Vinland saga

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Manga
title Vinland saga
Original title ヴ ィ ン ラ ン ド ・ サ ガ
transcription Vinrando saga
Vinland Saga logo.svg
author Makoto Yukimura
publishing company Kōdansha
magazine Shōnen Magazine , Afternoon
First publication 2005 - ...
expenditure 23

Vinland Saga ( Japanese ヴ ィ ン ラ ン ド ・ サ ガ , Vinrando Saga ) is a historically inspired manga series by Makoto Yukimura that has been published since 2005 and has over 3,000 pages to date. The story begins with the young Icelander Thorfinn, who joined a band of Vikings to defeat their leader, his father's murderer, in a duel, and thus to avenge his father's death.

An anime version of the series has been published by Wit Studio since July 2019 . It can be seen subtitled in German on Prime Video .

content

Historical background

Yukimura sets its story in Europe in the early 11th century , linking fiction with historical characters, battles and other realities. Among other things, he tells of the invasion of the Vikings under the Danish King Sven Gabelbart in England and the battles fought there, of the Jom Vikings and Leif Eriksson's voyages of discovery . He goes beyond the pure historical framework and tries to reproduce the time in detail. It is also about the original pagan belief of the Vikings and the advancing Christianization .

Various historical figures also appear in the manga. Including Leif Eriksson , who appears in Iceland as a storyteller, and Sigvald von Seeland as King of the Joms Vikings. Also Thorkell , King Sweyn I. and Prince Canute among the historical figures.

action

In 1002 Thorfinn was six years old and lived with his family in a small settlement on Iceland . Life there with his father Thors, his mother Helga and his older sister Ylfa is tough, but carefree. His father, nicknamed " Troll wearing of Joms" deceived in a battle against Norway before his death to the Jomswikingern to desert, and disappeared with his wife to Iceland. His mother is a daughter of King Sigvaldi. The only adventures are the stories of the ridiculed Leif Eriksson, who tells of the discovery of the legendary Vinland .

But that changes when a warship comes into port. On board is Floki, an envoy from King Sigvaldi von Jomsburg , who blackmailed Thorfinn's father into supporting her in the battle for England. This, a former war hero who has long renounced killing, reluctantly agrees and clears a ship to Jomsburg. He sets off with some overzealous young men from the village, accompanied by Leif. Thorfinn is secretly hiding on board. In the meantime, Floki on the Faroe Islands gives the leader of a mercenary force, Askeladd, the order to kill Thor.

So it soon comes to a duel between Askeladd and Thors, with Thorfinn's father being the winner. However, he still loses his life when he tries to protect that of his son. Driven solely by the desire for revenge, Thorfinn then joins Askeladd in order to defeat him one day in a fair duel.

Six years later, Vikings under Danish King Sweyn attack England, including Askeladd and his troops. Thorfinn does the dirty work for Askeladd in order to gain the right to continuous duels. In 1013 England seems to have lost the war. Only London stands up to the besiegers under the leadership of the Yom Viking Thorkell. After another failed attack, which leads to a fight between Thorfinn and Thorkell, the Danes withdraw and King Sweyn sends his youngest son, Knut, to continue the siege, but this also fails.

The prince and his trusty Ragnar are then hunted by Thorkell. As a result, Askeladd and his troops manage to get hold of the prince. Askeladd initially used Canute as a political puppet; however, sacrifices himself to secure Canute the throne. Deprived of his vengeance, Thorfinn attacks the prince, but is overwhelmed and sold as a slave to a farmer. There Thorfinn ponders the future content of his life, while Canute gains control of England through intrigue.

Publications

From April to October 2005 Vinland Saga appeared every week as a serial in Shōnen Magazine , one of the manga magazines with the highest circulation . Since December 2005, the manga has been continued monthly in the afternoon , which is aimed at an older target group , because Yukimura could not keep the weekly publication rhythm. The Kōdansha publishing house also publishes the individual chapters previously published in the magazine in anthologies ( Tankōbon ), of which 21 have so far been published.

The manga has been translated into Chinese, Korean, Italian, Spanish, English and French. Carlsen Comics has published the manga in Germany since March 2012 in 22 volumes so far.

reception

The series won the 2012 Kodansha Manga Prize in the General Category. The series was also commercially successful, with the 19th volume selling over 120,000 copies in the first three weeks after it was published.

The German magazine Animania writes that the author brings to life "with astonishing factual fidelity a moving historical epoch full of profound political and social upheavals" and offers "a coherent representation of the rituals, customs and living conditions of that time". The realistic images remained "despite the bloody and explicit fight scenes without the lurid voyeurism of a berserk ". Despite the historically accurate representation, which often refers to archaeologically guaranteed clothing and buildings, “the characters in their motives for action would still be tangible for today's reader”.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 36th Annual Kodansha Manga Awards Announced. In: Anime News Network. May 10, 2012, accessed May 10, 2012 .
  2. ↑ Japanese Comic Ranking, May 1-7. Anime News Network, May 10, 2017, accessed July 7, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Animania 04–05 / 2012, p. 54.