YMMV / Vinland Saga

• Accidental Aesop:
  • In the Baltic Sea War arc, a dying Viking on a battlefield finds to his dismay that his religious beliefs are mistaken, as Valhalla and Valkyries etc. are not real and he just drifts away into The Nothing After Death. In a way, this is akin to an Imagine Spot of Thorfinn during the Farmland Saga arc, being more of a critique of the Viking way of life than anything else. But then later once the story finally reaches Vinland, a Native American shaman's vision of the future of North America up to the first atomic bomb tests is a key factor in setting up the historically inevitable conflict between the Norse and the natives. While one could read this as just psychic/ESP stuff happening to be true regardless of religion, it may also come off as "Norse religion wrong, Native religion right".
  • Alternatively, given the revelation that Cannute receives, which is basically that God's love only comes upon death in that our bodies return to nature and that God is perpetually punishing mankind for the Original Sin, it might be interpreted as God only gives any kind of vision or guidance to others for the sole purpose of making life worse for humanity, showing the shaman a vision of what God intends for the future in the knowledge that it will be misinterpreted and will cause suffering and chaos for all parties involved. Thus, the Aesop can be interpreted as "Any vision or guidance that comes from God is for the sole purpose of making life worse than it already is and the only way your suffering can end is in death, not because God will send you to heaven, but because God will finally allow you to cease to exist."
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • How does Askeladd actually think of Thorfinn, having kept him alive for so long? As an attack dog for whatever unsafe job he needs done? As a reflection of his revenge-driven younger self? As his only connection to the one man he ever admired? As a surrogate son who just so happens to want him dead? Some combination?
    • For one, Askeladd consistently sends Thorfinn on risky, life-threatening missions while dangling the promise of a duel in front of his face. This might be because of Thorfinn's competence relative to the rest of the crew, but even keeping that in mind, several of Askeladd's assignments seem almost intended to get Thorfinn killed. Most significantly, Askeladd sends Thorfinn alone to fight Thorkell, probably the strongest man on the continent, while keeping his confirmed knowledge of the latter’s Achilles' Heel to himself. Moments like this make it seem like the only reason he doesn’t kill Thorfinn himself is that it’d be a waste of free labor. Notably, in their duel following Askeladd’s appointment as Canute's advisor, it remains ambiguous whether Askeladd was about to kill off Thorfinn before the prince stepped in. That said, the fact that Askeladd was holding a sword over Thorfinn’s unconscious body certainly implies that he was. Possibly out of the belief that a man in Askeladd's position has better options for a skilled personal assassin than an insubordinate teenager planning to kill him.
    • On the other hand, Askeladd’s decision to keep Thorfinn alive happens before finding out his potential as a warrior, which suggests some sympathy or guilt for a young boy having had to watch a parent die. In particular, the anime-only scene where young Thorfinn nearly kills Askeladd (while the latter pretends to be sleeping) has Askeladd looking particularly introspective. The next day, Askeladd outright tells Thorfinn that he should have gone through with the attempt, leaving it unclear whether Askeladd would have let Thorfinn get his revenge, or is just offering the advice that the best way to kill someone is secretly. Either way, Askeladd's behavior suggests that he has played a significant role in honing Thorfinn’s skills over the years and there are multiple points where Askeladd gives the kid encouragement in their duels (that he may or may not have said sarcastically). Combined with Askeladd's confirmed self-loathing, it’s even possible that he planned for Thorfinn to kill him eventually and felt both he and Thorfinn would deserve it when it came. Especially since one of the last things Askeladd ever says to Thorfinn while dying is “sorry for making you wait.”
    • An equally valid interpretation of Askeladd’s behavior is that he was trying to push Thorfinn towards a life that would fulfill Thors’s hopes for his son. Thors is arguably the person Askeladd most regretted having to kill, so it tracks that he wouldn’t want to repeat the mistake with Thorfinn. Giving Thorfinn so many dangerous jobs, while a gamble, could have been done with the hope that Thorfinn would decide revenge is a fruitless endeavor. Even sending Thorfinn against Thorkell might have been done with the hope that the kid was good enough to impress Thorkell into sparing/imprisoning him, but not good enough to win (which, admittedly, is almost exactly what happened). Considering Askeladd’s long-term plans for Wales, he may have thought the only way Thorfinn could be allowed to live would be by giving up on revenge and leaving on his own. After joining Canute, the stakes could just have been too high to risk leaving the prince without guidance, so Askeladd tried to deter Thorfinn one last time with his Breaking Speech. Notably, another of the last things he tells Thorfinn is to “Go beyond the world where Thors went.”
    • Lastly, for better or worse, Askeladd was the primary adult influence in Thorfinn’s life for several years and he jokingly acts like a parent at multiple points (through comments on Thorfinn’s growth and moodiness). Moreover, Askeladd repeatedly advises Thorfinn on the importance of cleverness and deception over brute force, suggesting he wants Thorfinn to be more like himself instead of just another killer. Additionally, Askeladd looks down on Ragnar’s coddling of Canute, which, in combination with his own rough past, might just mean he thinks that Misery Builds Character. Significantly, a third thing he says when convincing Thorfinn to give him the Coup de Grâce is “we’re supposed to be enemies after all, right?” He seems to be trying to convince himself of their enmity just as much as he is Thorfinn.
  • Was Askeladd honest when telling Bjorn that he was his only friend, or did he just view the dying man as a loyal subordinate? Askeladd conspicuously avoids responding when Bjorn says that he’d always wanted to be the former’s friend, only conceding friendship once Bjorn repeats himself. In the fight with Thorkell's men, Askeladd outright says that he hates all Vikings, and the only people he seems to respect (Thors and Canute) exhibit a degree of kindness that Bjorn definitely does not. Additionally, Askeladd doesn’t hold any grudge against Atli for mortally wounding Bjorn in the first place, but sends the man off with gold to make a fresh start. Though the beatdown Askeladd gives Thorfinn definitely seems to partially result from anger at Bjorn's death, even that isn’t conclusory. Before this, the only two subordinates Askeladd had left were Bjorn and Thorfinn; even if he didn’t care about Bjorn as an individual, it makes sense he’d be upset at losing his loyal Dragon while the kid who yearns for his death remains. Askeladd is also repeatedly shown to be a Consummate Liar and, even at his most evil, isn’t one for pointless cruelty. He may have just wanted to pull a Let Them Die Happy.
  • Is Askeladd’s respect for post-enlightenment Canute genuine? Or does he just believe that letting the chance pass by to be a kingmaker would be moronic, especially when done for a king willing to protect Wales? If King Sweyn hadn’t pressed his Berserk Button by shit-talking his mom, would Askeladd have betrayed Canute in order to protect Wales without sacrificing himself? Especially since, for all his supposed respect for Thors’s selflessness, Askeladd remains a pretty amoral bastard until his death.
  • What leads to Canute’s Fallen Hero status in the Farmland Arc? A messiah complex causing him to lose the ability to care about individual people? Youthful earnestness leading him to find consolidating power as a conqueror preferable to slowly reforming societal infrastructure as a king? Just a natural result of unchecked power corrupting? Hereditary mental illness manifesting through hallucinations of his dead father and driving him to paranoia?
  • Is there a reason besides Askeladd for Thorfinn not wanting to return home? For one, he’s never really shown thinking about Helga or Ylva before Leif shows up. He’s also shown to have genuine disdain towards those like early Canute and the slave girl he meets for their perceived weakness. Moreover, Thorfinn exhibits several Proud Warrior Race Guy characteristics, including having pride in his fighting ability, which comes across as pretty similar to Thorkell. Even if Thorfinn doesn’t enjoy fighting for fighting’s sake, which prevents him from being the typical Viking, he has the willingness to hurt and kill others without care to achieve his own goals that ironically is held by men like Askeladd (or Floki for that matter). One could argue the only thing separating Thorfinn from being The Unfettered is the need for an honorable duel against his best interest; even then, outside the duel itself, he isn’t shown to have anything against killing dishonorably, even of innocents like Hild’s father. If Thorfinn successfully killed Askeladd, it isn’t impossible that he would have joined the Jomsvikings, or worse, remained with Askeladd’s marauders, instead of returning home. Especially if he believed that Thors dying was a failure on his part for trying to protect weak people (possibly resulting from self-loathing). This mindset would not be helped by Askeladd repeatedly pretending like he believed Thors’s sacrifice was utterly forgettable.
  • Did Thorfinn come to care about Askeladd as a Parental Substitute? When Askeladd is mortally wounded, he initially seems enraged and orders the dying man to get up and duel. However, towards the end of his ranting, Thorfinn just breaks down and looks heartbroken. Several points are also deliberately framed to mirror Thorfinn’s last moments with his father. You could argue the two had a love-hate relationship where, if Thorfinn defeated Askeladd in a duel, at least any sadness would be countered by the vindication of avenging Thors. Here, there is nothing to offset the loss of the closest thing the boy had to a father figure for the better part of a decade. Not to mention, after the fact, Thorfinn is literally dragged away from the body while crying.
  • What brought Thors to his belief in the idea of a “true warrior”? While the desire to leave a life of war seems a straightforward result of having a family, it really doesn’t explain why he became the type of pacifist who wouldn’t even use lethal force against bloodthirsty pirates. Though most of his past remains a mystery, it’s revealed that all of his status was due to his fighting skill. It’s possible that Helga and Ylva were the first individuals he’d ever actually valued and that having a family made him view the people he’d been killing through a new lens. It’s also possible that Thors had despised violence for most of his time with the Jomsvikings, considered any killing a Necessarily Evil to not be executed for betrayal, and was provided a chance to escape by nearly drowning. Another interpretation comes from the last time Thorkell saw Thors in the manga: Thorkell says Thors “gazed through [him] to the horizon…as though full of pity.” If Thors had already been told of Vinland by Leif, that probably colored his views of how he ought to change to be worthy of living there someday.
  • Is Garm from the third major arc a bastard of Thorkell or not? Some people within the story bring up the possibility, but the supposed evidence from looks to behavior to flashbacks is inconclusive, so it can go either way. This contrasts with Thorkell's bastard in the fourth major arc, who looks more like the said parent but behaves quite differently, the said parent's identity is clear from flashbacks, and more people including Thorfinn himself immediately pick up on it. But then it's possible to view the two of them as indeed half-siblings, with the contrasts lending dramatic irony.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: The notion of a viking in England having an Eastern sword is not as bizarre as it sounds. By the time the story takes place, vikings were raiding and trading with peoples throughput the Mediterranean, Northern Africa and the Near East. In particular, Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon men were prized as mercenaries in Byzantium, which would also serve to explain Snake's knowledge of Greek and Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
• Arc Fatigue: Many consider the Baltic Sea War arc to be the story's weakest arc so far. It is rather long (lasting 36 chapters compared to previous recent arcs which generally lasted only 8-10 chapters), some felt it relied too much on out of place humor, especially towards the end, it had multiple chapters focusing on random vikings (who generally were about to die), especially towards the end (seeing a pattern here?), it had a lot of focus on Garm, who many dislike (mainly due to feeling like an over the top shonen villain in a relatively realistic seinen series who manages to fight Thorkell of all people to a draw), and overall had too nice and neat of a conclusion (Thorfinn is named leader of the Jomsvikings, and his first act is to disband it, ending the conflict once and for all). That is not to say the arc didn't have its good moments (such as Floki finally getting his just deserts, albeit nonlethally), but overall it's generally considered to be unnecessarily overlong and not quite up to scratch with everything that came before it.
• Awesome Art: Especially once Art Evolution kicks in. Vinland Saga is sometimes compared to Berserk when it comes to its artwork, and while most would say that it doesn't quite reach its levels, that should still tell you something.
• Base-Breaking Character: Thorfinn has proved to be quite a divisive protagonist. During the First Arc, fans were split between those that liked him for his badass fighting skills and cool dynamic with other characters (such as Askeladd and Canute) and those who hated him due to finding him unsympathetic and his motivation generic. There are also those who considered him a decent but unspecial main character and paid more attention to other more interesting characters. During the later arcs, Thorfinn becomes much more popular due to Character Development, but a Vocal Minority of fans wish he would go back to his "badass" Sociopathic Hero days. There are also those who apreciate Thorfinn as a protagonist but are frustated at him for other reasons (see Strangled by the Red String below).
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • The inexplicably frog-like Frankish Lord in the first chapter of the manga (who looks much more cartoony than pretty much everyone else, and is named Jabbathe of all things) can be excused as Early-Installment Weirdness due to the manga starting off as a shounen series before moving to seinen. But in the anime he feels even more out of place due to the chronological reordering and expansion of events which conveys the general tone of the manga better than starting off with the first chapter would, and then being adapted extremely faithfully on top of that.
  • In his war with Thorkell, Floki unleashes his secret weapon - a huge hirsute man-thing with fangs who is even taller than Thorkell and might as well be a real troll, Bigfoot, or Sasquatch. Thorkell is shocked but wrestles it into submission anyway, with his men cheering like it's a WWE match, and he later demands its life be spared as he wants it for a pet. While bizarrely funny, this clashes with the mostly grounded tone of the rest of the manga, where the only "troll" was Thors.
• Broken Base:
  • Fans are divided between those that like Thorfinn's change into a pacifist and those that dislike it and wish he was back to his old self.
  • The "Farmland Saga" arc, some people think it's good development while others think it's a waste of time or when the series goes downhill due to the change in tone.
  • The general Genre Shift the story undergoes starting with the above arc counts as well. Some dislike the fact that the story is no longer about raiding vikings and doesn't have nearly as much action, while others are fine with the shift and enjoy watching Thorfinn's path towards finding his place in life.
  • The "Baltic Sea War" arc was followed by a Time Skip which had Thorfinn return home from his merchant trip to Greece. Many fans were peeved that Constantinople was skipped, glossing over a lot of possible story material, including that Thorfinn and Gudrid are an Official Couple after the time skip without showing how. It was such a shock that the longstanding scanlators apparently quit over it. The fans who accept the time skip contend that dwelling too long on the merchant trip (which had been sidetracked by the Baltic war in the first place) would have obscured the point of the story which is to get to Vinland.
• Do Not Do This Cool Thing: The story has a clear War Is Hell and anti-violence message, but the story sure makes fighting look cool too through the badassery of Thorfinn, Thors, Askeladd, Thorkell, Snake, etc.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Thorfinn's sister Ylva has her fair share of fans, despite barely appearing, due to being the most prominent of the few female characters for a long while.
• Fan Nickname:
  • It's not uncommon to hear people refer to early post-timeskip Thorfinn as Viking Kurt Cobain due to his appearance.
  • Much like how in Code Geass Suzaku would have several nicknames with "something"-zaku, most of Canute's nicknames follow the same pattern. Earlier Canute is referred to a Moenute, after his Rage Against the Heavens he's Garnute, and more recently he's become Jerknute.
  • This is extended to Thorkell, who is called Moekell for his goofier moments.
  • The first post-Time Skip arc is called "Farmland Saga."
  • After Farmland Saga, the next and current arc was called "Merchant Saga" or "Boatland Saga" before it took an unexpected turn into the "Baltic Sea War" (as actually titled on-page). Also, due to certain unprecendented developments, "Romcom Saga".
• Genius Bonus: Makoto Yukimura enjoys this trope a lot. Mostly due to his dedication to historical accuracy so long as it doesn't detract majorly from the story he wishes to tell.
  • Many characters are actual historical figures. From Leif Eriksson and Thorfinn to a minor king like Ethelred.
  • Canute's younger sister Estrid and his advisor Wulf have a ship tease and Wulf is shown to like her. In real history, Estrid and Wulf get married and their eldest son Sweyn eventually succeeds Canute's sons as King of Denmark.
  • Wulf's name is sometimes translated as "Ulf", which is the Scandinavian rendering of the name (in which "Wulf" is the early English version). Both names mean the same thing: "wolf", which stems from the shared history of the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians in central Europe. Think of it in the same vein as the Anglo-Saxon/Proto-Germanic name of Odin, which was "Woden", and later centuries had it spelled "Odin".
  • The Sagas' Makoto draws from have historical authenticity debated, but there is an actual historical Thorkell the Tall who assisted Canute in his conquest of England. Said Thorkell also has an older brother named Sigvaldi who is the chief of the legendary Jomsvikings...and this Sigvaldi is made to be the grandfather of Thorfinn and Ylva. The relationship is even pointed out by Thorkell himself.
    • Moreover, Thorkell is mentioned to have a son who was present during Canute's invasion of England, and potentially having a daughter who married an English earl. In Vinland Saga, Thorkell has a transgender daughter.
  • Askeladd is drawn from an actual Norwegian folk tale, reflecting Askeladd's viking heritage.
  • Canute attempting to stop the tides in the Farmland Arc is a reference to a piece of folklore who the real Canute tried to do the same thing, only to fail and prove he was not god's superior, therefore showing his piety and dedication to his faith.
  • Leif's brother Thorvald is briefly mentioned in passing as trying to set up a colony in Vinland after his brother, but perished there following disputes with the local people. True to history, Thorvald heard of Leif's discovery of Vinland and attempted to set up a colony there, but died during an attack by the natives.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The series is overall more popular in the West than in Japan, but this applies especially to the anime. It has only been received decently in Japan, while it has been met with critical acclaim by Western audiences and topped many charts for 2019 and 2023.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Thorfinn's desire to colonize Vinland is presented as a noble goal for the most part. However, any student of history knows that subsequent European attempts colonize America would lead to the near total destruction of the Native Americans due to the introduction of unfamiliar diseases and conflicts with European settlers. This catastrophic event likely would have occurred several centuries earlier if the Norse had been successful in their effort to establish a foothold in North America.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In a strange but amusing coincidence, season 1 of the Vinland Saga anime aired at the same time as an adaptation of Fate/Grand Order, which meant that (massive spoilers for the latter) Cath Palug was in two anime series in the same week.^note Cath Palug is a dangerous beast from early Arthurian legend which is depicted in a 12th-century Italian mosaic, one of the earliest visual depictions of King Arthur. The mosaic, from Otranto Cathedral in Italy, was directly copied for a panel of the Vinland Saga manga and thus its anime years later. The section of the mosaic shown just happens to show Cath Palug - which is also a character in Fate/Grand Order, which was created long after Vinland Saga but just happened to get an anime at the same time Vinland Saga did. So this coincidence was literally centuries in the making.
  • The meme of Thorkell being "best girl" (see below), after his transgender offspring, physically male but raised as and identifying as female, is introduced.
• Ho Yay: Early on, Thorfinn and the girly-looking Prince Canute's interactions invite this, like Thorfinn calling him "princess" (which in real life probably would have been serious fighting words). Some hilarity was had when years later Thorfinn's wife essentially has the prince's hairstyle.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Askeladd Olafson introduces himself to the audience sacking a fort and robbing it of its riches with a series of clever schemes, barely shedding a drop of blood. Leader of a group of Viking raiders, Askeladd was born the son of a slave and a lord. Murdering his father years later after his mother's death, Askeladd framed one of his brothers after ingratiating himself to his family. Playing the cutthroat court of King Sweyn with clever gambits, Askeladd has the caretaker of the weak prince Canute murdered to build Canute into an ideal candidate for the throne. Also driven by his desire to protect his maternal homeland of Wales, Askeladd finds himself briefly outplayed by Sweyn who demands he kill Canute or see Wales invaded by the Danes. Askeladd instead chooses to kill Sweyn and allow Canute to kill him, achieving all his goals posthumously by making Canute a beloved, respected King and knowing the young man will forge Askeladd's ideal kingdom and defend Wales out of gratitude.
  • King Canute begins the series as a weak and delicate prince coddled by his guardian Ragnar and despised by his father King Sweyn. After Ragnar's murder, Canute witnesses the horrors of battle and the futility of love on earth. Growing to despise God for toying with mankind, Canute vows to create a utopia on earth and grows substantially, using body doubles and preparing to overcome his father by allying with Asekladd. Upon becoming King when Askeladd kills his father, Canute proceeds to poison his brother Harald to take over Denmark. He then initiates a plot to take over the Ketil farm by framing the Ketils as outlaws and launching a full war against them with nothing to stand in the way of his dream.
• Memetic Badass: Thorkell!
• Memetic Mutation:
  • PUNCH THE HORSE!
  • "Why can't they just carry longboats forever?", mocking the Broken Base.
  • Even with more female characters being introduced in the later arcs, Thorkell is best girl.
  • "I have no enemies." ^ExplanationThors tells Thorfinn that he (Thorfinn) has no enemies. In chapter 90, Thorfinn says "I have no enemies." This quote later became a popular online catchphrase about being comedically peaceful in violent situations.
• Misaimed Fandom: Ignoring the Broken Base about how the story turned away from being about pillaging vikings, there is a segment of the reader base that dislike Thorfinn's Character Development of becoming a pacifist, wanting a return of the "badass" Thorfinn who kills without any concerns. This is ignoring the fact that this Thorfinn was little more than a shell of a human being who didn't feel any joy about anything. The only thing that mattered in his life was getting revenge on Askeladd, he never even enjoyed all the killing he did, he just felt numb indifference. And once Askeladd died, Thorfinn had literally nothing to live for. Not exactly a mindset to be cheered on. Indeed, later there's a flashback of Hild meeting Thorfinn which is presented as pure Nightmare Fuel for her, as she loses her family and home and Thorfinn personally kills her father for Askeladd, making it feel like a "Take That! You Bastard!" to readers who wanted to see more of the younger Thorfinn.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • For King Sweyn, his Sadistic Choice to Askeladd of "Kill my son or I invade your homeland."
  • Master Ketil crosses it with his brutal beating of Arnheid.
• Narm: In a few episodes of the anime, Thorfinn briefly does an Airplane Arms Ninja Run akin to Naruto unlike in the original manga. This is hard to take seriously, given the Early Medieval European setting, and the anime coming around the same time as the "Invade Area 51 by Naruto running" meme.
• Strangled by the Red String: Thorfinn and Gudrid becoming a couple after a Time Skip. While they are supposed to be a couple historically, this romantic aspect was not handled well, as while Gudrid could've come to love him from the events that lead up to it, we don't see how he develops feelings in kind, especially since he had such a troubled background that damaged him emotionally.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Besides the romance stuff above, many readers complain about the Time Skip glossing over the actual merchant stuff in Constantinople, since it was at the height of its power, and further character development and worldbuilding could have been milked out of stuff like the Varangian Guard, the Eastern Roman culture compared to Askeladd's Roman dream, etc. Some fans have openly hoped that when the anime adapts the Eastern Expedition arc, it will include an original arc about Thorfinn and co.'s time in Constantinople.
• 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. Although he gets better later on, after he was tricked into killing one of Canute's men and finding himself positively horrified at the deed.
• The Woobie: Arnheid. Losing her husband because he went to fight a meaningless battle for no reason, followed by losing her son when she was made a slave. She's sold to Ketil, and seems to do well on the farm but at the cost of being Ketil's bedwarmer. Then her husband comes back as an insane criminal who wants to save her and recover their son. Then he dies in her arms and Ketil violently beats her into a bloody pulp when he gets the news she tried to run away at just the wrong time. Then she dies of her injuries, pregnant with Ketil's child.
• Woolseyism: A scene homaging the "Heeere's Johnny!" Signature Scene of The Shining had Thorkell say "Found you!" in the original, but it was irresistible for both scanlators and official translators to take it a bit further for more laughs, instead having him say "Heeere's Thorkell!" or "Theeere's Floki!"

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