Thors!
Helga!
Thors!
YEAR 987 A.D. HJÖRUNGAVÁGR
What are you doing just standing there?
Are you unwell?
Sorry. I was just resting my eyes.
Our formation has spread out too far.
A second wave would overwhelm us.
Thorkell, I want you to push the front when Floki comes closer to us.
That airhead, huh?
Well, I'll do it.
What about you?
I'll hold them back.
What do you mean?!
How can you do that from there--
He sure is nimble.
Wait! A solo sneak attack?
Maria, I'm sorry…
EPISODE 1
YEAR 1002 A.D. ICELAND
Oh, Thorfinn. Please feed the sheep and milk the cows.
Okay.
With Markland behind us, we sailed further south.
"There are richer lands there,"
the wind seemed to say.
And then, I found it.
A new continent!
A new land of bountiful fruit harvests and waves of grassy meadows.
I gave the land a name.
I called it
"Vinland."
What do you think, you rascals?
Does that change your view of me? The great Leif Erikson!
Wow, old man Leif!
What then?
-Were there people? -Was it warm?
Was it bigger than Iceland?
It was indeed.
It was much warmer than here.
Grass covered the whole land.
We even met the native peoples.
We couldn't communicate with words, but we became fast friends.
This headdress and this pipe are gifts from them.
See this here?
Only a true warrior can wear this upon his head.
What's this? The children are still awake?
-Let me touch it, old man! -I'm sorry.
I wanted to let them listen to Leif's story.
A true warrior, huh?
You really are amazing!
Aren't I? You're a good boy, Thorfinn.
When you're older, would you like to sail on my ship?
What? Let me go with you now!
Now?
But something is strange, Leif.
My grandpa told me.
Jörmungandr is to the west, and it eats any boat that comes near it.
And beyond that, nothing else exists.
That's precisely why
you should realize how impressive I am!
See? This proves that I am a true warrior.
But Leif, you're not even a warrior.
You don't get it, do you?
Merely going to war doesn't make you a warrior!
To sail a ship is to fight the sea.
Isn't that amazing?
-Just as I thought. -Yeah.
What?
Everyone says you're just a child with a beard.
You only explore but you're useless in battle.
Others speak for you?
Thorfinn, you believe me, don't you?
Or is it that
you can't believe an old adventurer who doesn't gone to war?
If my dad said you were a warrior, then I would believe it, but…
Thors!
These kids are mocking me! Set them straight!
All right. That's enough for today.
Ari, take the kids home please.
Okay, Thors.
Bye!
See you!
I see.
They froze to death in Greenland…
The cold waves this year are especially severe.
Much of the livestock will die, too.
But the problem is that with each year, the cold becomes ever harsher.
It's so cold.
Welcome back.
Only these two were a little weak.
You must've been freezing out there, Ylva!
Let me warm you up.
You perverted old man!
Mother, go to sleep. You'll catch another cold.
I will be fine.
-Come help me tie up the sheep. -Okay.
It seems things are rough here, too.
Yeah.
Sooner or later, there may come a winter that no one can survive.
At home, my younger brother is making plans to migrate.
It's far, isn't it?
Come now.
I made a round trip.
Forward!
Vinland is just over yonder!
Captain Thorfinn!
What is it?
It's the Jörmungandr!
I'll take you on, beast!
It hurts.
Ylva! Go to your own bed! You're crowding me!
What? I don't want to.
That's not fair!
I warmed this bed up!
They're still talking.
Don't worry about it.
Leave the worrying to the adults.
Anyway, come here.
I'll give you a nice, warm hug!
Goodness.
Hey, Father! Let's buy a slave?
Mother's not in good health, and I'm always busy helping her.
We do things differently.
Stop asking.
You're so strange.
Ylva!
I thought I was going to die.
-Are you hurt? -No.
What's wrong?
There's something underneath.
Ylva?
Hey, old man.
How much of last night's story was true?
"How much"? It's all true.
Then let me sail with you.
-I'll believe you when I see it myself. -Fool.
You can't say that just to get on the ship.
If you really want to sail go with your father.
Look. That's a battleship.
The village has used it for generations,
but they'd gladly lend it to your father.
My father's stingy. No matter how many times I ask, he says no.
He's not stingy.
That sea out there, Thorfinn, is frightening.
When I was young, I was once trapped by an ice floe.
It was right after we moved to Greenland.
We were reckless.
Our provisions depleted quickly.
We ate ice to distract ourselves from starvation.
At last, the ship was crushed by the ice,
so with no choice, we walked over the frozen sea.
Before I knew it, I was alone.
All six of my companions had died.
Why?
Why did we struggle so hard just to live on these northern islands?
Helga! Boil some water!
Ylva, bring the furs.
Okay.
Oh dear. What happened?
He was buried in the snow.
That looks so painful.
What happened to him?
-Stoke the fire. -Okay.
Hey, Father.
Isn't he already dead?
His limbs are rotting.
Besides, this could be bad.
He's…
He's not from this village.
Poor thing.
What was he doing out in that blizzard?
"What was he doing?"
He's a runaway slave.
Sheltering him could be trouble for us.
We were running away.
Our ancestors lived further east.
They lived in a land called Norway.
It's warmer than here, and the sea doesn't freeze.
A beautiful land protected by many fjords.
But one day,
a strong man named Harald appeared.
Harald's forces burned through villages on their conquests,
and he proclaimed himself the first king of a unified Norway.
And he forced the people to choose.
Obey the king or leave Norway.
Many despised Harald's tyranny and left to a faraway land far from oppression.
That land is here, Iceland.
You're lying.
You're just a liar after all!
My father and my ancestors would never run away like that!
You foolish geezer!
Washed-up explorer!
Father!
Father, listen.
Old man Leif said…
Welcome home, Thorfinn.
Who is that?
A slave from somewhere else. He's a runaway.
He woke up!
Can you tell me your name?
It's cold.
The fire! Ylva, stoke it more.
Okay.
Where did you come from?
W-Will I…
be sent back?
To Halfdan's… home…
Halfdan?
So you are from beyond the mountains?
I hate that place.
I hate it.
But…
I have…
nowhere else to go.
Thors!
Come quickly. Halfdan's at the harbor!
He brought his men and they're blaming us for something.
Only you can face him!
They want to know about a slave and forced their way on land.
Leif is holding him back,
but a fight could break out at any moment!
Please, come fast!
Chains are the only adornment that suits a man's neck.
Not gold, not silver,
but iron chains.
Only a chained neck
can make a man more civilized.
Don't you think?
Last night, one of my slaves broke his chain and escaped.
Any idea where he could be?
Don't pick a fight with us!
You're just trying to bring up an old quarrel!
He's always having disagreements with us.
We had an intervention last time.
Brat. I remember you.
You cut off my left arm during that fight!
Speak for yourself.
How dare you cut off my elder brother's leg!
That's enough, Ari!
My brother will never walk again!
I'll slice off your leg too!
Come at me!
Your people and your laws mean nothing!
Halfdan.
I'll chain you up, bastard.
Anyone who mocks the law is unforgivable.
The law is the chain.
When brutes are chained, they become men for the first time.
Do not forget that.
The runaway is a young Slavic man.
Any idea where he is?
Where am I?
This is the first time I've felt so at peace.
Stay with us! Hold on!
Keep conscious or else you'll die!
Thors.
Father.
Mother.
Sister.
You are all here?
I was worried.
Each of us was sold alone.
Where is this place?
Why am I…
Far to the west
and beyond the sea
is a land called Vinland.
It is a warm…
plentiful far away place
where slave traders and the flames of war cannot reach.
How about it?
Would you like to live there with us someday?
Vinland.
I see.
This place
is called Vinland.
Found him.
Forgive the ruckus, Thors.
I am the legitimate owner of that slave.
Return him to me.
F-Father…
Come along, Thorfinn.
Halfdan!
We can explain.
We weren't hiding him.
Actually, we saved your slave from near death.
Halfdan. How much did you pay for this man?
F-Father,
it's rude to ask such a question.
Two young ewes.
I'll give you three. I will buy him.
How about it, Halfdan?
I will be taking him home with me.
I must make an example of him to the other slaves.
Then I'll pay you four.
Bastard! Do you not understand what Master Halfdan is saying?
Silence.
And if I ask for double that?
I'll pay it.
All males under three years old.
Eight sheep for this worthless bastard.
A good deal.
No way. It's settled?
Thors.
Do you plan to free him from his chains?
Where will you take him then?
I'll choose the sheep myself.
Ylva, are you sad?
Of course I am!
He gave away eight sheep and the man died anyway!
You idiot, Father!
Why are you so strange?
Father.
Did we run away too?
Old man Leif said our ancestors ran away from the east.
He said they ran away and came here.
Yes.
That is what has been told.
Then…
if people want to escape here too…
where do they go?
Subtitle translation by Astrid Oliver