#gudrid the well-travelled

[247reader]

Day 25: Gudrid vìðförla Thorbjarnardóttir!

Guðríðr Þorbjarnardóttir was born in the late 10th century, to a prominent Icelandic family. Her father, Thorbjorn, was chieftain of Laugarbrekka, and he took pride in his social status; when Gudrid fell in love with an unsuitably lowborn man, he opted to remove her from the temptation entirely, and brought her along when he voyages to Greenland with Erik the Red.

One saga reports that Gudrid made a (presumably more acceptable to her father) marriage at this time, to Thorir, a Norwegian trader, but she was quickly left a widow. It’s unclear what religion Thorbjorn practiced, but Gudrid was by this time a Christian; many Norse of the period, however, picked and chose which bits of new and traditional religion they liked. Gudrid’s second marriage was a politically advantageous one: to Erik the Red’s son, Thorsteinn, brother to the famous Leif Erikson - and a man determined to continue his brother’s efforts in Vinland.

It’s unclear whether Gudrid accompanied him on the ensuing voyage, but two things are clear: Thorsteinn died of illness en route, and while Gudrid, back in Greenland, married another prominent man, the idea of Vínland never left her. She soon convinced her new husband, Thorfinn, to finance an expedition with an eye to claiming the uncharted territory.

But North America, of course, was not uninhabited land. And while the settlement flourished for a brief period, long enough for Gudrid to give birth to a son, within a few years of Snorri’s birth conflicts with the indigenous inhabitants the Norsemen called “Skraelings” were constant. Gudrid, her husband, and their son returned to Iceland, the land of her birth - but Gudrid’s last great journey was still to come. After her husband’s death, she made a pilgrimage to Rome - truly earning her epithet: Vìðförla, the Well-travelled.

[cappucosmic]

Started reading Vinland Saga after enjoying your art and Gudrid is one of my favorite characters. Honestly, I don't get all the hype for Mikasa being one of the best female anime characters when Gudrid is much better-written than one-dimensional Mikasa.

People are calling Mikasa well-written...?

Shonen fans have such a skewed idea of what a well-written character is. I appreciate you enjoying my art and I do like Gudrid, but honestly I don't like how she's written and do not think it is well written. I think it's a woman that's written from the perspective of a man who does not think deeply about womens' place in history. The actual person she is based on was far-travelled and reached Vinland before she even married Thorfinn. And you can tell Yukimura hasn't bothered to research womens' history in his work. The women in the series are largely disposable in the sense of chores. Which makes no sense. It bothers me. Pre-industrial revolution, women did not just sit and make babies; you could take care of children while you worked. They did farming and ranching and they were especially important for arguably the most crucial part of society; cloth.

There was a whole holiday, Distaff Day, specifically for women to take a break from spinning thread, because women did it year-round. Every piece of fabric, every article of clothing, the sail they use, all thread, that was made by women historically. That was 'womens' work.' That's only barely touched on in one scene with Ylva weaving thread to keep herself from mourning. Otherwise every ounce of true work beyond cooking and laundry is seen solely as something men do in Vinland Saga, and any straying from that is just... Rather than it being seen as a man allowing a woman who is property of that man to do things, it is seen as the woman being 'better' than the other women. That she's just different and wants to do 'man' things more. When again, these aren't even man things we're talking about, like how I said the real Gudrid the Far-Travelled reached Vinland before she married Thorfinn.

Like think about how she is treated by Leif. Leif says it "just is" that she needs to act like "a woman" even though he feels bad. He feels bad. But the thing is... No one's telling him he -can't-. He was at that time the head of the house. According to law, with her husband dead and her under his house, she would be Leif's property(because that's how it worked back then, it was not just a magical patriarchal force; women were literally property). If he felt bad he could have let her do whatever she wanted. And yet it's written instead as if he has no power over this all-encompassing concept of "what women must be" no matter how he feels about it.

I'm rambling here, but you touched on something I've ranted about to other people and I couldn't just not take the opportunity.

Now. Hot take I'd get burnt at the stake for is that I think Casca is the first character that comes to mind when I think of the best-written female manga characters.

[clancarruthers]

GUDRID - THE VIKING WOMAN WHO SAILED TO AMERICA AND WALKED TO ROME - CLAN CARRUTHERS CCIS

GUDRID THE FAR TRAVELER  THE VIKING WOMAN WHO SAILED TO AMERICA AND WALKED TO ROME  Move over Erik the Red and Leif Erikson, and make room for Gudrid the Far-Traveled. She was the first European woman to give birth in America, as well as the first nun in Iceland. She roamed Vinland (in modern Canada) and visited Rome. No medieval woman traveled further than her.   he’s been called “the greatest…

[earthboundvalkyrie]

Vikings Valhalla Season 2 Episode 3 Review

New Post has been published on https://www.ebvs.blog/2023/02/05/vikings-valhalla-season-2-episode-3-review/

Vikings Valhalla Season 2 Episode 3 Review

This was an enjoyable episode, but aside from Leif and Harald starting their trip to Constantinople, it didn’t feel like very much happened. I didn’t even realize that nothing had happened in Kattegat until I was re-reading the recap I wrote the other day.

Novgorod was the main focus of any real movement in the episode. Leif saw his first book and an astrolabe, learned that Mariam is ill and wants to go to the doctors in Constantinople, and arranged not only for her to travel, but for her to tutor him in reading and mathmatics on the way. I like how they’re showing him gaining the skills to eventually be able to travel to North America.

Harald is, of course, being Harald. He’s a very brash man, filled with more confidence than sense at times. When Gestr, the slaver, asks if he can provide fighters, Harald boasts he has “the best” – when all he has at the time is Leif. As Yaroslav observes, its quite a motley assortment he ends up putting together – “A prince, a slaver, a blind Pecheneg, a woman scholar, two con men and a noble, on a boat on a sled. What could go wrong?” I suspect we’ll be finding out shortly.

London is still feeling a bit like an afterthought, though learning that Aelfwynn’s brother was the assassian is interesting. I hope something significant happens in this story soon, as I find myself feeling a bit of dread when the setting moves there.

Freydis is settling into her life in Jomsborg, but all isn’t necessarily going well. Gudrid was clearly upset when Freydis invited her to step into the temple, and Jorundr did not approve of her encouragement of Hrafna to participate in the training. Later, when Hrafna went missing, his lack of concern for the girl was unsettling.

Not every episode can be action-packed or full of significant events, so even though this one felt a bit slow, it’s not a drag on the series as a whole.

[rukia-writes]

Can I ask for a NSFW scenario where since Hild and her fem s/o have been traveling with Thorfinn they haven't got any time and privacy to have some fun so Hild finds an opportunity and takes her fem s/o away for a rather long time?? 😏😏

Thorfinn has karli in his arms as he looked around town for Hild and (Name) but to no avail.

“What’s wrong Thorfinn?”

“I was wondering where Hild and (Name) went. Do you know where they are Gudrid?”

Gudrid shook her head as she hadn’t seen the two in quite some time. Thorfinn figured Hild would show up eventually and continue shopping thru time.

Hild and (Name) were actually in the ladies bath house taking a bath.

They were taking a bath.

It had been some time since the two hadn’t had any alone time in quite some time.

Hild decided since they were alone it was time to make up for lost time.

With her lover’s leg spread wide hild watched as the tool she had made was spinning inside her woman’s pussy.

“How does that feel baby?”

“Great-“

A moan escaped (Name) as Hild was moving the tool from side to side then Hild would pull out then put it back in.

Hild knee someone could come in at any time but this was too good of a moment to pass up.

“I’m glad you like it. It’s still in the prototype phase but it seems that’s it doing well.”

Hild began to kiss (Name)’s breasts as she left the tool to its own accord.

Then Hild lightly licks (Name)’s nipples and when she did Hild felt a slight a pull on her blonde hair, a signal Hild knew to be that her sweet lover liked that.

It wasn’t long from the pleasure of the tool and Hild’s tongue that (Name) reached her orgasm.

Hild watched as she did, it was something Hild enjoyed seeing.

“Where were you two?”

Einar asked as Hild and (Name) finally made it out the bath house.

“Taking care of some business.”

“Yeah, just taking care of few things.” 

Einar nodded his head as the two females made their way on the boat. 

Hild leaned over from behind her lover and whispered in (Name)’s ear,

“This isn’t over I hope you know.” 

[ladyniniane]

“Gudrid was as well-travelled as her nickname suggests, visiting Norway, Greenland and, later in life, making a pilgrimage to Rome. What makes her truly exceptional, though, is that she sailed to North America in a longship, beating Christopher Columbus to the New World by almost 500 years. According to the accounts recorded in the Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders, Gudrid lived in America (known to the Vikings as “Vinland”) for three years. Her son Snorri was the first European to be born there.”

[creative-type]

The Murder of Arthur Wright XIX

First Previous AO3

Chapter Nineteen: The End, and Several New Beginnings

Time passed. Margot returned to work, spending her days with lesson plans and contemplation. While the Academy didn’t practice anything as barbaric as separating the pupils by gender, she wondered if any of her students had suffered from the same pressures as the Wright children, whether forced to study magic against their will like Felix or held back from their true potential like Abigail. Margot had always had an open door policy with her students, but after witnessing the self-destruction of the Wright family she vowed to take a more proactive approach. Maybe, just maybe, she could make a difference.

On her next weekend off, Margot stopped by the Red Griffin Inn. She arrived early in the day, and situated herself away from the few customers who were waiting for their breakfast. Anansi was nowhere to be found, their trademark magic absent as Gudrid busied herself with the morning chores.

Margot had been sitting perhaps fifteen minutes when Gudrid approached her. She asked in her thick accent, “You be needing something?”

“Only to tell you that we found Desdemona, along with her sister,” Margot said in a low voice that only Gudrid could hear. “The case is closed.”

The orc wiped her hands on her apron and slid into the chair opposite Margot. Though age had robbed her of some of her strength, Margot could clearly see the muscles in her forearms as she lit her long pipe.

“All this time we were trying to get information from Anansi, when we should have been asking you instead,” Margot said wryly.

“The best storyteller knows ven to stay silent. Vas not my place to speak.”

“So it’s true, then,” Margot said. “Mr. Westmacott had you help those girls.”

“Vestmacott ask if I vould consider helping. No one tell me vat to do,” Gudrid said. “I see, and I decide vat best.”

“And what did you see?” Margot asked.

“I see two girls whose story just begun. Vether vould be tragedy or not, do not know. Very alone. Very scared. But courage to valk own path.” Gudrid blew out a slow stream of smoke that took on the shape of two small elves and an orc that had to be Gudrid herself. One of the girls gestured emphatically to the other as if begging for help, while the orc gathered them both up in her arms. Gudrid sighed, and the image dissipated into nothingness.

“I no see Abigail after dat night. Is best to hide. But Dess stay vit me for many months. She very angry for long time. Sad, too, and feeling guilt. I tell her anger is two-edged sword, much goot can be done ven veilding, but also much harm. The fire that temper svord burns the vood.”

“My mother said something similar,” Margot said. “The same water that softens the potato hardens the egg.”

“Is goot saying.” Gudrid took another long drag and regarded Margot, her black eyes cautious. “People are remembered by actions. Some try to hide behind mask, but alvays falls avay in end. I make sure Dess know only she can be in charge of own actions, and own story.”

“Reputation is a man’s greatest mask,” Margot quoted, wondering if Anansi had heard of the saying from his former teacher.

“Is true, but is also not true,” Gudrid said. “Truth vants to be told, and it finds a vay to come out.” She rose to her feet as the bell above her doorway rang, Dash sauntering inside as he looked for Margot. Gudrid stepped away from the table and said so quietly Margot wasn’t sure she was meant to hear, “One vay or another.”

Dash and Gudrid shared a respectful nod as they passed, and Dash took the place she had vacated. There was something about him that seemed different, for all that he still wore his silly coat and chewed on his ever-present strip of jerky. It took Margot a moment to realize the change wasn’t in appearance, but in bearing. Dash always gave the impression as a mellow and easygoing, but now he seemed truly relaxed. He tipped his hat at Margot, a grin spreading across his face.

“You ready, Prof?”

“Are you?” Margot countered.

“Hey, for your information  I just closed a pretty big case,” Dash teased. “Paid off my rent and everything. The client was a real bear, though.”

“Was she now?” Margot said, eyebrows raising.

“Yeah, real slave driver. Wouldn’t give me a moment’s rest, told me my magic was rubbish to boot. Can you imagine the indignity?”

“Well it’s true,” Margot said. “You said Westmacott was a mage himself. Didn’t he teach you anything?”

Dash shrugged. “Maybe he was going to someday, but he wanted me to learn detective stuff first. Too many people rely on magic as a crutch and don’t know how to, you know, investigate. I got some books, though. Learned some pretty good tricks.”

“You’re going to need to know more than a few tricks. Come on, you big lug. Time for your first lesson.”

Together they left the inn. “Hey, Prof, do you mind if we make a quick pit stop?” Dash asked.

“How long of a pit stop?” Margot asked.

“Not long, promise. I there’s something I want you to see.”

He refused to say any more no matter how much Margot pestered him, and was silent as he led her down the bustling street. Margot knew a lost cause when she saw one, and they fell into a comfortable silence that was only interrupted when a newsboy grabbed Margot by the arm.

“Hey lady, you seen the paper?”

Margot opened her mouth to politely decline, but promptly shut it again when she saw the boy’s cheeky grin, dark eyes glittering with amusement. “Good to see you again, Professor.”

“Anansi?” Margot asked.

“Hush. Someone might hear.”

“I thought you had left already for your next show,” Margot said.

“It was worth staying to ask Desdemona one last time to come along,” Anansi said.

“I don’t think she much likes the idea of being pushed into anything,” Margot said, eyes narrowing.

“It’s not like that. I’ve traveled enough to know when someone’s been struck with a wanderlust. I want her away from this pit as much as she wants to leave, but something has been holding her back all this time.” Anansi grinned, the expression looking somehow wrong on the face of such a small child. “But this time she didn’t say no. There’s some business for her to attend to before she can travel, and so I must be patient. Perhaps I’ll have better luck next time. Oh, and do look at page three, darling. I think you'll find it interesting.”

And with that Anansi melted back into the crowd. Margot and Dash shared an astonished look and hurried to the nearest bench. There was nothing of particular interest on the first page of the paper, nor the second, but on the third stood a stark black headline that made Margot gasp.

Master Arthur Wright, Framed or Fraud?

“Felix leaked his father’s letters to the press,” Margot said, skimming the article as fast as she could. “Or at least some of them? I don’t see anything here about Abigail.”

“No, but there is the correspondence between him and that dean from the University. What’d you say his name was, the guy with the drath?”

“Master Hughes,” Margot supplied. “You know, I didn’t think Felix had it in him to oust his father.”

“Really?” Dash said.

Margot tore her eyes from the paper to look at him. “You did?”

“Well, there's no love lost between the two of them, and besides, do you remember what Felix said before he fired me? He said he hadn’t gotten drunk since before his sons were born. I think that’s the sign of a man who’s trying to change.” He scratched the back of his head. “Not that I don’t think he’s not a giant blowhard, but I’m not surprised that he’s trying. I think his wife is good for him.”

“Hopefully it works out better for him than it did his parents.”

Margot folded the paper for later inspection, and the two resumed their walk. It didn’t take her long to realize where Dash was taking her, and in a few short minutes they were at the park where she had learned of his past with the Casettis.

“I quit my job,” Dash said suddenly. “I’ve decided to go out on my own.”

“What?!” Margot exclaimed. “Since when?”

“Since I’ve had some time to think. I’ve been clinging so hard to Mr. Westmacott’s name, even though Harris has done everything to drag it through the mud. I can’t do what I need to do there. It’s time for me to start out on my own.” Dash took a deep breath, suddenly nervous. “It helps that I’ve already got my first client as an independent. His purse strings run pretty deep, too.”

Margot followed his line of sight, and did a double take when she saw Felix Wright sitting at a bench with his wife while Desdemona played with her two nephews. Even from a distance Margot could hear James and John’s screams of delight, as well as Desdemona’s clear laughter.

“Trying to be a better person my @$$,” Margot said. “You let Felix hire you? After what happened last time?”

“The money’s good,” Dash said with a shrug. “And it’s worth finding out if Master Wright really did steal research from his students, and if the University let it happen just because he was brilliant. If one Professor got away with it, there’s likely more. That’s not right.”

“Wright has done a lot of things that aren’t right.”

“Heh.” Dash’s grin returned, bigger than ever. “Do you have any idea how hard it was not to make a pun during the big summation? Together many Wrights make a wrong. I think it would have ruined the moment.”

Margot scoffed. “It would have done more than that. There would have been a line of people wanting to smack you, starting with me.”

“I’m glad I resisted then. Oh look, there’s Abigail. Why don’t you go over and say hi?”

Margot regarded him suspiciously, but went over to the tree where Abigail Wright sat alone, within watching distance of her family but not participating with them. A notebook was open on her lap, but it looked to have gotten little use as she watched her sister chase her two young nephews.

“May I join you?” Margot said softly.

“Hello, Professor. I don’t mind, so long as you don’t care about the dirt.”

Abigail’s eyes never left James and John, an expression of yearning on her face that she made no attempt to hide as Margot settled in beside her. The ground was cool and dry, with only a few beams of sunlight filtering through the canopy, leaving a dappled pattern that shifted as the breeze swayed gently through the leaves.

“I think Desdemona likes the idea of being an aunt,” Abigail said ruefully. “It suits her.”

“It suits you both,” Margot said.

“James and John were babies the last time I saw them. I used to be so afraid they would cry when I held them, but they never did. I feel like I’ve missed so much.”

“But you’re on speaking terms with your family?” Margot asked.

“Only Felix and Isabella. We…talked. Or at least Felix and Dessy talked while Isabella and I moderated. We’ve come to an agreement: It stops with us. Felix’s children, and any potential children Dessy and I might have, shouldn’t have to suffer like we did.”

“And what does your mother think about that?” Margot asked.

“Mother isn’t speaking to Dessy and I. I don’t know if she ever will.” Abigail looked down at her hands. “But Felix has inherited the estate, and if Mother wants to stay there she has to play by his rules. I don’t know how that’s going to work.”

“It looks like you’re off to a good start,” Margot observed.

“It helps that Felix offered to have one of his business contacts make me false papers,” Abigail said. “That, and agreeing to look into Father’s letters bought quite a bit of goodwill with Dessy.”

“I saw the paper,” Margot said. “That’s quite the scandal Felix’s has invited.”

“It depends on how you look at it. Yes, it reflects poorly on Father and the family name, but I think Felix is going to try to play the long game by building his own reputation as the one who exposed it.”

Margot hummed thoughtfully. “I noticed there was nothing about Master Wright’s theories."

Abigail began picking at her fingernails. “I asked him not to, just like I asked him not to falsify an identity for me. Technically it’s seven years before a missing person is declared legally dead. Dessy doesn’t want anything to do with her family name, but…I’m still a Wright. I want to be known as Abigail Wright.” She looked up at Margot worriedly. “Does that make sense, Professor?”

“It does.”

“I’m not ready for the backlash of when the academic community finds out about Father’s theories,” Abigail admitted, the lines in her face deepening at the very thought. “I have to suffer through coming back to life again, and that’s enough. But maybe…maybe someday.”

She fell silent, and Margot leaned back against the tree. There was something about Abigail that still bothered her, something that Margot felt like she had to say. Maybe Dash knew that, and that’s why he sent her over to speak with her.

“I know we’re basically strangers, and I hope you forgive me if I overstep a boundary, but are you planning to keep translating Elvish romance novels now that you’re a legal person again?”

“For now,” Abigail said. “I truly do enjoy writing, Professor, and it’s something that I came into on my own. There isn’t much about my life where I can say that honestly.”

“That’s fair,” Margot said, “but speaking as a mage, your magic is your own, too. It doesn’t belong to anyone else, least of all your father.”

“That’s what my healer said at the asylum,” Abigail said. “The hurt is still there, Professor. It’s too soon after Father’s death to think…” She cut herself off abruptly, and drawing a shaky breath, she said, “I used to think about what I would do if my magic came back. Did you know, when I was small I asked Father why it was that bread didn’t unbake when put into an icebox even though it baked when put in the oven. He never could come up with a satisfactory answer. Have you ever heard of such a thing, Professor, as unbaking bread?”

“I haven’t,” Margot admitted.

“It’s the most silly, frivolous thing. I knew my father would be irritated if he ever knew, but I’ve never stopped wondering if it could be done. I have lots of questions like that running around in my head without any answers. It's maddening, sometimes, living in my own head.”

“All discovery starts with a question, and the courage to try to answer it,” Margot said.

Abigail nodded solemnly. “And even if my magic doesn’t return, you don’t need to be able to cast for theory work." She paused, the line between her eyebrows deepening even farther. "The only thing I’m certain of is that if I did pursue magic again—and that is a considerable if—it wouldn’t be Teleportation. Let someone else take up my father’s torch. I don’t want anything to do with it.”

A rare smile tugged at the corner of Abigail’s lips, and she risked a glance at Margot. “All that being said…if you were looking for someone to proofread your next paper, I would be willing to consider it.”

Margot laughed softly. “I’ll be sure to take you up on that.”

It was simplest, in the end, for Dash to have his first lesson in magic at the park. It was a nice day, and before Margot could even consider teaching him any spells there were the basics of theory and control that had to be learned. It went better than Margot could have expected, with Dash proving to be a surprisingly quick study. Midway through their lesson they took a break, and Margot saw Felix and Isabella gather their children to leave the park.

Even from a distance the goodbye between Desdemona and Felix was an awkward thing to behold. For all the progress that had been made, it would be a long time before the Wright family was healthy and whole once more.

“I think they’re gonna be okay,” Dash said as Isabella took the hand of one of her boys and Felix the other. They made it maybe ten steps before James (or was it John?) twisted around to wave one last time at Abigail and Desdemona.

“It’s a start,” Margot agreed. “And in the end, I guess that’s all you can ask for.”

[recentanimenews]

Vinland Saga, Vol. 8

Creator: Makoto Yukimura Translator: Stephen Paul U.S. publisher: Kodansha ISBN: 9781682335406 Released: December 2016 Original release: 2014-2015 Awards: Japan Media Arts Award, Kodansha Manga Award

For a time it seemed as though the fate of the English-language edition of Makoto Yukimura’s epic award-winning manga series Vinland Saga was in question. Happily though, Kodansha Comics has been able to continue releasing the series. While the seventh omnibus reached a satisfying conclusion to one of the series’ major story arcs, it was still obvious that Yukimura had more to tell. I honestly believe that Vinland Saga is one of the strongest manga currently being released in English. It is also a personal favorite of mine, so I was thrilled when the eighth hardcover omnibus was finally released in 2016, collecting the fifteenth and sixteenth volumes of the original Japanese edition published between 2014 and 2015. Unlike the past few omnibuses of Vinland Saga, there is no additional content directly relating to the series (I was sad not to see the continuation of the “Ask Yukimura” section), but it does include an extensive preview of Kazuhiro Fujita’s The Ghost and the Lady, another historically-inspired manga available from Kodansha.

Finally free from his life of slavery but still bound by the violence of his past, Thorfinn travels back to Iceland in order to briefly reunite with his family before setting into motion his plans for the future. Accompanied by Einar, Leif, and “Bug-Eyes,” Thorfinn intends to colonize Vinland in an attempt to create a peaceful settlement far removed from the wars and violence seemingly inherent to the Norse way of life. But before that they must first secure the resources and supplies needed for the venture and support from others will be hard to come by–Thorfinn has very little to offer a potential investor except for ideals and his own life. Initially it seemed that they could secure the aid of Halfdan, a wealthy landowner who was already planning to become a relative of Leif’s by marrying his son to the widow of Lief’s brother, but then the wedding doesn’t go quite as planned. Thorfinn and the others may very well have gained themselves a few new enemies when they flee Iceland with Gudrid, the runaway bride.

From the beginning, many of the women in Vinland Saga have been strong, memorable characters (Thorfinn’s sister and mother in particular are marvelous), but for the most part the focus of the series has been on the stories of the men. However, with the eighth omnibus there is a notable change in the manga with he introduction of Gudrid who becomes one of the main characters of Vinland Saga. In fact, a great deal of the plot currently directly revolves around her. I absolutely adore Gudrid. Like Thorfinn, she is struggling against the constraints of what is considered acceptable by the culture and traditions of their society. She has absolutely no interest in marriage or in behaving like a “proper” woman; her heart has always been set on exploring the world around her and expanding her horizons. Gudrid repeatedly proves that her worth is equal to or even greater than that of a man. Eventually, her persistence and brashness pays off although the circumstances surrounding her becoming a sailor are admittedly less than ideal.

Gudrid isn’t the only great female character to be introduced in the eighth Vinland Saga omnibus. Among others, there is also Astrid, Halfdan’s wife, and Hild, a young woman who proves once more that Thorfinn can never truly escape his past misdeeds. While many of the previous omnibuses have been battle-oriented, the eight omnibus tends to pay more attention to the characters themselves and their relationships. However, there are still a few excellent action sequences and Yukimura’s artwork continues to be dynamic and dramatic even when physical violence is not as prominent. For example, Halfdan exudes an aura of intensity and power–the way he is drawn and visually framed is frequently reminiscent of the way King Canute was portrayed, emphasizing his status and influence. This, of course, makes it even more satisfying when Astrid calmly, quietly, and fearlessly puts her husband in his place. (I really hope to see more of Astrid in the future.) Vinland Saga remains an incredibly well-done manga. With a growing cast of fantastic, complex characters, an engrossing story exploring themes of freedom and violence, and excellent artwork, I can’t wait to read more.

By: Ash Brown