Vinland Saga is a great Viking anime to watch

This weekend saw the wide launch of Northernernew film directed by Robert Eggers (Witch, Lighthouse) starring Alexander Skarsgård and Anya Taylor-Joy. Set between AD 895 and circa 914, Eggers’ revenge historical drama tells the story of Amleth, the son of deposed king Aurvandill War-Raven (Ethan Hawke), who is Fjölnir’s brother (Claes Bang) betrays. Seeking retribution, Amleth runs away from home and trains with the goal of one day returning to avenge her father and save her mother (Nicole Kidman) by killing her uncle.

Told through episodes of visceral violence, haunting dream sequences and the vast picturesque landscapes of Iceland and Northern Ireland, Northerner To be “Conan the Barbarian by Andrei Rublev,“According to Eggers; it’s a medieval Viking epic of brutality and haunting punctuated by unflinching attention to historical detail. If the latest season of Eggers whetted your appetite for more stories about its ilk, look no further than the 2019 anime Vinland Saga (available on Prime Video), produced by Wit Studio of Attack the giant famous, for entertainment and other creation of the epic revenge of the Vikings.

Image: Wit Studio

Set primarily in England around AD 1013, the epic historical adventure follows the story of Thorfinn, the son of a Viking veteran named Thors, who is murdered by a group of mercenaries on command. of Floki, a former comrade of the Thors and the Jomsvikings’ action commander. Similarities Between Vinland Saga and Eggers’ Northerner already clear from this brief summary. The protagonists of both stories are sons of great warriors who yearn in their own way to follow in their father’s footsteps, only to witness them being betrayed by someone once close to them. with them. As a result, both Northerner‘S Amleth and Vinland SagaThorfinn’s sacrificed their lives to avenge their father’s death, honing their bodies into weapons of war for the sole purpose of reclaiming the lives of those who had shattered their bodies. surname.

It also mentions that both Thorfinn and Amleth are partly based on real historical figures. Vinland SagaThe film’s protagonist is a fictionalized version of Icelandic explorer Thorfinn Karlsefni, who sailed with Leif Erikson and attempted to establish a settlement in North America. Northerner‘S Amleth is based on the medieval Scandinavian hero who would go on to inspire William Shakespeare Hamlet. At this point, however, the similarities between these two characters end, differing not only in the specifics of their quests, but also in decisions about their respective goals.

Image: Wit Studio

While both Northerner and Vinland Saga are works of historical fiction, only the latter dealing with major historical events that occurred along with the hero’s quest for revenge. Aside from mentioning King Harald Fairhair, the Norwegian king responsible for Fjölnir’s self-exile to Iceland, Eggers’ film is a fairly straightforward revenge story that avoids any obvious nods. to historical events outside of Amleth’s personal journey to kill Fjölnir. In contrast, Thorfinn’s revenge story in Vinland Saga parallels the larger stretch story of King Sweyn Forkbeard’s conquest of England and the subsequent rise and reign of his son, King Canute the Great.

In the fourth volume of Vinland SagaThorfinn witnesses the murder of his father Thors by a group of mercenaries led by Askeladd, an evil and cunning salesman hired by Jomsviking’s commander Floki to assassinate him. Unaware of Floki’s plot, young Thorfinn made Askeladd the sole object of his anger, closely following Askeladd’s army at just the right moment to strike. Just as he was about to strike death, killing Askeladd in his sleep, Thorfinn hesitated, wanting to challenge him to a duel instead. After being beaten and humiliated at the hands of his father’s killer, Askeladd tells Thorfinn that if he joins Askeladd’s army and proves himself worthy on the battlefield, he will reward him with another chance. to avenge Thors in a duel.

Image: Wit Studio

The relationship between Askeladd and Thorfinn is one of the most intriguing aspects of Vinland Saga, turns what should have been an ordinary “revenge story” into a moving tale of growing up and finding meaning in the midst of war. For Thorfinn, Askeladd is simultaneously his most hated enemy and (reluctantly) the closest thing he has to the living father figure, while Askeladd looks at Thorfinn in a similar way to The Monarch. Joint Venture Bros. look at Henchmen 21 and 24: as someone who represents a rare blend of destructiveness and invulnerability, Thorfinn is the perfect tool to fulfill a leader’s goals on the battlefield. school.

Time and again throughout the series, Thorfinn has achieved feats some others thought impossible, delivering victory and defeating enemies at the behest of Askeladd in exchange for a duel. Despite growing stronger and more formidable between each match, Thorfinn never seemed able to defeat Askeladd. In the eighth episode, Askeladd muses that “everyone is a slave to something” as he watches his uncle Gorm defeat a servant he just bought. Both Thorfinn and NorthernerAmleth is a slave for revenge; They are bound by the hot promise that their loss, grief, and most importantly, honor will be vindicated through the bloodshed of their enemies in glorious battle. For Amleth, the answer to the question of what awaits him beyond the death of his uncle is life with his lover, Olga (Anya Taylor-Joy), where his story is kept in the annals of the annals. of legend, and perhaps even a place among the holy warriors of Valhalla. But for Thorfinn, there is no other concern – and nothing to live for – other than taking Askeladd’s life and avenging his father’s death.

What makes Vinland Saga Such an exceptional anime is not only in the way the series reconfigures elements of what one would normally expect from an epic of “revenge” to surprising effect, but in a way that ultimately it turns into a story that probes into what makes life more worth living . It is the story of Thorfinn’s emotional journey to understand what his late father tried and failed to teach him when he was young – that “nobody has any enemies” and a “real warriors” need no weapons. Despite its significant differences in style and quality, Vinland Saga Complementary to Eggers’ Northerner vice versa, and it’s the perfect series for anyone looking for a different kind of revenge epic to watch.