Original subtitles

Herward the Holy.

To say that I am pleased to see you...

No need to put your gratitude into words,

but put it into action.

I�ve helped you, now you must help me.

Rolf the Penitent.

Herward, I�m fighting for my life.

I�m fighting for mine.

For five weeks the Picts have been coming at us, from two flanks.

Today Kai lost seven men holding them to the north.

I myself saw six fall to their knives.

We stamp on them like rats and still they advance.

Romans knew them. And feared them.

Picti, they called them. The Painted Ones.

Savages from the North.

Lacinius, the old centurion, called them the Legion of the Dead.

They believed that if they died in battle they went straight to the paradise,

but if they were defeated or surrendered, they went straight to hell.

They are unstoppable.

Rolf the Penitent is unstoppable.

He ravages my cattle, steals my grain, seizes my womenfolk!

He�s his own man, not mine.

He�s a Celt! You are the self-appointed leader of the Celts.

You are the one who would show us the way to live in peace.

Rolf the Penitent breaks that peace. He is your burden.

I thought he�d been converted to your religion,

to the Christ of the one god.

Well, has he? � Oh, yes.

He�s embraced it as if it were one of my village maidens.

He�s bitterly sorry for his sins,

bitterly he repents them.

His remorse is terrible to behold.

Then as soon as he�s done his penance,

he�s off again, refreshed and worse than ever.

I will give you help.

I�d sooner spare you twenty swordsmen,

but I will give you Llud.

Here is Llud.

I seek Rolf the Penitent.

I know!

Kill me! Slay me first!

Burn me over a slow fire.

I deserve it! I am a sinner! I want to pay!

I am here... � Use my own sword...

...on the authority... � Cut out my heart...

...of Arthur. � And give it to the dogs.

Stake out my liver for the birds to pick at...

I have... � Cut off my head!

Will you hold your tongue?!

So you are Rolf the Penitent.

Murderer. Thief. Liar!

Ravager of maidens. Stealer of crops.

Breaker of his given word.

Hideous in the sight of God!

Your crimes are many enough to remember without your help.

Get to your feet.

You gave Arthur a promise.

And have broken it a thousand times.

Food!

Food for the mighty Llud of the Silver Hand.

Food and drink!

Come. Please.

First eat.

Then � listen to a humble sinner.

What d�you think he did?

So then Edwin...

...stalks out of the camp in all his kingly dignity,

trips over a chicken and lands flat on his face in a dungheap.

Here, have some more Adder�s Sting.

We must talk.

D�you like songs? Songs, is it?

I have a song I made myself.

Here. Peace.

I have heard that!

In the evening, when the lake shines,

I seek in the water its meaning.

And in the night, when the sky shines,

From God my faith I am gleaning.

Short, you see.

Short but strong.

You�re a strange man, Rolf.

There are more sides to you than a woman�s argument.

I have another one.

Here.

Peace! Peace!

Time we talked.

Arthur wants you as a friend.

But each time you raid and pillage your shadow falls on him.

His heart is warm,

but his sword arm is hard

and there�s a limit to his patience!

Do you threaten me, Llud?

Threats don�t frighten me.

Not even Arthur�s.

I frighten me.

I want to change. I mean to.

But every time I see a chance of plunder, I cannot help myself!

Why do you think I became a Christian?

You�re looking at a sinner who�s begging to reform.

What penances does your church give you?

Fasting.

Walking up the rocks of the Hill of Morfyn on my knees. Scourging.

Penances for women and children!

Who does your scourging?

Abbot Morpeth. My confessor.

Oh. Not again, my son!

This is your scourger?

My lord abbot.

May I have a word with you alone?

My thanks, Abbot Morpeth.

It is I who should thank you.

This man has generously consented to relieve me of my arduous,

and I may say physically exhausting, responsibilities

of seeing to your penances.

Again, my heartfelt gratitude.

Now, mind you obey his instructions

as if they were my own.

Your scourger?

That old man couldn�t scourge the hairs off a peach!

I�ll set some penances for you.

Remedies of the old gods.

Where�s your blacksmith?

Tomorrow we go riding, you and I.

If you feel temptation coming on, you must tell me.

Ah. My thanks.

It was a favourite penance of Mithras,

god of the Roman soldiers.

Put it on.

I can�t sleep in that!

A sinner should not be capable of sleep.

His conscience should trouble him.

Tempted?

Yes!

What?

I deserve this!

How can I be easy in this shirt of the devil?

You are rightly clad, then.

And the intention... � I warn you, Llud...

No. No. No.

I have no right to complain.

Every moment reminds me of what a miserable sinner I am.

Yes.

Mea culpa!

More, more! I�m a miserable sinner!

A damned soul!

I deserve more! More!

And if you do not truly repent, more you will get.

We do not have the men to lose.

We can go on killing five Picts for every Celt and still be overwhelmed.

You would have had them on a sloping river bank,

between you and the river,

and you would not have attacked?

Defence is the only way. Careful defence.

To kill without being killed.

Every day I tell you, every day you agree, and every day you disobey.

I have not lost a battle yet.

And I can still fight beside my men.

Yes. Good!

You�re right. Thank you.

You�re my conscience, Llud.

Be off! This devilish armour plagues me.

My back is raw from the beatings I�ve received.

And now for two days I cannot eat at my own table!

I see.

You are a virtuous man now, are you?

Purged of all your sins?

The girl, the jewels, the horses?

All paid for so easily?

Abbot Morpeth would be proud of you.

I feel I�m getting better,

in my fight against the devil. � Good, good!

In fact I think I�m almost cured.

Herward tells me that during the night someone attacked his food train.

Injured his men, and stole a whole boar.

Who?

I will ask but once. Who?

We could destroy them!

And at the same time destroy ourselves?!

We must attack!

Every day they gain more and more ground.

Tomorrow or the next day this hut will be all there is left!

Then that will be the time for the last stand.

From defensive positions.

We let the boar run onto the spear.

For one wild boar?

It�s your choice.

I deserve it.

The fires of hell.

I am a miserable wretched sinner.

Mea culpa!

Mea culpa.

Llud!

I have stayed my penance,

so that you may witness this wicked sinner walk through the flames.

I must return to Arthur.

A matter of great urgency, I can see it in your eye.

Yes, yes, you must go immediately.

But fear not.

I will walk through those burning ashes until I can no longer stand.

I know you will, Rolf.

I would stay longer,

but I must ride to protect a simple band of people who pay tribute to Arthur.

Ah. Yes, yes, you must go.

Tribute? � Yes. A token of friendship.

Jewellery, treasure.

They�re a gentle people and easily plundered.

They�re in the forest north of your camp.

I lead a party to bring them safely through.

God speed.

Tell the women to douse that fire,

and raise up every man who can hold a sword.

Such a penance you have earned.

Arthur! The Bear!

Charge!

What penance do you bring now, Llud,

conscience of the world?

This sin brought its own penance.

I never had to fight like that.

To me, battles are for winning, not for dying.

I felt the death-fear, Llud.

I leave a brother there, many friends of many years.

The night-gathering will not be the same.

As others have felt.

Those who have been the victims of Rolf the Penitent.

Time for a reckoning.

Rolf the Widow-Maker fought the Painted Ones.

Found his penance in the slaying.

Rolf the Penitent shrived his sinning.

Mourned his dead, paid his paying.

To Rolf the Penitent.

Hammer of the Picts.

An old Caesar�s trick.

Set a barbarian to fight barbarians.

Rolf is no barbarian.

Great good and great wickedness are but a hair�s thickness apart.

Good or bad, we need Rolf.

Oh, I think you�ll find he�s a friend.

If you go to sleep with one eye open.