Tales of the Vikings (1959–…): Season 1, Episode 15 - The Weapon - full transcript
King Knut summons all of the Viking leaders to his capital with fearful news - an unknown enemy has created a tremendous weapon that can destroy all of their long ships without the warriors even seeing their foes. Leif and his men seek the weapon, only to have their ships set on fire far from shore.
The viking kings were men of
pride and fierce independence.
No king trusted another.
The only times they joined together
was when some great enemy
threatened their homeland.
This was such a time.
No need to walk
to Canute's castle.
You have a good shipand men to carry you.
But why this summons now?
It is the time of year we
shall be off to far lands.
We can never meet tomorrow
until tomorrow comes.
Do not speak in riddles my son.
One warrior's enough.
I don't trust Canute either.
None do. Yet he holds
all Norway together.
Calls the council of kings.
But he forbids each king
to bring more than three ships.
Why?
I'll tell you why.
Canute as all kings stands over
Norway like a great spider.
With one foot in each kingdom.
He rules, aye.
But only because he knows how to
set one kingdom against the other.
As he has set Torvald against you.
And Bjorn against Erik,
and Gert against Vold.
Hjelsvorburg.
Aye?
Brotherbound, Canute's stronghold.
Sound our coming call!
Sire, Firebraid has come.
He is the last to arrive.
Can you talk to them?
Bid all who are worthy enter.
But their men remain outside.
And take their weapons.
You put yourself at Canute's mercy.
We have his word.
No swords will be raised against us.
Hold. I yield to no man!
It is no time to war amongst ourselves
when not one viking ship dares pass
the longfjord to the open sea.
Who dares to stop us?
Harold Bluetooth, king of
Jutland, holds the fjord,
and destroys every ship that enters there.
How many ships has Bluetooth?
None. He has sent them off raiding.
- No ships?
- No ships.
Less than two hundred men on shore.
- Then drive them out.
- We have tried.
It was the last moontide when we sailed.
Fifty ships, and men in plenty.
Bluetooth was waiting.
The smoke of his fires
rising high to welcome us.
We sailed into longfjord,
yet there was no to meet us.
No ship left the shore.
No man lifted a weapon.
Even when we were close to Pomland.
And then...the god of Bluetooth
sent the fire down on us.
First one ship burst into flame,
and then another.
And yet another.
The men of the burning ships
jumped into the water.
And those ships rammed others.
In the end, all were burned.
Until the very water seemed to be on fire.
- This fire, was it lightning?
- There was no lightning.
The day was bright and fair.
- Were there enemies on the ships?
- No. And not a torch touched.
Then... could it be godfire?
The kings of Norway sleep not this night.
Nor will they, until Bluetooth is dead.
Is it true that his god fights against us?
This I cannot say.
But you're a wise man, Halbur.
In some things. I build good
ships, I'm strong in battle,
but to think as Leif does,
this I cannot do.
How much longer will he sit like that?
Until he has turned the problem
of Bluetooth's war over and over.
Like you would that stone,
and can see it from every side.
That is good in a man.
Nay, boy, that is great in a man.
We have long walked with our thoughts
And no answer has come.
What think you, Finn?
I think only that Bluetooth is our enemy.
And when battle comes,
my shield will shine so bright
that he will know that its Finn,
son of Firebeard, come to kill him.
Passage for a king.
I'm Karl, nephew to king
Harrod, known as Bluetooth,
Ruler of Jutland, lord of the lowlands.
We wait on you, prince Karl.
And well you might.
For Bluetooth demands that you and all
the lesser kings of Norway bow before him.
No viking bends a knee to bluetooth.
Then will his wargod destroy you.
Even as he destroyed
your ships at langfjord.
This wargod, is he so peweful?
Come to langfjord and find out.
Then why does he not come here, now?
Be careful, Leif, for
you speak of the gods.
If this god of Bluetooth is so strong,
when did he not destroy
me when I struck this man?
Where is this godfire
that falls from the skies?
Return to Bluetooth, prince Karl.
Tell him we wait to do battle here.
Then you will wait until you starve.
For no ship can pass to see as long as
Bluetooth holds the entrance to Ljanfjord.
Then you would have us meet you there.
Why?
To see you burn.
Have you not seen in the forest how
lightning strikes the tallest pine
and then fire jumps
from tree to tree?
I have seen this.
Maybe it was so when your ships
entered lanfjord sailing close together.
But fire that destroys fifty ships,
can it not destroy a hundred?
Then send but one.
No! Send two, with sons of Firebeard.
And if one of us is lost,
the other can bring word.
Good to be at sea again
after a long winter.
Yes, another winter as long as
this one and you would be so fat,
we would never get you out of
that door in the great hall.
Well... I only eat to keep
my strength for fighting.
We're near the mouth of fjord...
Look out! Aloft!
Smoke on the shore!
- Make ready!
- Prepare for battle!
Make ready for battle!
I like it not. They must see us,
yet they make no move to battle us.
The sail! It burns!
Leif! Your sail!
The sail! It burns!
The ship burns!
Stay with the ship!
What goes in the sail?
Hold the fort, brother!
To the hands!
Help! Give me a hand!
Help!
The sail! Their own sail!
Oarsmen, to your oars, out of the fjord!
What kind of a war is this,
rather would I find a hundred men
then see a ship I built off in flames!
Row, vikings! Row!
Row! Row! Row!
Hold oars!
Langfjord is cursed.
Still, we must go back.
Go back?
Leif, many times I thought you crazy,
when your mind wandered
into far off places,
but to go back there after
what has happened?
This is medicine for burns,
see that they use it.
Odin bear witness, I've watched over
this lunkhead since he was newborn.
There's nothing that I would
not meet face to face,
but I cannot fight what I cannot see.
I could see nothing either.
There was nothing there!
We stood there, sword in hand,
ready to fight. There was nothing there!
You can feel the wind upon
your face, but can you see it?
Can you see what lifts the great waves of
the sea and sends them rushing to the land?
For everything there is a reason.
And I will know what sends
this fire to Longfjord.
Nay, brother, we have but this
one ship left to carry us home.
I would feel safer with it in your care.
Haldar and I will take the
smallboat, that is enough.
Take Orin with you.
You find this enemy, let him bring word.
I will also carry your shield,
as I left mine in the fjord.
And my luck go upon it.
That will spite you you
shallow son of a leighfjord
I'm Haldar, builder of ships!
I will have my vengeance
on you or die this day!
Come fight me, I say!
She was a fine ship, Haldar.
You built her well.
The shield! The fire has found it!
Look!
The fire comes not from
the sky but from the land...
It's gone.
I see it. There on the hillside.
Whatever it is, it lives by the sun.
Turn around!
We must get up into the hills.
What do we look for?
Something you have never seen before.
I can describe it no better.
You said this fire thing lives by the sun.
Have you thought, brother,
that it might sleep at night?
I have. But I have also thought how
few we are against Bluetooth's men.
Well, if each of us kill only ten men...
I could ask for no greater pleasure,
but do not forget, it is the fire we seek.
If luck is with us, then
we can kill this fire first.
What if we don't find it?
Then tomorrow we must bring the ship
in, and lure this thing into the open.
This signal you saw, when
we first came into the fjord?
It was only a flash of colour.
I marked it to be higher on this hill.
Then we search for it in this direction.
I have found nothing.
I tell you brother, I'm getting tired
of hunting something to fight.
Well, the sun is up.
There's only one thing left to do.
Yeah.
Mark where this lands.
There...
Another arrow.
What is it?
I do not know.
But the man who directs it
wears the dress of the Venetians,
where I have seen them work with glass.
This weapon of theirs
appears to be made of it.
Now I understand!
It catches the rays of the sun and hurls
them a hundredfold at any target.
The ship. It will burn.
Odin!
Have at!
The little maid has fought many a battle,
but none more worthy than this.
Aye, when I get home I will
build the finest of longboat
that ever sailed these fjords.
Ready oars!
Look who's on the shore!
Haldar broke his pretty toy.
We ought to go back and break his head!
Come, that look is fine for us,
we put the taste of fear in his mouth.
Aye!
Oh, viking roar!
From out of the North like an icy wind
Swept Odin's warrior breed
With broad axe and spear,
they follow a star,
Adventure and glory their need
They conquered the seas
in their dragon ships
Fought bravely in many a land
For Valkyrie remains right down for the man
who dies with a sword in his hand
The vikings, the vikings, the vikings
They learned the hardest sword
pride and fierce independence.
No king trusted another.
The only times they joined together
was when some great enemy
threatened their homeland.
This was such a time.
No need to walk
to Canute's castle.
You have a good shipand men to carry you.
But why this summons now?
It is the time of year we
shall be off to far lands.
We can never meet tomorrow
until tomorrow comes.
Do not speak in riddles my son.
One warrior's enough.
I don't trust Canute either.
None do. Yet he holds
all Norway together.
Calls the council of kings.
But he forbids each king
to bring more than three ships.
Why?
I'll tell you why.
Canute as all kings stands over
Norway like a great spider.
With one foot in each kingdom.
He rules, aye.
But only because he knows how to
set one kingdom against the other.
As he has set Torvald against you.
And Bjorn against Erik,
and Gert against Vold.
Hjelsvorburg.
Aye?
Brotherbound, Canute's stronghold.
Sound our coming call!
Sire, Firebraid has come.
He is the last to arrive.
Can you talk to them?
Bid all who are worthy enter.
But their men remain outside.
And take their weapons.
You put yourself at Canute's mercy.
We have his word.
No swords will be raised against us.
Hold. I yield to no man!
It is no time to war amongst ourselves
when not one viking ship dares pass
the longfjord to the open sea.
Who dares to stop us?
Harold Bluetooth, king of
Jutland, holds the fjord,
and destroys every ship that enters there.
How many ships has Bluetooth?
None. He has sent them off raiding.
- No ships?
- No ships.
Less than two hundred men on shore.
- Then drive them out.
- We have tried.
It was the last moontide when we sailed.
Fifty ships, and men in plenty.
Bluetooth was waiting.
The smoke of his fires
rising high to welcome us.
We sailed into longfjord,
yet there was no to meet us.
No ship left the shore.
No man lifted a weapon.
Even when we were close to Pomland.
And then...the god of Bluetooth
sent the fire down on us.
First one ship burst into flame,
and then another.
And yet another.
The men of the burning ships
jumped into the water.
And those ships rammed others.
In the end, all were burned.
Until the very water seemed to be on fire.
- This fire, was it lightning?
- There was no lightning.
The day was bright and fair.
- Were there enemies on the ships?
- No. And not a torch touched.
Then... could it be godfire?
The kings of Norway sleep not this night.
Nor will they, until Bluetooth is dead.
Is it true that his god fights against us?
This I cannot say.
But you're a wise man, Halbur.
In some things. I build good
ships, I'm strong in battle,
but to think as Leif does,
this I cannot do.
How much longer will he sit like that?
Until he has turned the problem
of Bluetooth's war over and over.
Like you would that stone,
and can see it from every side.
That is good in a man.
Nay, boy, that is great in a man.
We have long walked with our thoughts
And no answer has come.
What think you, Finn?
I think only that Bluetooth is our enemy.
And when battle comes,
my shield will shine so bright
that he will know that its Finn,
son of Firebeard, come to kill him.
Passage for a king.
I'm Karl, nephew to king
Harrod, known as Bluetooth,
Ruler of Jutland, lord of the lowlands.
We wait on you, prince Karl.
And well you might.
For Bluetooth demands that you and all
the lesser kings of Norway bow before him.
No viking bends a knee to bluetooth.
Then will his wargod destroy you.
Even as he destroyed
your ships at langfjord.
This wargod, is he so peweful?
Come to langfjord and find out.
Then why does he not come here, now?
Be careful, Leif, for
you speak of the gods.
If this god of Bluetooth is so strong,
when did he not destroy
me when I struck this man?
Where is this godfire
that falls from the skies?
Return to Bluetooth, prince Karl.
Tell him we wait to do battle here.
Then you will wait until you starve.
For no ship can pass to see as long as
Bluetooth holds the entrance to Ljanfjord.
Then you would have us meet you there.
Why?
To see you burn.
Have you not seen in the forest how
lightning strikes the tallest pine
and then fire jumps
from tree to tree?
I have seen this.
Maybe it was so when your ships
entered lanfjord sailing close together.
But fire that destroys fifty ships,
can it not destroy a hundred?
Then send but one.
No! Send two, with sons of Firebeard.
And if one of us is lost,
the other can bring word.
Good to be at sea again
after a long winter.
Yes, another winter as long as
this one and you would be so fat,
we would never get you out of
that door in the great hall.
Well... I only eat to keep
my strength for fighting.
We're near the mouth of fjord...
Look out! Aloft!
Smoke on the shore!
- Make ready!
- Prepare for battle!
Make ready for battle!
I like it not. They must see us,
yet they make no move to battle us.
The sail! It burns!
Leif! Your sail!
The sail! It burns!
The ship burns!
Stay with the ship!
What goes in the sail?
Hold the fort, brother!
To the hands!
Help! Give me a hand!
Help!
The sail! Their own sail!
Oarsmen, to your oars, out of the fjord!
What kind of a war is this,
rather would I find a hundred men
then see a ship I built off in flames!
Row, vikings! Row!
Row! Row! Row!
Hold oars!
Langfjord is cursed.
Still, we must go back.
Go back?
Leif, many times I thought you crazy,
when your mind wandered
into far off places,
but to go back there after
what has happened?
This is medicine for burns,
see that they use it.
Odin bear witness, I've watched over
this lunkhead since he was newborn.
There's nothing that I would
not meet face to face,
but I cannot fight what I cannot see.
I could see nothing either.
There was nothing there!
We stood there, sword in hand,
ready to fight. There was nothing there!
You can feel the wind upon
your face, but can you see it?
Can you see what lifts the great waves of
the sea and sends them rushing to the land?
For everything there is a reason.
And I will know what sends
this fire to Longfjord.
Nay, brother, we have but this
one ship left to carry us home.
I would feel safer with it in your care.
Haldar and I will take the
smallboat, that is enough.
Take Orin with you.
You find this enemy, let him bring word.
I will also carry your shield,
as I left mine in the fjord.
And my luck go upon it.
That will spite you you
shallow son of a leighfjord
I'm Haldar, builder of ships!
I will have my vengeance
on you or die this day!
Come fight me, I say!
She was a fine ship, Haldar.
You built her well.
The shield! The fire has found it!
Look!
The fire comes not from
the sky but from the land...
It's gone.
I see it. There on the hillside.
Whatever it is, it lives by the sun.
Turn around!
We must get up into the hills.
What do we look for?
Something you have never seen before.
I can describe it no better.
You said this fire thing lives by the sun.
Have you thought, brother,
that it might sleep at night?
I have. But I have also thought how
few we are against Bluetooth's men.
Well, if each of us kill only ten men...
I could ask for no greater pleasure,
but do not forget, it is the fire we seek.
If luck is with us, then
we can kill this fire first.
What if we don't find it?
Then tomorrow we must bring the ship
in, and lure this thing into the open.
This signal you saw, when
we first came into the fjord?
It was only a flash of colour.
I marked it to be higher on this hill.
Then we search for it in this direction.
I have found nothing.
I tell you brother, I'm getting tired
of hunting something to fight.
Well, the sun is up.
There's only one thing left to do.
Yeah.
Mark where this lands.
There...
Another arrow.
What is it?
I do not know.
But the man who directs it
wears the dress of the Venetians,
where I have seen them work with glass.
This weapon of theirs
appears to be made of it.
Now I understand!
It catches the rays of the sun and hurls
them a hundredfold at any target.
The ship. It will burn.
Odin!
Have at!
The little maid has fought many a battle,
but none more worthy than this.
Aye, when I get home I will
build the finest of longboat
that ever sailed these fjords.
Ready oars!
Look who's on the shore!
Haldar broke his pretty toy.
We ought to go back and break his head!
Come, that look is fine for us,
we put the taste of fear in his mouth.
Aye!
Oh, viking roar!
From out of the North like an icy wind
Swept Odin's warrior breed
With broad axe and spear,
they follow a star,
Adventure and glory their need
They conquered the seas
in their dragon ships
Fought bravely in many a land
For Valkyrie remains right down for the man
who dies with a sword in his hand
The vikings, the vikings, the vikings
They learned the hardest sword