Episode 8: Beyond the Edge of the Sea

In November 1012 AD, Askeladd's men return to spend the cold months in the Jutland village ruled by the feudal lord Gorm, who greets them by tallying the enormous cost of feeding ninety-seven fighters. Askeladd cuts him off, promising the band's rich haul will cover food and drink for everyone. He notices Gorm's slave, Hordaland, a Norwegian lord's daughter ruined by a lost war, and remarks that her uselessness is only a matter of being handled wrongly. Spotting Thorfinn, he asks Gorm to witness the duel the boy is owed.

The bout opens with both men still. Thorfinn springs first and presses a flurry of strikes, even forcing Askeladd to drop his sword by threatening his fingers, but the captain baits him. Deliberately mangling Thors's name and calling him a fool for lowering his blade to save a child, Askeladd goads the boy into a blind charge, then grabs his arm, sweeps his leg, and pins him with ease.

That night Thorfinn broods alone on his father's ship, and Askeladd assures a curious crewman that the boy will never kill him in his sleep, since his warrior's pride demands an honest victory. Dreaming, Thorfinn is visited by Thors, who reminds him that a true warrior needs no sword and that he has no enemies. He wakes with his dagger at Hordaland's throat as she delivers his food. Learning she cannot bring herself to kill or flee, Thorfinn tells her of a warm western land beyond the sea, Vinland, untouched by war and slavers, and she wonders aloud whether such a place is real.

In August 1013 AD near Jelling, the great campaign takes shape as Denmark's finest clans and four Jomsviking companies gather under King Sweyn. He grants his son Canute a chance to prove his valor rather than be outshone by his brother Harald, then leads the fleet up the Humber. Five cities fall in the Gainsborough region before the advance stalls at the merchant town of London.

Airing August 25, 2019 as the eighth episode, this WIT Studio installment adapts the opening pages of chapter 2. Tomoaki Koshida handled both direction and storyboard, with a screenplay by Hiroshi Seko and Kenta Ihara. Gorm and Hordaland debut here, and the closing scenes introduce Canute, Ragnar, and Thorkell as the war for England begins in earnest.