Olmar

Olmar begins as insecure, arrogant, impressionable, and desperate to be respected as an adult. He believes becoming a warrior will solve his feelings of inadequacy, despite possessing neither the temperament nor swordsmanship required for that life.

His insecurity makes him easy to manipulate. Fox and Anaguma exploit his fear of appearing childish, persuading him that killing another person is an essential step toward manhood.

The experience of genuine violence changes him dramatically. Olmar's sensitivity, initially treated as weakness by the warriors around him, becomes the trait that allows him to understand the human cost of war more clearly than many experienced fighters.

Olmar has basic sword training but is a poor swordsman. He struggles with ordinary cutting exercises and cannot reliably defeat trained soldiers.

He possesses enough physical conditioning to attempt combat, but his greatest obstacle is psychological: Olmar is frightened by both killing and being killed.

His eventual strength lies in moral courage rather than fighting ability. Once he accepts that he is not a warrior, he proves capable of making a decision that requires resisting the expectations of his father, brother, and an entire armed force.

Olmar first appears on Ketil's farm complaining that he wants to leave and become a warrior. Fox encourages him to kill Thorfinn or Einar as proof of adulthood, but Olmar quickly discovers that actual violence frightens him.

Ketil later takes him to Jelling, where Olmar tries to join Canute's service and humiliates himself during a demonstration of swordsmanship.

Canute's advisors recognize that Olmar's insecurity can be exploited to manufacture a justification for seizing Ketil's estate.

Brodd is instructed to provoke Olmar into a duel. A concealed royal agent blinds Brodd with a thrown coin, allowing Olmar's otherwise ineffective sword stroke to kill him. The experience traumatizes Olmar and becomes the legal pretext for Canute's move against Ketil.

After witnessing the battle at the farm, Olmar finally rejects his fantasies about war. As Ketil's legal heir, he chooses surrender over sacrificing more men, later takes responsibility for the farm, compensates families harmed by the battle, and commits himself to agricultural work.

Ketil is Olmar's father. Olmar initially seeks his approval while resenting being treated like an inexperienced child.

Thorgil is Olmar's older brother and everything Olmar initially imagines a warrior should be. The brutality Olmar later witnesses from Thorgil helps expose how different real warfare is from his fantasies.

Sverkell is Olmar's grandfather and part of the family whose farm he eventually inherits responsibility for.

Fox and Anaguma exploit Olmar's insecurity by encouraging him to kill slaves as proof of manhood.

Brodd is deliberately sent to provoke Olmar, whose accidental killing of him becomes central to Canute's plan.

Thorfinn deeply impresses Olmar by seeking peace without relying on the martial pride that once controlled Olmar's own life.