Vinland Saga (manga)

Vinland Saga
First tankōbon volume cover (Afternoon edition), featuring Thorfinn
ヴィンランド・サガ (Vinrando Saga)
Genre	Adventure[1] Epic[2][3] Historical[4]
Manga
Written by	Makoto Yukimura
Published by	Kodansha
English publisher	NA: Kodansha USA
Imprint	Shōnen Magazine Comics (former) Afternoon KC (current)
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Magazine (April 13 – October 19, 2005) Monthly Afternoon (December 24, 2005 – present)
Demographic	Shōnen, seinen
Original run	April 13, 2005 – present
Volumes	28 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Vinland Saga (2019–2023)
Anime and manga portal

Vinland Saga (Japanese: ヴィンランド・サガ, Hepburn: Vinrando Saga) is a Japanese historical manga series written and illustrated by Makoto Yukimura. The series is published by Kodansha, and was first serialized in the boys-targeted manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine before moving to Monthly Afternoon, aimed at young adult men. As of June 2024, its chapters have been collected in 28 tankōbon volumes. Vinland Saga has been licensed for English-language publication by Kodansha USA. The story is a dramatization of the story of Thorfinn Karlsefni and his expedition to find Vinland, with the majority of the story covering his fictional counterpart's transition from a bloodthirsty, revenge-filled teenager into a pacifistic young man; juxtaposed against this is the rise to power of King Canute, the journey of his own counterpart directly contrasting with that of Thorfinn's.

Inspired by the King of Norway Olaf Tryggvason, Yukimura decided to write Vinland Saga as a story about slavery. Yukimura's editor was against the original idea of Thorfinn being a slave; so the character was changed to that of a Viking. The author agreed, as he wanted Thorfinn to come to understand the tragedy he causes as a Viking in later parts of the narrative. Yukimura's sensation during the Cold War and the September 11 attacks was projected on Thorfinn's character, who is traumatized by his actions as a warrior and thus decides to find Vinland in order to establish a place where people from different races are able to live together peacefully.

By August 2022, Vinland Saga had over 7 million copies in circulation. The series won the Grand Prize of the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2009 and the 36th Kodansha Manga Award for Best General Manga in 2012. A 24-episode anime television series adaptation, animated by Wit Studio, aired from July to December 2019. A second season, animated by MAPPA, aired from January to June 2023. The manga has been critically acclaimed with praise given to the story, art, characters, themes, and setting.

Vinland Saga is initially set mostly in England in 1013 AD, which has been mostly conquered by the Danish King Sweyn Forkbeard. As King Sweyn nears death, his sons, Prince Harald and Prince Canute, argue over his succession. The story draws elements from historical accounts of the period, such as The Flateyjarbók, The Saga of the Greenlanders, and The Saga of Erik the Red.^[5][6]

In 1013 AD, the young Thorfinn works for Askeladd in the hopes of challenging him to a duel and killing him in revenge for his father Thors' death, when they were attacked by him on a journey to England. Askeladd's company finds employment as mercenaries under King Sweyn in the Danish invasion of London by the British and Thorkell the Tall, Thorfinn's uncle who served with Thors in the Jomsvikings.^[7] When Thorkell takes Sweyn's son Prince Canute captive, Askeladd's company captures the prince with the intent of selling him to either side for a profit. Askeladd changes his plan to act on his personal agenda as a descendant of Artorius, to secure his mother's homeland of Wales from being invaded. Askeladd is ultimately forced to sacrifice himself by killing Sweyn during an audience when the king announces his plan to invade Wales, feigning madness as Canute kills him, so the Prince could take over Dane-occupied England without question. A shocked Thorfinn tries to assassinate King Canute, but is sentenced to a life of enslavement when stopped by Thorkell.^[8][9]

Two years after Askeladd's death, a 19 year old Thorfinn works on a farm owned by Ketil, a rich farmer who treats slaves well.^[10] He later befriends another slave named Einar who helps him treasure his life after learning of his past. With the help of Einar, and Ketil's father Sverker, Thorfinn learns to let go of his dark past. By this time, Canute has become both King of England and Denmark after poisoning his brother Harald, and begins a campaign with Ketil's farm, tricking Ketil's sons Thorgil and Olmar into justifying the seizure, with Ketil's men easily defeated by Canute's Jomsvikings. Thorfinn confronts Canute to convince him to spare the farmers. Upon witnessing Thorfinn's transformation into a pacifist, Canute relinquishes his claim to the farm. When their friend Arnheid is nearly killed by Ketil, Thorfinn remembers his father's words about the peaceful lands of Vinland and agrees with Einar to reach them together. The two are subsequently released from their enslavement, and they depart with Leif Erikson, an old friend of Thors, to sail back to Iceland.^[11]

After being reunited with his family, Thorfinn shares his plans to settle in Vinland. To finance their journey, Thorfinn, Leif, Einar, and Leif's adopted son, Thorfinn "Bug-Eyes," devise a plan to travel to Greece and sell narwhal horns.^[12][13] Thorfinn's crew is later joined by Gudrid, an Icelandic girl fleeing an unwanted marriage; Karli, a baby boy the crew find orphaned on the Faroe Islands alongside a dog; and Hild, the daughter of an inventor with a grudge against Thorfinn.^[14] After attempting to fight a group of Jomsvikings, the group are captured and end up in service under Thorkell. Thorfinn recommences his journey with his crew, drawing away the assassins around a set of islands while the rest of the crew escapes toward Odense. They meet Captain Vagn, the leader of a rebel camp of Jomsvikings who seeks to usurp power from Floki before it goes into the hands of Floki's grandson Baldr.^[15][16] The surviving men of Vagn's camp swear allegiance to Thorkell, who defeats Floki and captures him and Baldr. Thorfinn is temporarily made leader of the Jomsvikings and carries out orders from Canute to disband the Jomsvikings and spare Floki and Baldr from execution. Free from the Vikings, Thorfinn's group continues their journey.^[17]

Two years later, Thorfinn's crew returns to Iceland with the wealth they acquired from selling narwhal horns in Greece. Thorfinn and Gudrid marry and raise Karli as their son.^[18] With the resources promised by Halfdan, Thorfinn begins to assemble a crew to settle in Vinland. Thorfinn creates a peaceful haven where weapons are no longer necessary by clearing a portion of the forest and successfully cultivating wheat. Additionally, he and his companions are able to negotiate a peaceful relationship with the native Mi'kmaq, who come to see them as tranquil settlers.^[19] However, as time passes, tensions regarding resources and diseases brought by the settlers stoke conflict between the settlers and the natives. As the fear of war between the two factions escalates, Thorfinn begins considering the possibility of leaving Vinland in order to protect the peace.^[20]

Makoto Yukimura (left) was influenced by Olaf Tryggvason to write a story about slaves which was the original focus of the manga.

Manga author Makoto Yukimura created the manga Vinland Saga with the message of showing that a violent approach would not lead to a good outcome. For this, the character of Thorfinn was created to grow from a rude teenager to a mature person the writer aspires to become.^[21] He said one of the earliest concepts when drawing the protagonist Thorfinn was to make a story about a slave. Despite being a slave, Thorfinn would face several challenges and reach his goal. Yukimura was inspired by King Olaf Tryggvason, who lost his position as king to become a slave but managed to return to the throne. Unlike Tryggvason, who was extremely popular, Thorfinn was written to face several more problems. Yukimura wanted Thorfinn to learn about oppression and human afflictions. In retrospect, Yukimura stated that Thorfinn does not have a notable skill or imposing physique. In order to stand out as a main character, he was written to have the experience of the pain human beings suffer. Although Thorfinn's appearance changes across the four story arcs, Yukimura was careful with writing his psychology.^[22] However, due to complaints from his editor, the protagonist was changed into a Viking. With this proposed setup, the author agreed as he wanted Thorfinn to understand the causes of tragedy by his being a Viking in later parts of the narrative. He wanted the protagonist to be affected by violence, often having poor luck.^[23]

Yukimura began serializing Vinland Saga in April 2005 in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine, where it ran until October 2005. After a two-month hiatus, it resumed serialization in late December 2005 in the seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon, also owned by Kodansha. This switch was caused by Yukimura, who found he could not keep up a long-term weekly production schedule.^[24] When it comes to illustrations and fight sequences, Yukimura first visualizes them in his mind before drawing. He was inspired by Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kishiro whom he believes to be one of the best manga artists. Yukiura was normally assisted by three assistants in common days of work for nearly twelve hours. He tries to give each chapter 30 pages.^[25] He sometimes works 18 hours as one of his techniques requires a lot of time. He stated that he creates and submits one page each day to the publisher. He also states how tens of thousands of people wish to work creating manga and the competition results in high-quality manga.^[26] When he first started drawing, Yukimura expected the series to take 10 years to finish, but later gave an estimate of 14 years. He had calculated that there would be 20 volumes, with each part consisting of four volumes, with five volumes each; this amount later increased to over 22 volumes. From the beginning of the serialization, Yukimura was at a loss, wondering when he could write the actual arc of Vinland. Because he often had problems with handling the story,^[27] Yukimura started drawing fully digitally from chapter 168 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions but continues to ink in analog before scanning and doing the finishing work digitally.^[28]

According to Yukimura, the series is divided into four story arcs. The first three are the "War" arc, the "Slave" arc, and the "Eastern Expedition" arc; the fourth and final arc was not given its own distinct name.^[29] In November 2019, Yukimura announced that the manga has entered its final arc; it will be more than 50 chapters long and more than 1,000 pages, and will take "several years to write".^[29]

Though the manga is influenced by Saga of Erik the Red and Saga of the Greenlanders, Yukimura found it challenging to fully read all those sources due to their notable length. In doing research, Yukimura also visited Canada to get inspiration for the material he has to draw.^[30] Yukimura was inspired by anime series about Vikings that he watched as a child, being fascinated by them since. Their culture and way of life were something new and fresh to him; he learned, for instance, that if somebody killed while intoxicated, they could get a lower sentence or go free. Yukimura traveled to Scandinavia in 2003 to conduct research on Vikings, which was difficult due to the language barrier, as he speaks no Norwegian and little English. He claimed the Oseberg Ship to be the most beautiful ship he has ever seen. Yukimura compares Vikings to wokou instead of samurai, as he would find more differences than similarities between the former and the latter. He believes Vikings were more free and honest about their own feelings; samurai were more quiet as a people and were obedient towards their master or their own honor.^[26] Yukimura also visited Denmark, Iceland, France, Britain, and Canada for research. Yukimura has also made full-scale models to ensure the utmost realism in the depiction of materials, but the production of those models puts a lot of pressure on his time schedule.^[31]

While the Vikings are recognized as heroes, Yukimura wanted to explain the harsh realities of their era. Because of the harsh violence he witnessed, Thorfinn was always drawn with a serious facial expression in the first arc and pitied himself for his sins in the following arc. As a result, the character of Thorkell is characterized as more comical, making the battles more enjoyable to draw. Yukimura was often told by his editors not to draw Canute with a beard, as they claimed its interference with the bishonen archetype he represented would diminish the series' popularity. He rejected that idea, claiming that every man had a beard in that era. Conversely, Thorfinn becomes an adult in the second story arc, but he shaves his beard, as Yukimura did not want him to look strong.^[32]

Yukimura's attention was drawn to the real-life Thorfinn after reading a book about him. Due to the lack of historical information about the individual, Yukimura was motivated to make him the protagonist as he would take creative liberties about several moments from his life.^[33] Yukimura believes Thorfinn's growth with Askeladd was well-executed, saying the character of Askeladd became ambiguous even to himself as a result of the many sides he exposes in the manga.^[34] Yukimura states that when writing the characters, most of them are people Thorfinn relies on, with Askeladd—both Thorfinn's mentor and enemy—being the exception. A common theme in the series is parenting, which he has used since Askeladd is leading the young Thorfinn. Another complicated relationship involves Einar and Thorfinn, as the two cannot come to each other's aid. One of Yukimura's themes is learning the effects of revenge on others.^[27] Among other characters, Canute was created to be Thorfinn's foil and represent how a person will always have different values.^[35]

Several characters are based on their real-life counterparts. The historical Leif Erikson is a famous Norseman; however, Yukimura imagined that he would have had a very weak nature as a warrior, so he instead fleshed Erikson out as a strong adventurer. In retrospect, Yukimura found that the series features prominently male characters, as the female ones die or are given little screen time. One of the few exceptions is Gudrid—she is based on a historical figure with the same name who made a major impact on the real Thorfinn's life, and Yukimura tries to be faithful to such an event. Meanwhile, the revengeful hunter Hild reminds Thorfinn of his sins as a Viking in the same way as in the start of the series, where Thorfinn sought revenge on Askeladd.^[27]

The series' final arc, which is set in Vinland, prominently features the Mi'kmaq people. The depictions of Mi'kmaq characters and culture were made with the guidance of Beverly Jedore and Yolanda Denny of the educational organization Miꞌkmaw Kinaꞌmatnewey. The use of the Miꞌkmaq language was done with the assistance of Bernie Francis, a linguist and scholar who helped make the Francis-Smith orthography, the officially accepted orthography of the Mi'kmaq Grand Council.^[36] These characters Thorfinn meet were inspired by a folktale "Muwinskw" ("The Little Bear", or "The Little Cub"). In regards to the story, Yukimura enjoyed how the main character was always coexisting with nature in order to survive. However, in contrast to him, the real Thorfinn was met with a tragic fate when going to Vinland.^[30] Yukimura stated he was conflicted about how to make this arc look more hopeful and whether or not stay true to history by making the fictional Thorfinn survive in the final arc.^[37]

In a January 2008 interview, Yukimura revealed that he was inspired to enter the manga industry by reading the manga Fist of the North Star as a boy. In the same interview, he said he had always wanted to produce a series which reflected the same themes of "strength and justice".^[38] Yukimura added that one of his messages is that people should have ideals in order to have a prosperous life.^[39] In contrast to the strong Vikings, the slaves were written as their complete opposite based on Yukimura's research. The slaves do not possess any power to protect themselves; Yukimura believed that the point of slaves is that they should have ideals something which readers should have too.^[40] When writing Planetes, Yukimura struggled with writing a proper theme involving love and ways of living. As he was too young when writing Planetes, Yukimura was not satisfied with the way he handled it, and decided to explore it again with Vinland Saga.^[41]

While the series is notable for its degree of violence normally caused by Vikings, Yukimura claimed he hates the concept of violence. As a result, a key element in writing this story was relaxing his modern sense of morality. While Vikings were admired for their strength and had hero-like recognition, they were also written as people who are betrayed by their own comrades.^[39] After several violent stories, Yukimura wants to focus on healing and forgiveness.^[35] Yukimura's anxieties during the Cold War and following the September 11 attacks were also projected onto Thorfinn's character, who is traumatized by his actions as a Viking and thus decides to found Vinland to make a land where people from different races are able to live together peacefully.^[42]

Vinland Saga is written and illustrated by Makoto Yukimura. The series was first serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from April 13 to October 19, 2005.^[43][44][45] The series was transferred to Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon, starting in the February 2006 issue, released on December 24, 2005.^[46][47][48] Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon (bound volumes). The first two volumes were initially released under the Shōnen Magazine Comics imprint,^[49][50] and then reissued under the Afternoon imprint after the manga's serialization switch.^[51][52] As of June 21, 2024, 28 volumes have been published.^[53]

The series is licensed in English by Kodansha USA, and it is being released in a two-in-one hardcover edition. The first volume was published on October 14, 2013.^[54][55] As of December 20, 2022, thirteen volumes have been released.^[56] During their panel at Anime NYC 2022, Kodansha USA announced that they will release a 3-in-1 hardcover deluxe edition of the series.^[57][58] The first volume was released on February 6, 2024.^[59]

An anime television series adaptation of Vinland Saga was announced in March 2018. Produced by Twin Engine, Production I.G, Wit Studio and Kodansha, the series is animated by Wit Studio and directed by Shūhei Yabuta, with Hiroshi Seko handling series composition, Takahiko Abiru designing the characters,^[60] and Yutaka Yamada composing the music.^[61] The series ran for 24 episodes on NHK General TV.^[62] The series premiered on July 7, 2019 with the first three episodes.^[63]

Amazon streams the series worldwide on their Prime Video service.^[64][65] Sentai Filmworks released the series on home video on August 31, 2021, with both a new translation and English dub.^[66][67][68] A different English dub, produced by VSI Los Angeles, previously launched on Netflix in Japan.^[69] MVM Entertainment licensed the series in the United Kingdom and Ireland.^[70] It began streaming on Netflix globally on July 7, 2022,^[71] as well as Crunchyroll and HiDive on select territories on the same day.^[72]

On July 7, 2021, Twin Engine announced that a second season was in production.^[73] Shūhei Yabuta returned as director, and Takahiko Abiru returned as character designer.^[74] The second season is animated by MAPPA, and premiered on Tokyo MX, BS11, and GBS on January 10, 2023,^[75][76][a] running for 24 episodes.^[78] The second season was simulcast globally on both Netflix and Crunchyroll, excluding China, South Korea and Japan.^[79]

The stage play adaptations of the manga, titled Vinland Saga the Stage: At the End of the End of the Ocean (舞台 ヴィンランド・サガ 〜海の果の果ー辺〜, Butai "Vinland Saga" ~Umi no Hate no Hate-hen~) and Vinland Saga the Stage: Revival of the Hero (舞台 ヴィンランド・サガ 〜英雄復活篇〜, Butai "Vinland Saga" ~Eiyū Fukkatsu-hen~), ran concurrently in Tokyo from April 19–29, 2024. The plays are directed and written by Daisuke Nishida. The cast includes Shohei Hashimoto as Thorfinn, Ryō Kitamura as Canute, Takeshi Hayashino as Thorkell, Ryoko Isogai as Bjorn, and Takashi Hagino as Askeladd.^[80]

Yukimura drew a seven-page crossover manga chapter between the series and the Assassin's Creed Valhalla video game that was uploaded to Ubisoft's website on October 23, 2020.^[81] A supplementary book, Vinland Saga Official Guidebook (ヴィンランド・サガ　公式ガイドブック, Vinrando Saga Kōshiki Gaidobukku), was released by Kodansha on July 23, 2019.^[82]

Vinland Saga has been commercially successful in Japan, with combined sales of 1.2 million copies for the first five volumes by June 2008.^[83] It had over 5 million copies in print by 2018.^[84] Several volumes have appeared on the Taiyosha top ten best-selling manga list.^[85][86] By August 2022, the manga had over 7 million copies in circulation.^[87]

Even before its international release, Vinland Saga attracted attention and praise from the international manga community. In 2006, The Comics Journal included Vinland Saga in a list of worthwhile manga from scanlation groups.^[88] Critics praised Vinland Saga for its fluid action sequences, remarking how well author Yukimura made the transition to the action genre from his previous work Planetes. Criticism was, however, levelled at the extent of suspension of disbelief in a historical fiction series.^[24][89] Upon its official release, the first volume was reviewed by Rebecca Silverman for Anime News Network. She described it as a "deeply engrossing book" and praised it for its attention to detail and "excellent period detail" in its depiction of medieval times, though expressed disappointment at the lack of interesting female characters.^[90] Johanna Draper Carlson of Comics Worth Reading described the action in the first volume as "fast-paced, well-illustrated, and detailed" but "didn't transcend its premise"; she was instead more impressed by the scenes depicting family life, saying "that's where the insightful character work I expected from Yukimura came through."^[91] Carlson also praised the scenes depicting domestic life as providing grounding context for the story, as well as weaving in religion and politics, finding Vinland Saga "a fascinating read on multiple levels".^[92] In The European Middle Ages through the prism of Contemporary Japanese Literature, Maximen Denise from University of Tours noted how the lack of proper knowledge about the real life of Thorfinn in The Greenlanders and Eric the Red made Yukimura come across with a more original background for how the main character becomes a Viking during his youth, giving him a realistic characterization which contrasts with Thorkell's supernatural strength. According to the writer, while Thorfinn is originally driven by revenge, the manga also explores his desire for power, similar to "those who desperately struggle to find their homelands in the 21st century 'medieval' Japan".^[93]

Following the end of the first story arc, critics were surprised by Thorfinn's quieter personality and noted that despite his life as a slave, the plot manages to make his life with other slaves interesting.^[94][95] The romantic relationship between Thorfinn and Gugrid surprised Manga News, though they still appreciated the handling of their wedding ceremony, which gave the narrative a lighter tone for a famously dark series.^[96] Manga Sanctuary agreed, finding Thorfinn to live up to his father's legacy during his quest while finding his newfound family appealing, not only including his wife Gudrid, but also his adopted son who often defends him.^[97][98]

In regards to the art, Silverman initially felt it was "a bit generic shounen",^[90] but praised the improvement of the art during the Slave arc.^[99] The panel composition, realistically barbaric violence, and attention to detail in constructing the setting were highlighted and compared with those found in Kentaro Miura's long-running series Berserk.^[24][89] Comic Book Resources acclaimed the art as one of the reasons to why the manga became highly popular.^[100] The return of action scenes in the Merchant arc was praised by Manga News for showing how detailed Yukimura's art can be.^[101]

Other manga authors have commented on Vinland Saga. Attack on Titan author Hajime Isayama said that Thorfinn is his favorite character from Vinland Saga due to his humanity and guilt.^[102] In particular, he enjoyed how the manga went from the action story to a calmer take when Thorfinn becomes a slave as it helps him to form a notable character arc when he lets go of his violent days in favor of a redemption quest.^[103] Writer Hiroshi Seko believes Thorfinn's age and role in a story of Vikings to be one of the best reasons for the series' popularity.^[39] Golden Kamuy artist Satoru Noda praised Yukimura's artwork for how the manga already starts depicting Nordic elements alongside backgrounds. In regards to characters, Noda particularly enjoyed Askeladd due to his notable skills as well as cruel, and merciless traits.^[104]

Yukimura recalls receiving several negative responses from the fans after the ending of the first story arc as Thorfinn is no longer portrayed as a Viking and instead spends the time farming. The author apologized to the readers for such change but he still finds it impossible to return the series to its violent topics; Instead, Yukimura told the fanbase to consider the manga Attack on Titan for its focus on violence.^[35]

The manga was nominated for the 1st Manga Taisho award in 2008.^[105] Vinland Saga was awarded the Grand Prize of the Manga Division at the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2009;^[106] it was also a Jury Recommended work at the 25th edition in 2022.^[107] It won the 36th Kodansha Manga Award for Best General Manga in 2012.^[108]

• Alverson, Brigid (May 14, 2015). "Vinland Saga Is a Bloody, Meditative Viking Tale". The B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog. Barnes & Noble. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021.

• Vinland Saga official manga website at Monthly Afternoon (in Japanese)
• Vinland Saga (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia