Ragnar issues the challenge to Earl Haraldson who initially declines on the grounds Ragnar is a criminal. He remembers what the soothsayer told him however and decides to accept. A pregnant Lagertha, fearing that Ragnar is too weak to win, thinks they should just run away.
Incumbent. The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent.
nomination - an address (usually at a political convention) proposing the name of a candidate to run for election; the nomination was brief and to the point nominating address, nominating speech political science, politics, government - the study of government of states and other political units