and asks him to look his son's injuries. They go to his house, where Thors diagnoses the injury as a broken arm. The other injured children angrily tell on Thorfinn and says they don't want to play with him anymore. Thors is shocked that his son would do this to the other children and apologizes, promising to scold him. The boy's father doesn't think its serious and just a game between kids. He is also impressed that a six year old like Thorfinn could injure kids nearly twice his age and says he must take after Thors. Thors somberly looks at the injured boy.
Outside, Ari is given a set of armor and weapons from his father. All the boys gather and display their weapons to each other, while Thorfinn watches from a distance. Thorfinn angrily looks at his wooden sword and shield and tosses them on the floor at his house. Ylva tells him not leave his stuff on the floor, and pick it up before she throws it away. Thorfinn tells her that he doesn't need it anymore, while searching through a box in the storage room. Ylva asks what he is looking for, and Thorfinn replies that he needs a weapon. While Thorfinn looks, Ylva says that their father won't take him to battle because he is too young. After a great deal of searching, Thorfinn and discovers an old chest and finds his father's old Jomsviking equipment inside. He immediately picks up his father's dagger, unsheathes it, and inspects it, calling it beautiful. Suddenly, Thors appears and takes the dagger from Thorfinn, gripping it by the blade, causing him to bleed. Helga asks Ylva what's happening and Ylva simply points to the storage room. Thors tells Thorfinn that a sword is a weapon for killing and asks who he plans to kill with it. Thorfinn says his enemies, so Thors asks who is his enemy. Thorfinn says Halfdan. Still gripping the blade, Thorfinn grabs Thorfinn and tells him that he has no enemies and there is no one he should hurt. Thorfinn says that makes no sense, because tomorrow, he will go off to battle and kill enemies. Thorfinn tells Thors not to treat him like a child and that he can tell he's lying, before running outside. Thors tries to stop him, but Thorfinn runs away from him and passes by the other boys who preparing for battle. Helga comes outside and treats Thors' injured hand. Thors asks Helga to look after Thorfinn for him. At the docks, Thorfinn angrily stares at the dragon figurehead on his father's warship.
At dawn, Thors looks at a sleeping Thorfinn, before meeting Leif at the docks. Leif says that the wind blows faintly from the northwest and the waves are calm, so Odin is in a good mood this morning and it's the perfect day to set sail. Thors agrees.
Meanwhile, at Streymoy of the Faroe Islands, a group of Vikings throw axes at tied up Christian monk. Whoever hits his head with their left hand, gets an entire barrel of alcohol. A man named Atli asks a nearby group of Jomsvikings if they want to share a drink with them, but the warriors remain silent. Bjorn tells Atli to leave them alone and they didn't want their cheap alcohol. One of the Vikings hits the monk's leg with his axe, and they all sadistically laugh at the man's injury. Floki tells Askeladd that his men are barbaric savages, but Askeladd says that they hate Christians. He also says that they should get down to business, because he and his men are tired of waiting in the middle of nowhere. Floki says that their agreement is the same; Askeladd will be given 100 coins and his target's ship and cargo. All he has to do is kill Thors.
Characters in order of appearance[]
- Snorre (Debut)
- Faxi (Debut)
- Thorfinn
- Leif Ericson
- Thors Snorresson
- Floki (Debut)
- Helga
- Ari
- Mord (Debut)
- Grim (Debut)
- Magni (Debut)
- Ylva
- Hakon (Debut)
- Torgrim (Debut)
- Atli (Debut)
- Bjorn (Debut)
- Askeladd (Debut)
Original Soundtrack[]
| Soundtrack | Starting Point |
|---|---|
| Mukanjyo (TV Size) | OP |
| Rusty Sword | 3:34 |
| Dead End | 13:37 |
| Dagger | 19:45 |
| Torches (TV Size) | ED |
Differences from the manga[]
Trivia[]
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