Vinland Saga is set in England starting in 1013 AD, the year in which the Danish King Sweyn Forkbeard conquered most of it. As King Sweyn nears death, his sons, Prince Harald and Prince Canute, are arguing over his succession. The story draws elements from historical accounts of the period such as The Flateyjarbók, The Saga of the Greenlanders and The Saga of Eric the Red.
The story opens with the introduction of a small Viking band led by a cunning commander named Askeladd and containing a gifted young fighter named Thorfinn. The band chances on a besieged Frankish fortress and makes a deal with the attacking army to work with them in exchange for half the fort's plunder. Askeladd then hoodwinks them, escaping with his men by boat with all the riches of the fortress while the army is still battering down the gates. Despite being a valuable member of the company, Thorfinn bears a deep grudge against Askeladd as Askeladd killed Thorfinn's father when Thorfinn was a young boy. The youth incessantly demands duels with his commander in an effort to get revenge, but invariably loses.
Askeladd's company finds employment as mercenaries in the Danish invasion of London. There they face off with a larger force led by Thorkell the Tall, a fellow Viking. Thorfinn and Thorkell meet in battle, and Askeladd's band flees from what they see as an unwinnable fight. The two forces meet again later, however, when both commanders seek to capture the young Danish Prince Canute. Askeladd succeeds in capturing the prince, but is forced once again to flee from Thorkell's larger army. The company takes refuge for the winter in the frozen north of England near the Danish encampment at Gainsborough.
Canute, who is found to be girlish in appearance, is incapable of speaking in public and heavily dependent on his caretaker Ragnar. This deeply disappoints Askeladd, who changes his initial plan of backing the prince as future king to a less ambitious plan of ransoming him back to his father, King Sweyn. A sudden attack by Thorkell's brigade forces Askeladd to change his mind, and he murders Ragnar in a last-ditch effort to force the Prince to become independent.
The plan is a success, and Canute's previous timidity is replaced with a strong kingly spirit. The prince brings both Thorkell and the remnants of Askeladd's forces under his command, and returns to the Danish headquarters. He there confronts his father, who had resolved to murder Canute and give the right of succession to his brother Prince Harald. Canute successfully matches his father in a battle of wills and his life is spared, but Harald remains the king's heir. Together, Canute, Thorkell, and Askeladd devise a plot to assassinate the king and seize the crown.
Canute and his companions gain audience with the king. When King Sweyn refuses to refrain from attacking Wales, Askeladd goes on a rampage, killing the king and many in attendance. Askeladd is only stopped when he allows Canute to kill him, thus securing Canute's position as king and the safety of his homeland, Wales. Thorfinn, upon seeing Askeladd dying, tries to kill now-King Canute out of anguish. When Thorfinn is stopped, Canute decides to spare his life, but to make him a slave.
Some time later, Thorfinn, with nothing of his past spirit, becomes a slave to Ketil, a rich, kind farmer who treats slaves well. He later befriends another slave named Einar who teaches him how to farm. Due to kindness of Einar, Ketil's father and Snake, the head guard of the farms, Thorfinn gains an epiphany and no longer desires revenge and no longer hates Askeladd. However, when he and Einar's wheat crops are destroyed by jealous servants, they both get into a fight with them where Thorfinn is knocked out and dreams about his father, Thors. In his dreams, Thors reveals to Thorfinn that he never wanted him to become a Viking warrior and shows his son a nightmarish version of Valhalla, where dead Vikings fight a never ending battle. He also meets Askeladd who tells him it's not too late to redeem himself so he will not end up here just him and the others and tells Thorfinn to become a real warrior just like his father. Thorfinn dream makes him regret the sins he has done and vows to never hurt anyone again.
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Vinland Saga (Vikings)
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