Manga Review: Vinland Saga, Book Five by Makoto Yukimura
Warning: This review contains spoilers for the first four volumes of this series, so you may want to read the reviews for those if you are new to Vinland Saga.
It has been a few years since the end of Thorfinn’s quest for vengeance on the man who killed his father. In the aftermath, he has become a thrall (slave) to Ketil, a Danish jarl (wealthy landowner.) He is joined by a young man named Einar, a Norse-Briton who is not happy about having been enslaved.
Ketil is, as slaveowners go, a fairly decent fellow. If Thorfinn and Einar can clear enough farmland and grow crops on it in addition to their other tasks, they may eventually be able to buy their freedom and become small landowners in their own right. There’s a former slave that’s done just that who is employed by Ketil. It also helps that our young men take the fancy of Sverkel, Ketil’s elderly father, who gives them a hand in return for them doing extra work in his garden.
But don’t let that fool you into thinking that slavery is an okay thing. Einar and Thorfinn are still property, and if Ketil’s son needs to kill someone to prove his manhood, there’s no law against him destroying his own family’s stock. And then there’s Arnheid, who is Ketil’s bedservant, and has no chance of ever buying her freedom.
There’s trouble stirring in Ketil’s household, with one son useless at farming but too cowardly to be a warrior, and the other a ruthless raider who begins to think that his war hero father is going soft in the heart. The mercenary guards may have their own agenda, and the karls (free farmers) have a hate on for the idea that slaves could rise above that station.
Back in England, King Canute is consolidating his rule, He does it with as little battle as possible, much to the disgust of Thorkell the Tall, now one of his generals.
Believe it or not, it is only in this fifth volume that we are starting the main plot of the series. While many events swirl about him, the main arc here is Thorfinn finally shaking out of the apathy that he’s been in since the death of Askeladd. “Being empty means that anything can fit inside you.” But what is to be his future course, without vengeance to guide Thorfinn’s steps?
This volume continues to be fascinating, even as the main focus switches from battle to farming. There’s still plenty of violence, though. And some nudity in a sexual context, but no on-panel sex. (Ketil’s relationship with Arnheid isn’t exactly consensual on her part, although he has real affection for her.) Einar’s approach to religion (pray to any and all gods in the hope that one will deliver) might offend some readers.
There are hints of tragedy on the horizon, but we may have to wait a while to see what they are as I am told production on these hefty volumes has been delayed. Still an excellent buy if you are interested in this sort of thing.
