yes, it is good. but i told him ten.
oh, i couldn't do that! the blacksmith's code says.
can't make enough swords! bang! bang! bang!
can't make enough axe-heads! bang! bang! bang!
they chase fenrir the wolf from the sky.
the bottom falls out of the sword business!
my brother blacksmiths!
the blacksmith's code says i must.
together we stand!
wait, erik!
you can't go without me. who will repair your swords and mend your shields? renewed sobs from the women.
bjorn's not. he could have bjorn's place.
the blacksmith's code.  he steels himself, takes down the lodestone, snaps out the piece of metal in the base and throws it over the side. keitel hangs it up again on the mast.
do you suppose he wants to stop us waking the gods? erik looks at keitel with a certain amount of contempt. keitel is not renowned even amongst these vikings for his brain-power.
but how could he know.  unless.  keitel stops in mid-sentence as he realizes it must be loki's doing.
but.  keitel shrugs and turns to take up his rowing position. he is still a little confused by this turn of events. erik confronts thorfinn.
row! you idiot! the monster's eyes dilate wildly as they try to focus on the tiny figure of erik on its snout. erik shoves the pillow up one of the dragon's nostrils. snorri watches erik incredulously. he shakes his head.
i can't hold on! i can't hold on! sven worms his way along the edge - at great peril to himself - and grabs keitel's wrist just as his fingers slip.
aaagh!
let me go, sven.
i'm not worth risking your life for.
for your own sake.  for the others.  i.
well, what else do we do?
how do you punish people?
what is it?
hang the blacksmith's code! keitel leaps to his feet and joins in the attack. erik, meanwhile, is swinging across the deck from a rope.
well.  i.  i thought.  keitel is overcome b the power of loki's will, but he is deeply ashamed of his complicity in loki's deeds. snorri gazes at keitel with growing suspicion.
how can we stops him now? loki looks around and then opens his hand in front of keitel. in it is the mouthpiece from the horn resounding.
but why me? why don't you do it? somebody stirs.
you do it!
it's me. i'm just going to water the dragon.
my fellow blacksmiths. he prepares to throw it.
what?
get away, snorri.
oh gods! what have we done? back in the king's hall, sven, sven's dad and harald are wide awake, but for the moment paralysed, as bits of masonry crash around them. the cheerful figure of king arnulf appears at the top of a stairway. he raises his hands.
relax!
let go! but keitel is pulled under. he re-emerges spluttering.
urrgh! argh! let go, you idiot!
you'll drown us bo.  but they go under again. at this point erik, sven, sven's dad and harald swim round the corner, pushing the horn resounding. they see the figures disappearing under the water.
help!
she wants to take us over the edge of the world!
don't you see, erik! she wants revenge!
she knows it was our fault!
no! it's you, loki! i should never have listened to you! loki looks around desperately.
we came to stop you waking the gods, erik! but i didn't want anyone to get hurt!
like you got rid of snorri! erik tries to separate them.
he killed snorri! he caused the land of hy-brasil to sink! she knew!
now she wants to send us over the edge of the world!
ha ha.  i believed loki.  i believed i had a duty to blacksmiths! ha ha ha! keitel laughs a little hysterically. aud turns urgently to erik.
we're all seeing stars.
are we dead?
you can't go without me! they follow. even harald missionary starts to follow.
how can you tell?
made by you, loki!
it's not my business any more! suddenly there is a howl.  a bitter howl that echoes above and around the halls of asgaard and that gets more distant and more distant. everyone freezes and looks up, listening. perhaps we cut away to the boiling sky as it resolves itself into the shape of a wolf that snarls and slinks away. odin turns to erik as the howling recedes.