Manga Review: Vinland Saga Book Twelve by Makoto Yukimura
Note: SPOILERS for previous volumes, check out the previous reviews if you’ve skipped any.
Previously: Thorfinn, once a vengeance-seeker, now has chosen a path of peace. He wants to go to the fabled place Vinland, where there is no war or slavery, to start a new society. In order to get funding for the journey, he first has to impress Halfdan the Chainer, a wealthy landowner, with his trading skills. The trading voyage to Miklagard (Byzantium) was interrupted by war in the Baltic Sea, but it looks like things are calm enough to proceed again.
The focus shifts to Sigurd, Halfdan’s son, who had pursued his runaway wife Gudrid when she stowed away on Thorfinn’s ship. The two finally meet and have a discussion, and Sigurd allows Gudrid to make her own choice. Knowing what her choice will be, Sigurd returns to Iceland and his father. There he must confront his terror and his father’s wrath, and find his own path forward. This takes up several chapters.
Afterwards, time skip! We’re not going to see the events of Thorfinn’s remaining trading voyage except as vague reminisces and perhaps a flashback or two. He returns to Iceland with Gudrid (now his wife) and Karli (their adoptive son) as well as the rest of the crew and an impressive profit. Halfdan is duly impressed, though he remains prickly.
At last it is time to prepare for the voyage to Vinland, and Thorfinn invites the local misfits, weirdos and dreamers to go with him and his. Two important new characters are introduced. Cordelia is one of Halfdan’s slaves, and is probably the daughter of Thorkell the Tall, Thorfinn’s great-uncle and one of the more colorful characters in the manga. She’s tall and strong, able to do the work of ten men–and doesn’t fit in Icelandic society. Thorfinn suggests that Halfdan allow her to work in Vinland to pay for her freedom.
The other is Ivar, a young warrior who is not well pleased that one of Thorfinn’s rules for the Vinland expedition is “no swords.” Thorfinn is all too aware that once you have a sword to solve one problem, it’s tempting to use swords to solve all your problems. He wants to use peaceful trade to make friends with any Vinlandic natives. Ivar considers his sword his “soul” as a warrior, and he and his friends plot to make sure that swords come to Vinland after all. This bodes ill.
A bit more on Cordelia: Icelandic society took the wearing of opposite-sex clothing seriously, and if your spouse did this, it would be grounds for divorce. Because of her unusual circumstances, this makes her place in society tenuous, even outside being a slave.
The art and writing remain stellar, and Halfdan is given depth without excusing his behavior.
Bonus features are a manga report about going to see the voice actors recording for the anime version of Vinland Saga, and a special crossover with young Thorfinn and one of the assassins from Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla.
Content note: Slavery
This continues to be an excellent series, and we might actually get to Vinland in the next volume!
