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[[caption-width:225:Thorfinn]]
-->'''Thorkell:''' Good friar, what say you? Who is greater, your Jesus or our Aesir?
-->'''Willibald:''' ...Whichever created liquor.

-->'''Thors:''' A true warrior needs no blade.

A manga series created by Makoto Yukimura, author of ''{{Planetes}}''. ''Vinland Saga'' was started in 2005. It chronicles the adventures of a band of Vikings.

Taking place in the 11th century the story chronicles the life of Thorfinn Karlsefni, an Icelandic boy who becomes a warrior to avenge his father's death. He does so by dogging the heels of his father's killer, Askeladd, by fighting in Askeladd's band. But it's not some story of deception. Askeladd is aware that Thorfinn wants to kill him, and he gleefully uses this information to manipulate the boy into doing his bidding in exchange for a one-on-one duel.

As we follow Thorfinn around, the story expands to the Danes' pacification of England of the early eleventh century and the rise to power of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canute_the_Great King Canute]].

Ultimately the series has a lot of brutal (but fun!) battles. It's also fairly accurate about viking culture, so it teaches you stuff while you read (yes, it's that awesome). It's also got some pretty snappy dialogue and humorous little exchanges between characters both major and minor.

No relation to the classical viking sagas known as the Vinland Sagas, about the explorations of Erik the Red and his son Leif. Though they are alluded to through the stories of Leif Erikson, alias, Leif the Lucky.

Can be read at pretty much any scanlation site.
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This manga provides examples of:

* ActionGirl: in a Canon omake, Ylfa fantasizes about becoming a BadAss pirate queen. The fact that she eagerly joins in on the occasional whale hunt proves she's no tender maid.
* AxeCrazy (Literally in the case of Thorkell, I mean come on, dual wielding great axes? It helps that he's seven feet tall)
* AmbiguouslyGay (Bjorn seems to be more or less in love with Askeladd.)
* AnnoyingArrows: (Averted, arrows are often used to great effect)
* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:Only Thorfinn is left in the story out of all the characters from the opening chapters. It's safe to say that any character that doesn't have a historical basis, and even some that do, will meet a grisly end.]]
* ArtEvolution: (Its a slight one, but noticeable, when it changed from being a weekly Shonen to a monthly Seinen, the art became more detailed and a few of the character designs were tweaked as well, most notably with Bjorn)
* ArmorIsUseless (Averted altogether for the most part, with only two minor exceptions.)
* {{Awesome Moment of Crowning}}: [[spoiler:After Askeladd kills King Sweyn, Canute kills Askeladd, as part of a {{Xanatos Gambit}} to transfer control of the Danish army and kingdom to Canute. Thorfinn, being hugely upset to learn that he has been robbed of the chance to avenge himself on Askeladd, launches an attack on Canute but only manages to slash Canute's face. Canute, declaring that someone must take control of the situation, picks up the fallen crown from the floor and crowns himself, all the while bleeding profusely from his face. Friggin' awesome.]]
* BadAss (The entire cast. They're Vikings, how can they possibly be anything else?)
* BattleButler (Bjorn serves as Askeladd's right hand man)
* BerserkButton (Do not threaten Wales while in the same room as Askeladd)
* BlackAndGreyMorality (This is the dark ages, the real dark ages. No one is a clear cut hero or villain)
* TheBlacksmith (Thors becomes an apprentice blacksmith in Iceland, he's not very good at it.)
* BlondGuysAreEvil (Considering nearly every major protagonist is blond, this trope is thoroughly averted.)
* BoisterousBruiser (Thorkell, and how. Just make sure you don't disappoint him.)
* BloodKnight (Thorkell fits this trope to a t, going so far as to betray his countrymen for the sake of a decent battle)
* BreakTheCutie (Anne, in record time too!) And, to an extent, [[spoiler: Canute.]]
* CelibateHero (Thorfinn is far too busy being moody to sleep with anyone.)
* CheerfulChild (Thorfinn used to be a sweet kid, though even then he showed aspects of his eventual ScreamingWarrior nature.)
* CompletelyMissingThePoint: Thorfinn, about his dad. Thorkell openly mocks him about this at one point.
* CooldownHug [[spoiler:Canute does one to Bjorn in chapter 39.]]
* CoolOldGuy (Lief the Lucky, Askeladd and Thorkell are very cool old guys)
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome (Happens at least once a fight scene, there are a lot of fight scenes)
** Three Words: ''"BOW BEFORE ME!"''
* TheDeterminator (Thorkell and Thorfinn. Thorfinn in his pursuit of revenge. Thorkell, for fun.)
* DeadlyDecadentCourt (Sweyn Forkbeard's court)
* DeadpanSnarker (Askeladd, and Thorfinn to a degree)
* {{Deliberate Values Dissonance}} (The raider characters generally are more than happy to either perform or tolerate pillaging, raping, and enslaving people.)
* DoggedNiceGuy (Ari towards Ylfa.)
* DudeLooksLikeALady (When Canute first appears he's mistaken for a woman by the main characters. Thorfinn gives him the derogatory nickname of 'Princess'. Adds a whole new layer of (unintentional) subtext between them, though it's meant as an insult.)
** (A very severe one, point of fact, to the degree that they'd be fighting words to almost anyone else -- Warrior cultures take manliness very seriously.)
** [[spoiler: An actual lady is used as a body double, and because of her, people suspect that Prince Canute really is a lady.]]
* EnsembleDarkhorse (Askeladd.)
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas ([[spoiler:Askeladd loves his mother so much that when he swears on her name, he means it. When he swears on his father's name, however...]])
* EyeScream - Thorkell getting his eye gouged out, nasty!
* FanNickname - It's not uncommon to hear people refer to post-timeskip Thorfinn as Viking Kurt Cobain due to his appearance.
* ForegoneConclusion (History teaches us that Canute will end up as king -- but then again the story up to that point was apparently only the ''prologue''.)
* ForeShadowing (Askeladd remarks early on that a man with a gut wound won't last the night [[spoiler: later this fate befalls Bjorn.]]
* GallowsHumor (Lots and lots of it.)
* {{Gonk}} (The Frankish King at the start and the tracker Ears later on)
* GrassIsGreener (In Vinland, apparently.)
* GoodOldWays (Legatus clings stubbornly to the Roman traditions, while Thorkell lives like it's still seven hundred AD.)
* HeroAntagonist (In the Black and Black morality of Vinland Saga its hard to call anyone a 'hero' but Thorkell's motivations are much more simply and his deeds much less villainous than many other characters.)
* HeroicBastard (for a change, the kind of bastard Askeladd isn't)
* HeroicSacrifice [[spoiler:Askeladd, in order to save both Canute and Wales.]]
* HeroicBSOD [[spoiler:Thorfinn, after Askeladd dies.]]
* HotShoujoDad (Thors)
* HowDareYouDieOnMe [[spoiler: Thorfinn shouts this at Askeladd as he is dying.]]
* ImprobableWeaponUser (Thorkell defends London armed with [[MemeticMutation LOGS!]]. Note that he's defending London against ships, against which logs are rather effective (moreso than arrows, anyhow.)
* IndyPloy (During Thorkell's pursuit, the protagonists improvise quite a bit. With varying degrees of success.)
* InfantImmortality (heheh, what a funny concept!)
* TheIshmael (Einar)
* FallenPrincess (Askeladd's mother, she fell hard.)
* JustAKid (An English woman's reaction to finding Thorfinn on her front step)
** TheFarmerAndTheViper (...''Big'' mistake.)
* KickTheDog (Boy do they ever, and they're the good guys!)
* KingIncognito ([[spoiler:Askeladd is the illegitimate offspring of a danish lord and also the last living descendant of KingArthur of all people.]])
* KnightTemplar (Halfdan will not tolerate people flouting the laws of Iceland.)
* MadeASlave
* MagnificentBastard (Askeladd.)
* ManipulativeBastard (Askeladd once more.)
* MauveShirt (Ears)
* MemeticMutation (PUNCH THE HORSE!)
* MoralEventHorizon
* MyNameIsInigoMontoya: Askeladd: "Let me teach you the real name my mother gave to me [[spoiler: Lucius Artorius Castus.]]"
* NeverBringAKnifeToAFistFight: Thorkell beats Thorfinn bloody with his bare hands in their first encounter. [[spoiler: Later, Askeladd gives Thorfinn the god of arse-whoopings bare handed while in a duel.]]
* OlderThanTheyLook (A more realistic example then most but none the less Thorkell does not look like he's in his fifties)
* OldRetainer (Ragnar)
* PapaWolf (Thors)
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: (Deconstructed, subverted and played straight: While they're all proud warriors, most are also sellswords, murderers, thieves and rapists, as well as honest merchants and farmers when necessary, just like the vikings really were.)
* PsychoForHire (Askeladd's band are all unscrupulous bastards willing to do anything for the right price, Thorkell and his band too, but his payment is a good battle. Thorfinn isn't a psycho, but he's got pretty loose morals.)
* PutOnABus (Thorgimm and Alti are put on a Viking Longship.)
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: [[spoiler: Canute is doing it all to spite god, by creating an Utopia on Earth.]]
* RagsToRiches: Askeladd went from being a slave boy to a respected and feared mercenary captain using nothing but his wits, firmly establishing his status as a MagnificentBastard, at the age of fourteen.
* RapePillageAndBurn (...It's about ''[[HornyVikings Vikings]]''.)
* ReliableTraitor (Gunir. Its not really a spoiler, you'll spot him from a mile away.)
* RetiredBadass (Thors, he used to be called 'The Troll' and for good reason)
* ReverseFunnyAneurysm:
-->'''Willibald:''' What is love?
-->'''Readers:''' ''Baby dont' hurt me, don't hurt me, no more''
* RuleOfCool (The fight scenes, some have complained that all the awesome detracts from the history.)
* SadisticChoice ([[spoiler:Sveyn Forkbeard gives Askeladd the choice between staying Canute's retainer or saving his homeland Wales from a Viking invasion.]])
** TakeAThirdOption (...[[spoiler:Askeladd responds by decapitating him on the spot.]])
* SmugSnake (Floki all the way.)
* SonOfAWhore (Askeladd)
** [[BerserkButton Just don't say it to his face.]]
* TookALevelInBadass Several characters, most notably [[spoiler: [[strike: Prince]] King Canute, after his bodyguard and father-figure is killed; he learns from the [[NietzscheWannabe disaffected priest]] that what the bodyguard felt was not "love" but "preference," that God is basically a JerkAss, and comes to the revelation the only way humans will ever attain Paradise is to say [[CallingTheOldManOut "screw you" to the Almighty]] and make it on earth with our own hands.]] The level however, is more in SocialBadass than in CombatBadass, but it undeniably BadAss nonetheless.
* ShoutOut (At one point there's a background character that looks suspiciously like Hagar the Horrible. Also Vicky and Ylfi from Vicky the Viking appear in one crowd shot. There are numerous others, mostly historical ones, littered through out.)
** The Frank Chieftain is named Jabbathe, think about it for a moment.
* [[Tearjerker/{{Anime}} Tearjerker]]: Oh god how starting with [[spoiler: Thors' death, then Ragnar's death, then Askeladd's men betraying him, then Atli's brother going through a major BSOD, his mind reduced to that of a child's. But the most heart breaking moment would be Bjorn's death. Indeed he was Askeladd's one true friend.]]
** Then there's [[spoiler:Askeladd carrying his dying mother, a slave taken in a Viking raid, back to her home in Wales. Made all the more so by the fact that up until this point the readers had been lead to believe Askeladd was nothing more than an amoral bastard out for himself.]]
*** And then there's [[spoiler: Askeladd getting stabbed by Canute, right in front of Thorfinn. Thorfinn loses it when he realized Askeladd had essentially become his surrogate father, and he simultaneously wanted to save his life and kill Askeladd himself.]]
*** I don't think [[spoiler:Thorfinn ever saw Askeladd as his surrogate father. He just wanted to be able to kill Askeladd in a fair fight. When Askeladd died on him like that, he was crushed to his limits as he realized he'd never get that wish he devoted his life to. That's why he wanted to take it out on Canute, who robbed Thorfinn's life of its only purpose.]]
* TheBerserker (Bjorn is a real ''bärsärk'' and uses a mushroom to achieve this state.)
* TheDragon (Floki of the Jolmsviking serves as a Dragon of sorts to King Sweyn.)
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou (Thorfinn towards Askeladd.)
* TheStoic (Thorfinn has two expressions, disinterest, and anger. The only exception is that when he gets badly hurt it shows. Still doesn't slow him down much.)
** This makes the look on his face when he realizes his attempt at evading a strike from Thorkell ended up launching him higher than the ''treetops'' even more hilarious.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Thorgimm and his brother Atli.
* TimeSkip (After the prologue)
* TricksterMentor: Askeladd likes to think he is more a mentor to Thorfinn then nemesis.
* {{Tsundere}} (Ylfa certainly has a few Tsundere-ish tendencies)
* TurnCoat: (Thorgrimm tries too, but Thorkell despises a coward.)
* ATwinkleInTheSky: A realistic example (relatively).
* TheUriahGambit: Guess who pulled it off? If your answer is Askeladd, you're correct!
* VictoryIsBoring: Thorkell keeps joining the underdogs and losing causes in an attempt to avert this.
* YamatoNadeshiko: (Thorfinn's mother, with elements of a MamaBear back when Thors was still an arrogant warrior)
* YouKilledMyFather (essentially Thorfinn's motivation for everything he does)
** Thorfinn could be considered something of a deconstruction of this trope. Despite being the main character, his desire for revenge makes him something below one-dimensional in personality, and is literally all he can think of. He's repeatedly given [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech The Reason You Suck Speeches]] by Askeladd over it, and [[spoiler:when Canute gets to kill Askeladd instead of him]], he snaps and is reduced to a hollowed-out shell, completely burnt out.
* YoungerThanTheyLook (Father Willibald is only in his twenties, but he looks like an old man. Its his shaggy beard and monk's tonsure that probably does it.)
* {{Wangst}}: Thorfinn gets called on this by some critics, but at least he has a legitimate reason for his bouts of depression and general surliness, but Ketil's son? A spoiled little rich boy who wants to be a warrior, always whining about how life is unfair. Here's hoping Thorfinn gives him the beating of a lifetime.
* XanatosGambit ([[spoiler:Askeladd's plot to take control of the throne.]])
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