Original subtitles

Is this old man hard of hearing too?

Guards, don't think about moving.

The king is within my reach.

- Seriously? - No way...

Askeladd...

- You bastard! King Sweyn is... - Don't move, Thorkell!

Askeladd is not in his right mind. Don't provoke him.

It will put the king at risk.

Put your sword down.

Then I will forgive you for this impudence.

Forgive? Don't get cocky with me, you barbarian.

You deserve to die for insulting

my family and my people.

This is my last warning.

Put your sword down, Askeladd.

That is my nickname.

I will let you know my real name bestowed upon me by my mother.

Lucius Artorius Castus.

I am

the rightful king who was meant to

rule over Britannia.

That felt good.

For a time, Danish forces

had taken over hegemony in England.

But in 1014,

with the death of King Sweyn of Denmark,

the state of affairs changed drastically.

Denmark and England

took up arms once again.

Canute, the head of the English Front

of the Danish Vikings, who succeeded his father's supremacy.

Ethelred II, who has returned

from exile in Normandy and was

restored to power after the death of Sweyn.

With both men claiming to be the King of England,

it once again became

uncertain as to who the throne belonged to.

The ravages of war left England impoverished.

Your Majesty, please stand back!

Do not worry. I did not drink from it.

Your Majesty, please have mercy!

In the name of Lord Jesus,

I swear I did not know!

I would never poison your drink!

Your Majesty, please have mercy!

King Ethelred!

Damn you...

Using cowardly tricks...

My goodness...

this is much worse than what I had imagined,

Your Majesty.

To think that Mercia, a place once known as

"the gem of the Midlands" looks like this now.

It will take a long time for them to recover.

Gunnar, don't talk as if it has nothing to do with you.

We are the ones who destroyed it.

What's that?

Oh, yes... That is

our army's advance party which took control of this land.

- Let go of me! - I'm not asking about that.

I am asking you what they are doing.

Well, they're pillaging, of course.

They're picking out girls they can sell

from among the beggars.

I forbade that, didn't I?

Behead them and display them on the streets.

What? However...

collecting spoils of war is customary during wartime.

We don't want to overly restrict them...

Soldiers who disregard military discipline are no soldiers of mine.

Behead them and display them on the streets.

Okay... Well then...

- You there! - What? Seriously?

Thank you for taking the time

to come all the way here, Your Majesty.

Floki, how are the preparations going?

Very well. We are ready any time.

I have them waiting already.

However, there is no reason for Your Majesty to meet him personally.

You can leave it to us...

It's fine. I was going to check up on the situation here anyway.

I'll meet him.

Eadric, the earl of Mercia, is just a spineless man.

He is not worth meeting.

His character and whether or not he is useful are two different things.

Either way, I will decide once I meet him.

Besides, there is another reason for which

I came all the way over here.

What may that be?

Hey!

Canute!

There you are, you bastard!

Canute!

I have to calm that thing down.

I doubt you guys can handle that.

That is true...

You little punk!

Let me punch you! For starters,

just shut up and let me punch you!

Calm down, Thorkell.

Hey, you little...

I hate being stopped in the middle of a battle,

even more than I hate frogs!

Huh? Frogs?

Mercia has called for a ceasefire.

The outcome of the battle here is clear.

Good work, Thorkell.

Shut your trap!

Once a battle starts,

it doesn't end until you kill the enemy's leader.

I was this close to chopping off Eadric's head!

Stop fussing over it. Earl Eadric of Mercia is nothing

but a lord of a rural territory.

Take a look at the big picture.

I don't care about that!

All I care about is living a fulfilling war-centered life.

In the east,

Ethelred's son Edmund is showing some suspicious activity.

We ask for your assistance in suppressing the eastern front.

Your outstanding...

I will choose who and where to fight!

You dice-head!

Canute!

You better not have forgotten

about that time when I told you,

"I will be a witness to

what you will accomplish

and who you will become from now on."

You are still a nobody.

You're not even the king of England yet.

You're nothing but a kid.

Listen up, kid...

It is impossible for you to avoid fighting.

You have no choice but to pave your path with blood and iron.

Just as Askeladd did.

Don't forget that.

From the moment you started walking

your path has been covered in blood.

Get off already!

Enough of that! Scram!

How annoying!

I'll go easy on you for today.

But there will be no next time. Don't forget that.

How could he insult you in front of the army!

Your Majesty, he has gone too far!

This must not be overlooked!

Why? He has a point.

It was a valuable warning.

He has nothing to hide.

It must feel great to be able to live like him.

Let's go.

It's worth 4,000 pounds in silver.

This is everything we could collect at the moment.

Please accept it.

If you pull your troops out of Mercia

we will offer an additional 4,000.

It's not a bad deal, Lord Canute.

So this is Danegeld?

Lord Eadric...

What do you say, Lord Canute?

How cheap.

All right, raise it up just like that.

I will ask you again.

Are you saying you will pay

this gold and silver in the hope that I will retreat from Mercia,

Eadric?

It's 8,000 pounds!

It should be more than sufficient as compensation.

It's insufficient.

Think about what you are saying.

You are telling me,

Canute, the Bretwalda of England,

to leave your territory in exchange for money.

And the price you pay for disrespecting the king

is this meager amount?

I am your king.

I came here to suppress a rebellion

occurring within my own land.

Not to ask for money.

What nonsense!

Our ruler is none other than King Ethelred of the royal House of Wessex!

It's certainly not you!

Stop that!

- But Father... - No!

This is not the time nor the place for that!

Now that you mention it,

there is another person who claims to be the King of England.

So?

Did Ethelred approve of you making this deal?

If he learns of our situation

His Majesty will surely understand.

Really? How kind of him.

Even if his subject abandons the battlefront

without permission for the sake of his own territory,

Ethelred will be forgiving, huh?

He's so mean.

How cruel...

There is no order because there are two kings.

One must die.

Ethelred is a coward who deserted his people and the throne

and went into exile during the previous battle.

Putting the future of England

in the hands of a man like that is foolish,

don't you think?

Are you telling me to...

betray him?

You have already betrayed him.

I can use your help, Eadric.

I want to get rid of Ethelred.

As someone who has served him for many years,

you must know of a good way.

You think...

you can rob me of my last remaining loyalty?

You punk!

In return, I won't take Mercia.

The price is Ethelred's head.

It's quite a bargain.

I refuse!

This ceasefire negotiation has failed.

I will fight you to the bitter end, you despicable man!

Floki, it seems this man isn't so spineless after all.

He has quite the backbone.

Well...

Why not test it out, Your Majesty?

Let's go outside, Lord Eadric.

There is something I want to show you.

- Is it ready? - Yes, Your Majesty!

Do it.

A fire beacon? What is it signaling?

What... is this?

What is the meaning of this? Canute!

Father!

Look...

Over there too!

Canute!

What is this signaling?!

This is what it means to fight me.

Imagine it, Eadric.

At this very moment,

Mercia was reduced to ashes.

Do you understand now?

If I wanted to,

I could easily set all of you to flames.

Father!

Offer up Ethelred's head and buy yourself peace.

That is the smart decision.

The following year, in April 1016,

King Ethelred II of England dies.

Your Majesty!

It is said to be due to an illness.

After Ethelred's death,

his son, Edmund, succeeds the throne.

Edmund takes over Ethelred

and puts up a good fight against Canute's army, inflicting major damage.

But seven months later, in November of that same year,

he also dies of an illness.

An illness, huh?

Even King Sweyn spent ten years fighting over this country,

but it was all settled in just three years.

The witenagemot said

they accept Canute as Bretwalda.

His coronation will be next year.

Don't talk about Canute. It ruins my appetite.

All right...

Sweyn,

Ethelred,

Edmund...

As a result of the unnatural deaths of his rivals,

in 1018, Canute is

officially crowned King of England.

"I want a horse."

Subtitle translation by: Kiko Morita