Creative Staff
Story: Makoto Yukimura
Art: Makoto Yukimura
Translation/Adaptation: Stephen Paul
Lettering: Scott O. Brown
Editing: Ben Applegate
What They Say
As a child, Thorfinn sat at the feet of the great Leif Ericson and thrilled to wild tales of a land far to the west. But his youthful fantasies were shattered by a mercenary raid. Raised by the Vikings who murdered his family, Thorfinn became a terrifying warrior, forever seeking to kill the band’s leader, Askeladd, and avenge his father. Sustaining Thorfinn through his ordeal are his pride in his family and his dreams of a fertile westward land, a land without war or slavery…the land called Vinland.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Although far from idyllic, Thorfinn lived a happy, peaceful childhood in Iceland. His father, Thors, was a kind man, and the leader of their small village, his mother was generous and loving, and his sister—while a bit abrasive and money-hungry—always looked out for the family. At night Thorfinn would sit at the knee of the great explorer Leif Ericson and hear amazing stories of his travels, especially his excursion to the land far to the west he named Vinland. Everything changes when a warship carrying a contingent of Jomsvikings arrives, looking for the infamous Thors the Troll. A war is brewing between the Danes and the English, and the Jomsvikings—a legendary band of Viking mercenaries—is joining the battle. Their leader, Floki, wants Thors to fight. Thors was once a fearful member of the group, but deserted once he grew tired of killing. Unfortunately, Floki leaves Thors no choice, and the former mercenary must return to a life he thought long behind him. Thorfinn, with a head full of youthful thoughts of war and glory, steals aboard his ship and is there to witness his father’s death at the hand of the mercenary Askeladd. Instead of going home, Thorfinn stays with Askeladd’s band, honing his skills and pining for the day when he can avenge his father in an honorable duel.
There are times when I have problems with the over-romanticizing I see of Vikings in popular culture (I have a similar problem with the portrayal of pirates as well). Like any group, they have their positive and negative traits. They were incredible sailors, navigators, explorers, and traders, but they were also rapists, pillagers, and murderers. Recent portrayals of Vikings in popular culture tend to gloss over those darker aspects, whitewashing a rich yet troubling history. Vinland Saga does this to an extent, but in most areas it excels in showing the rich and varied cultures that are lumped together under the sobriquet, “Viking.”
Although I am no Viking scholar, I know enough about history and research to see the careful eye for detail displayed in this work. Makoto Yukimura does a great job of showing us this fictionalized slice of Viking life, and the details he incorporates into the work (which are expanded upon in the translation notes) are very good and add a sense of verisimilitude that is often missing from popular representations of Vikings. While I’m sure those more steeped in this culture can point out inaccuracies, it works well enough for those with a casual interest in this era and people.
Thankfully the level of historical detail is not the main reason to read this. The story and the characters are excellently written and drawn by Makoto Yukimura and translated by Stephen Paul. The story starts in media res with Thorfinn as a teenager, working with Askeladd. His mercenary band comes across a siege occurring in the Frankish lands (what would one day become modern France) and Thorfinn is sent to offer the band’s services to the sieging army. Thorfinn goes, but not before striking a deal with Askeladd: if Thorfinn can bring back the head of the defending commander, he can challenge Askeladd to a duel. The duel occurs later when the band returns to its home base in Denmark. Thofinn loses and spends the rest of the day sulking in his father’s longboat. The rest of the story, however, shows us his childhood up to the point where Askeladd’s mercenaries kill his father.
As a story decision, this works rather well. A case could be made that structuring the events in this manner kills any narrative tension inherent in Thors’ death, but given that the story is about Thorfinn’s revenge (or perhaps his journey away from desiring revenge), it makes sense. It also adds an extra depth of sorrow to the flashback scenes given we know that the smiling child playing with his friends will one day turn into a broken, angry young man.
And that’s one of the interesting aspects of this story. At this point, I don’t particularly like Thorfinn. He’s rude, single-minded, and sullen. I understand why he’s this way, and from a writer’s point of view he’s a great character, but I don’t like him. On the other hand, Askeladd—the character who occupies the role of antagonist—is likeable. He possesses a laid back, smartass quality that I quite enjoy, making it easy to forget that he makes his living by marauding and pillaging. If I lived in their village I’d much prefer Askeladd’s company over Thorfinns’, and that makes for an interesting narrative dynamic that I’m very interested in seeing played out over the rest of this series.
This is actually the first time I’ve read any Makoto Yukimura, and I have to say he has quickly become one of my favorite manga writer-artists. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he is great at drawing action and crowd scenes. There have been too many times in the past when I’ve been reading a manga and have no idea what is going on because the page becomes so jumbled and cluttered with lines that it’s near unreadable. That never happened in Vinland Saga. Yukimura does a wonderful job of portraying action, capturing the speed and strength of his characters in a way that’s quite exciting. He also does very well with the smaller details as well, such as the way the characters dress or the flourishes on their weapons. It’s a small wonder that this won the Japan Media Arts Awards Grand Prize for Manga and the Kodansha Manga Award.
In Summary
Vinland Saga 1 is an epic historical drama about tragedy and vengeance in the hard world of the Vikings. The characters and plot are excellent, and it’s beautifully drawn. The level of detail put into the portrayal of Viking society is rich and this story portrays the better and lesser aspects of this culture. I can’t wait for volume two as the potential for character development is excellent and I’m completely invested in the story and setting. I’m also very happy with the packaging of this collection. All 470 pages are collected in one, nice hardback copy that only costs $19.99. It’s quite a deal for what you get and it looks quite nice on my bookshelf. If you hadn’t guessed, this is highly recommended.
Content Grade: A+
Art Grade: A+
Packaging Grade: A+
Text/Translation Grade: A+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: October 22nd, 2013
MSRP: $19.99
