Vikings Page #4

17.

RAGNAR (CONT’D)

We should go west. I’ve heard such

tales, Rollo. Great towns, cities

and treasures; hordes of gold and

silver. And a new god.

ROLLO:

I’ve heard those stories too. But

what does it mean?

We can’t sail across an open ocean.

A beat. Ragnar glances carefully at Bjorn, who has fallen

asleep on his thigh. Lowers his voice again, despite the

loud, drunken voices around him.

RAGNAR:

We can. I believe there’s a way.

Rollo looks at him.

Then Ragnar picks up his son.

ROLLO:

Where are you going?

RAGNAR:

To sleep.

ROLLO:

I don’t understand you, Ragnar

Lothbrok, everyone else comes here

to get drunk in the company of good

friends and to f*** beautiful

women.

Ragnar smiles.

RAGNAR:

I’ll see you in the Great Hall.

He carries his son away.

INT. RAGNAR’S HOUSE - NIGHT

Outside, a cold wind whips across the waters of the fjord.

Lagertha settles her daughter to sleep, telling her a story.

LAGERTHA:

The giantess opened her rotting

cavernous mouth and yawned. “Go

away!” She said. “I want to sleep

again.

18.

(MORE)

I’m not doing you any more favors.”

She gave Freya a withering look.

“My noble goddess,”she said, “you

leap around at night like Heidrun

cavorting with a herd of goats.”

Gyda, warm beneath a bear skin, smiles sleepily.

A beat.

GYDA:

Go on!

LAGERTHA:

Freya slowly raised her arms - like

this!

(raises her own arms)

“I will girdle you with flame so

you cannot leave this place without

catching fire.” Hyndla laughed.

“You’ve gone running to Od, who

always loved you; and many another

has wormed his way under your

apron.”

She pauses, checks the girl again...whose eyes are now

closed. She is nearly asleep.

LAGERTHA (CONT’D)

(more quietly)

There was fire in Asgard, dancing

in the air. A band of flame, a

quivering halo, surrounded the

giantess. Her limbs tightened; she

pressed her arms against her side.”

Flames about me,” she cried. “The

earth is on fire, and I must pay

the full price or forfeit my life.”

She stops, listens for a moment to the sound of her

daughter’s easy breathing. Then leans down, kisses her

forehead, and pulls the bear skin up to her neck.

Lagertha moves through to the other chamber. The fire (in the

centre of the room) is dying down. But its flickering flames

illuminate the war shields hung from hooks on the wall. She

stares at them - and then unhooks one, and holds it to

herself...as if remembering all the times she used it, in the

heat of battle.

Now she stands proud with it, in the empty room, with only

the crackling of the logs and the moaning of the wind.

19.

LAGERTHA (CONT'D)

INT. GREAT HALL - DAY

A large and impressive chamber with a lattice of high beams

and some wall coverings. It’s crowded. On a raised dais at

one end, sat on a carved chair, is EARL HARALDSON, late

forties and still a formidable-looking warrior, dressed in

wide trousers and fur-trimmed coat. The Earl is flanked by

some of his HOUSECARLS - his private, elite bodyguard - by

SLAVES and several (mostly male) members of his FAMILY. His

striking WIFE wears a sleeveless dress which reaches to the

ground, and over it a sleeveless cape which is thrown back,

revealing the whiteness of her arms. She is adorned with

necklaces and oval brooches.

Filling the rest of the hall, and obliged to stand, are

FREEMEN like Ragnar and Rollo.

In the small space between them a rather pathetic FIGURE is

standing, shifting from one foot to the other, his eyes

downcast. He’s almost a figure of fun and everyone is

grinning at him.

EARL HARALDSON:

Olaf Anwend...

OLAF:

Yes, sir.

EARL HARALDSON:

You have pleaded guilty to the

charge of stealing. Tomorrow you

will run a gauntlet of stones and

turf as punishment.

OLAF:

Yes, lord. Thank you, lord.

EARL HARALDSON:

Don’t thank me. And let it be known

that a fine is to be paid by anyone

who fails to throw something.

There’s laughter - as Olaf is led away. Bjorn tries his best

to peer through the men blocking his view of events.

EARL HARALDSON (CONT’D)

Bring in the next accused.

Bjorn actually catches a glimpse of the YOUNG MAN brought

into the hall in chains by the housecarls. The young man has

a pleasant expression, keeps his head high and does not avert

his eyes.

20.

EARL HARALDSON (CONT’D)

Eric Trygvasson, you are accused of

the murder of Sigvald Strut this

January. How do you plead?

TRYGVASSON:

It wasn’t murder, lord. I killed

him in self-defence. It was he who

attacked me.

WOMAN:

(shouting)

LIAR!

The WOMAN is part of the dead man’s family, standing in a

group close to the defendant.

EARL HARALDSON:

If it wasn’t murder, why did you

not declare your crime to the first

person you met afterwards, as the

law obliges? In fact, you passed by

several houses before you reported

it.

Trygvasson looks over at the woman and the dead man’s family.

TRYGVASSON:

I...I thought the relatives of the

dead man might be living in them.

EARL HARALDSON:

The law allows you to pass two

houses in such circumstances - but

never a third.

FAMILY MEMBER:

You felt guilty. You went to his

house and murdered my brother in

cold blood.

Fresh uproar. Bjorn struggles to keep an eye-line on the

accused. Ragnar notices, lifts him up.

TRYGVASSON:

It’s not true. We argued about some

land. He pulled out a knife...

WOMAN:

You’re lying! You wanted that land

for yourself. You’re a liar and a

coward.

21.

TRYGVASSON:

Who says I’m a coward? I’m no

coward.

More people join in the shouting. The Earl bangs his fist on

the table.

EARL HARALDSON:

Silence! All of you - show some

respect.

They fall silent. Earl Haraldson looks at Trygvasson.

EARL HARALDSON (CONT’D)

As the normal procedures were not

followed, this killing cannot be

atoned for by compensating the

victim’s family.

The family shout their approval, raise their fists

aggressively towards the defendant.

EARL HARALDSON (CONT’D)

Murder is a dishonorable act among

our people, Eric Trygvasson,

committed in secret, unacknowledged

and very likely to set in train a

cycle of revenge killings, which

would also involve your own family.

He looks up at the assembly.

EARL HARALDSON (CONT’D)

I ask all of you how you find the

accused. If you think him guilty,

raise your arms. Your decision must

be unanimous.

Quickly, everyone raises their hands. But the Earl hesitates,

for someone has not. Ragnar realizes who it is and squeezes

Bjorn’s thigh. Bjorn raises his hand.

EARL HARALDSON (CONT’D)

Eric Trygvasson, you have been

found guilty of murder. How would

you like to die?

A beat. Trygvasson looks round the room in that same cool

way, as if he was above it all.

TRYGVASSON:

By beheading, lord.

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