Vinland Saga Is a Bloody, Meditative Viking Tale

It really is a saga
While it serves up plenty of ax-swinging action and rivers of gore, Vinland Saga is much more than that: it’s a complex tale, spanning several story arcs in which the characters change and grow over time. The backbone of the series is the story of Thorfinn, who we first meet as a teenager, traveling through England with a band of invading Danes, seeking to avenge his father’s death. In the first three volumes, Thorfinn is often eclipsed by three other characters: noble warrior Thors, wily Askeladd, and crazy-violent Thorkell. Yukimura weaves together their stories as they play their parts in the Danes’ conquest of England. This means battles, yes, but also intrigue, hidden motives, and a surprising amount of philosophizing.

Family comes first
The first volume kicks off with a bloody battle, then segues into the tale of Thorfinn’s father, Thors. If the Vikings were badass, the Jomsvikings were the most badass Vikings of them all, and Thors was the most badass of the Jomsvikings. Although his strength and skill are so fearsome and legendary, Thors has a change of heart when his daughter is born. He renounces violence, fakes his death, and moves to Iceland, where he lives quietly with his family until he is dragged back into the real world—and a fatal trap. Yukimura spends time showing us Thors’s everyday family life, so we’re really invested in him by the time he’s assassinated, in a prolonged fight scene, by a group of Danes led by Askeladd. The story picks up 10 years later. Thorfinn has joined Askeladd’s band, but he is driven by hate, not loyalty: his sole desire is to avenge his father’s death. Askeladd sends him on dangerous missions, with a duel as his only reward. Although he wields his father’s two short swords with unnerving skill, he’s not good enough to best Askeladd…yet.

Blood and plunder
Askeladd is nominally on the side of the Danish king, but only when it suits his purposes. At first, he seems to mainly be interested in sacking villages, which he is quite good at, but his larger mission becomes clearer as the story goes on. Askeladd always has an angle, and one of the really great things about the series is watching him make chumps out of everyone else. His most notable enemy is Thorkell, a Danish giant who has switched sides because he’d rather fight Danes than the wimpy English. Tall, crazy-eyed, with a startling mane of hair, Thorkell is as straightforward as Askeladd is crafty; he dispatches enemy ships by dropping logs through their keels and barely breaks his stride when Thorfinn lops off a couple of his fingers.
The story shifts from sheer piracy to a more serious cause when Thorkell kidnaps the Danish prince, Canute, and Askeladd rescues him, fleeing across England and Wales with Thorkell and his men in hot pursuit. Whether they are fighting over gold or country, the Vinland Saga‘s characters are hyper-violent, and the story is filled with battles, torture, murders, and even the slaughter of an entire village to further Askeladd’s plans. It is not for the squeamish.

What’s it all about, Askeladd?
The men of Vinland Saga do more than just chop off each others’ limbs; they also spend time thinking about the big questions. Thors understands the consequences of violence. A true warrior, he believes, does not need to use his sword. Thorfinn thirsts for revenge, but in his dreams, his father tells him to abandon his quest. Askeladd leads a band of Danes through England, but pauses to reflect that the people they are slaughtering are the descendants of earlier invaders, and that no conquest lasts forever. Prince Canute and his guardian, Ragnar, are Christians, and their entourage includes a drunken monk who is given to meditation on God and love. Even Askeladd’s burly sidekick Bjorn, who preps for battle by popping a berserker mushroom, has reflective moments. Thorkell, though? He’s just in it for the fighting.

These guys are for real
Many of the characters in Vinland Saga are based, albeit loosely, on actual historical figures. The most obvious is the explorer Leif Ericsson, who sailed to North America and named it Vinland; in this version, he’s a friend of Thors. Thorfinn is inspired by the Icelandic explorer Thorfinn Karlsefni, who brought a group of settlers to Vinland; his exploits are chronicled in two books referred to as The Vinland Sagas. Thorkell is modeled after a legendary Jomsviking named Thorkell the Tall, and Prince Canute is, of course, the historical prince, albeit with some major alterations: when we first meet him, he is timid and retiring, but as the story goes on he achieves a more princely bearing. Askeladd shares a name with a character from Norwegian folklore, Askeladden, a trickster from humble beginnings who relies on his wits to get the best of his opponents.
Yukimura draws on the actual Norse sagas for his story, but his characters speak in a colloquial, sometimes sarcastic and snarky manner, eschewing the stilted language of some Viking tales.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever
In addition to being a fantastic read, Vinland Saga is simply a beautiful manga. That’s a strange thing to say about a series in which someone takes an arrow to the eyeball every hundred pages or so, but Yukimura is a superb draftsman, and he fills the pages with lively characters, richly detailed settings, and lots of little flourishes. Each of his characters has a strongly designed look, with distinct hair, face, and dress, and the weapons and dragon-headed boats have an air of authenticity.
Kodansha Comics has done a nice job on production, with double-sized hardcover volumes that include color pages and plenty of extras. This snowy saga makes for great escape reading for the dog days of summer, especially now that we know the story will continue.