Vinland Saga: A True Warrior's Path

I watched Vinland Saga earlier this year and I absolutely loved it.  For the couple of weeks my mom and I watched it I couldn't think about anything else except the story.  Even after watching it, Vinland Saga left a big impact on me, and I would really like to write about it.  Vinland Saga is much more than just an anime about Vikings - it's one about revenge, love and finding peace in a world without any.  But to understand this, we first need to look at the story, its characters and the real-world references in the show.

*Spoilers will be prevalent from this point onwards

Thors explained

Thorfinn is our main protagonist of the show, and we first meet him in his hometown in Iceland.  We are shown that Thorfinn's father, Thors, is a very pacifistic man who tried to teach Thorfinn that no one is his enemy.  Thors used to be a strong warrior and fought alongside another character we meet later named Thorkell.  We are shown in a flashback that before Thors left his warrior life behind, Thorkell tried to stop him, but after seeing Thors before he left, he knew that he was a true warrior.  

Before meeting his wife, Helga, Thors was a ruthless warrior.  After the birth of his first daughter, he still didn't quite understand the concept of not being a warrior but later gave up his violent ways to become a good father for Ylva and Thorfinn.  

In one of the first scenes of the show, we see his caring attitude first hand.  One night a runaway slave is found and instead of taking him back to his owner, Thors decides to feed him and let him rest in the warmth of their home.  When his owner did arrive, Thors decided to buy the slave from him for a hefty price.  Sadly, he still passed away from the extreme cold he endured, but the final moments of his life were filled with the physical warmth of the fire and the emotional warmth of Thors' kindness.  This moment is pivotal, as it shows us that Thors is someone who isn't afraid to go against the status quo to do the right thing, because his family was initially wary of the slave.  

When Floki comes to draft Thors into a war, he first hesitated until he ultimately decided to go and fight, so that his village won't get raided.  Sadly, the group was ambushed, and Thors was killed in front of Thorfinn, who snuck onto the ship to go with him.  The man who killed Thors was Askeladd, a sly and cunning mercenary leader.  After seeing his father die, Thorfinn decided to join Askeladd's crew to get the chance to dual him and avenge his father.  

Askeladd explained

We first meet Askeladd after he fulfilled his contract of killing Thors.  Askeladd is the leader of a band of mercenary vikings who travel the lands in search of wars to fight in for gold and other treasures.  Askeladd was born the bastard child of King Olaf, the ruler of the Danish, after he captured and imprisoned a Welsh noblewoman, Lydia.  Because he was an illegitimate child, he never got a real name until people called him Askeladd, which comes from ashen child, because he always helped the blacksmith and was always full of ash.  He always cared for his mother who thought that Askeladd was the next ruler of Brittanica, because of his ancestor Lucius Artorius Castus.  She believed in the legend of him still hiding on a far-off island and that he will come back to save her someday.  

One day Askeladd tried to save his mother from Olaf, who didn't recognize her and tried to kill her.  Olaf then realized that Askeladd is a son of his and took him to his home.  For the next two years Askeladd stayed with Olaf to build his trust.  One night Askeladd crept out of his room and murdered Olaf and then ran away.  This is where we first see Askeladd's greatest talent, being able to bend people to his will and building relationships to get what he wants.  

After killing Olaf, Askeladd took his mother to her homeland where he joined their army as a captain and decided to lead his group of mercenaries.  Askeladd's one big goal in life was to get liberation for the Welsh and most of the actions he took, like caring for Canute was all a part of his plan. 

Askeladd is a terrible person, don't get me wrong, but he also did some good.  In one scene after his crew decided to turn on him, he meets the member who started the whole rebellion and Askeladd has a real heart-to-heart with him and tells him that he isn't made for the battlefield and that he should go far away, buy some land and live in peace.  Askeladd even gives him some gold as a parting gift.  Even the darkest of people can have some light in them.  

Each time that Thorfinn tries to dual Askeladd he always loses.  In their last dual before his death, he asks Thorfinn straight what he wants to do with his life after he is long gone and rotten.  It's never explicitly stated but I believe that Askeladd cared somewhat about Thorfinn.  He knew that he was a great warrior like his father, but he knew that there was something greater for him out there.  That's what makes his death even more impactful after he killed the Danish king. 

I really enjoyed Askeladd as a character, because of how wise and sly he was.  He said himself that he can read people, and that it's that that helped him in combat and making deals.  He knew when someone was lying or when someone was trying to trick him.  And I must admit, his death scene was sad, especially when you see the moment that Thorfinn realises that he will never get his revenge.  

Thorfinn: Having no enemies

Thorfinn being our main character means that we mostly followed his story in the show.  After the death of his father, he joins Askeladd's crew and decides that he won't kill him in cold blood, but that he wants to dual him.  Throughout the first season we can see how Thorfinn grew colder and more ruthless with every passing day.  He fought alongside Askeladd and his crew for over a decade, across many landscapes and in many battles.  One of which being the famous battle at London Bridge.  While in the town where Askeladd would be killed, Thorfinn meets an old friend from his hometown, Leif Ericson.  

Leif is based on the real-life Viking Leiff Eriksson, the first man to sail west and find the Americas.  When Leif finds and visits Thorfinn in a prison cell where he was being held, he sees that Thorfinn has grown bitter and hateful, but he made a promise to Helga to bring him back home.  Leif then tells Thorfinn about the place he visited, that he named Vinland.  He then promises to Thorfinn that he will take him there someday - this then plants a seed in Thorfinn's mind about Vinland, the peaceful and prosperous land far to the west.  

After Askeladd's death and realizing that he will never get his revenge, Thorfinn tried to attack Canute but was stopped and sold into slavery.  We next see Thorfinn when he is working on the farm of Iron Fist Ketil, a good slave owner who has a deal with his slaves: they have to clean out a piece of forest and plant on it and if they can pay themselves back, they are free to go or stay on the farm and continue farming for him as free men.  On the farm is where most of season 2 takes place and it's here where we see the inner turmoil that Thorfinn is struggling with.  Thorfinn's partner, Einar, was caught and sold into slavery after his family was killed by Vikings.  So naturally when he finds out about Thorfinn's past he is disgusted, but after seeing that he is genuinely remorseful about his actions, they become best friends.  

We can see how Thorfinn struggles with nightmares, because the people he killed in his past keeps haunting him.  Each night he keeps replaying the scenes of the people he killed and how they screamed with agony.  After Askeladd's death Thorfinn became a shell of his former self, because he felt like he had no purpose, until he remembered Vinland.  Every scene in season two where they showed Vinland was breathtaking.  Each one of those scenes gave me such a sense of calmness and safety it even made me want to go there.  

Thorfinn then tells Einar about Vinland, and they decide that when they get their freedom that they will travel there together, which is what happens after they get their freedom back.  Luckily, Leif and his new partner Bug-Eyes (who pretended to be Thorfinn to get bought by Leif, who later adopted him) found Ketil's farm and they set sail back home to Iceland.  

We also see how remorse is a big part of his character early on when he is tasked to infiltrate a village where a sweet old woman finds him and looks after him, but after the Vikings arrive she is killed, because Thorfinn let off a signal to bring them there.  This is the first we see him being regretful, but we see more of that in season 2.  We also see in a scene later how Thorfinn feels like he deserves to be punished when he makes a deal with a guard that if he can stand a 100 punches, he can talk to King Canute, who wanted to steal Ketil's farm.  Thorfinn willingly decided to not fight and to rather get punished to get what he wanted.  

Thorfinn's character development is one that I love and that many aspire to be like.  I really like Thorfinn, because he is more than just a cool character; he is a symbol of hope.  A symbol that everyone can change for the better.  A symbol that we should strive to be pacifist and not violent.  Thorfinn has no enemies and so should we.  Thorfinn is a true warrior.  

Biblical references

There is a lot of biblical references in Vinland Saga, some direct and others more implied.  In the anime there is a drunken priest that travelled with Canute for a while.  He tries to explain to the Vikings the concept of love and why Christ's sacrifice for us was so great, but they can't snap the concept.  A more on the nose reference is when Thorfinn is listening to Snake reading Matthew 5:43-48 to Ketil's father.  That passage is about loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you.  I think you can see how important that passage is to the themes of the anime.  

After Canute's guardian died, he decided that he wants to build an army strong enough to take on God himself.  He also makes a reference to the story of Moses, where he says that he will become so powerful that he will bend the waves to his will.  Canute also rejected the idea of God creating a paradise, because of the pain that he has experienced.  So, he decided that he will create a peaceful place here on earth, just by using violence to obtain it.  Thorfinn and Canute had the same goals, just different methods of reaching it.  

In Conclusion...

Vinland Saga is a piece of media that affected me as a person.  It inspired me to try and be a better person each day.  It's a story that will always stick with me and one I will always remember and cherish.  If you haven't watched the anime yet, please do.  I bet that the story will affect you in some way.  If we all try to be better versions of ourselves each day we can maybe, just maybe create a Vinland of our own.  

Thank you so much for reading this blog post, this one has been a long time coming.  I just wanted to wait for the right time to write it, because I didn't want to mess this one up.  If you enjoyed this post, please consider following my blog and tell me in the comments any shows, movies or manga’s that you think I should check out.  Until next time, goodbye!