Ari

Ari is enthusiastic, proud, good-natured, and initially naïve about warfare. Like the other young men in the village, he sees military service as an opportunity for adventure and prestige.

He quickly discovers that actual combat bears little resemblance to those expectations. His fear when faced with Askeladd's armed mercenaries is not cowardice so much as the rational reaction of an inexperienced teenager suddenly confronting professional killers.

Ari nevertheless demonstrates loyalty to his companions and matures substantially in the years after the voyage.

Ari has some basic familiarity with weapons and sailing but is not an experienced warrior when first introduced.

He joins Thors's crew as an enthusiastic volunteer rather than a trained combatant. Against professional mercenaries, the gap in experience becomes immediately apparent.

As an adult, Ari becomes an established member of the Icelandic community and helps with the ordinary physical demands of rural and maritime life.

Ari is among the young villagers who accompany Thors after Floki arrives with orders for him to join the Danish campaign. Thors secretly intends to keep the inexperienced boys away from the actual battlefield.

Their ship is intercepted by Askeladd's band in the Faroe Islands. Ari and the other villagers are trapped while Thors confronts the mercenaries largely alone.

Thors sacrifices himself to guarantee the crew's survival. Ari returns to Iceland with the others while Thorfinn remains behind, beginning the long separation between Thorfinn and his home.

By the time Thorfinn returns sixteen years later, Ari has grown into an adult and built a family in the village. He is among the people who reconnect Thorfinn with the ordinary life he lost.

Thors leads the voyage Ari joins and sacrifices himself to ensure that Ari and the other villagers can return home safely.

Thorfinn grows up in the same village and later reunites with Ari after many years away.

Ylva eventually becomes Ari's wife, and the two raise several children together.

Helga becomes Ari's mother-in-law through his marriage to Ylva.

Askeladd commands the mercenaries who ambush Ari's voyage.

Magni, Grim, and Mord are fellow village youths who sail with Ari.