Hello and welcome. In this video is going to be about the history behind the anime and manga series, Vinland saga. So as someone who loves Vikings and the Middle Ages, I was really excited when I found out there was a Viking manga series a few years ago. I picked up the first few books and fell in love Mikoto you chimera was definitely doing something right. I knew then that someday this would be a huge hit. And now the first season of the anime is highly rated and enjoyed on its own but I think with the general historical context the series can be appreciated even more. Yukimura clearly did a great deal of research and the first season of the series is far more historically accurate than most other historical fiction. This series is so good that some episodes and arcs seem to me a form of poetry written about actual issues, Philosophies, and cultural elements of the Viking era. There is something profound about this anime if you're a fan of history, of course It's still anime, but there is some striking sense of realism, and of course, it has its exceptions but I don't really find much to be out of place in this series. I will not actually have time to get into all my theories or all the historical details in the series but I will only have time to get into the things which seem most important for the viewer to understand So this video is simply an introduction to the main historical figures which appear in the series. Also, I think it's important to point out that this video is pretty much spoiler-free. I will try to avoid potential spoilers, but I will be talking about the history which inspired Vinland saga It will be up to you, for the most part, to point out what is actually part of Vinland saga and what Vinland saga leaves out or changes. I will make it fairly easy for anyone who has seen the show or read the manga to make these comparisons If you have not seen the series yet this video will also be helpful because again, I truly believe the events of the series are even more impactful if the Historical basis is understood. If you are still worried that knowing some of the history will ruin the experience of the series for you Please put this video in your watch later list in return when you're ready The first thing I should point out is that there is actually no historical text with the tie of Vinland saga There are many sagas mentioning Vinland or to be more broad north. America But there is nothing called the Vinland saga. The big to saga is about substantial norse exploration in north america are often grouped together and called the Vinland sagas and these would include The saga of the Greenlanders and erik the red saw a the sagas are where a lot of characters come from among other things the saga of the Greenlanders tells of life erickson in his voyage to America in Greenland Lafe heard rumors of a land west of them from a Norse explorer code yarny here You'll fun yarny claims to have seen this land But he has not actually steps foot on the continent Lafe Wanting to colonize this western land buys a ship from be arne and hires a crew He tried to convince his father the legendary erik the red to come with him But he refused because of an injury in claiming. He was too old so life and his crew arrive around the year of 1,000 and explore and name various spots of the continent and settled there for the winter on their way back to Greenland Laith earned the name Lafe the lucky from rescuing an Icelandic castaway crew life's adventure Here is the one we see him telling the children in Iceland at the very beginning of the series and if you pay attention You can seethe orphan looking especially engaged and next we have Thor Finn and his family so for Finn Although not being as well known as Leif Eriksson was also a historical figure His father's name was Thor des thoughthey snorrison or in English Thord, Horsehead snorrison This is the inspiration for Thors Snorrison. In real-life Thorfinn's mother's name is Thorin So that is different from Thorfinn's mother's name in Vinland Saga Which is Helga It may be important to point out that Thor traces his ancestry back to Bjorn Ironside and then therefore Ragnar lothbrok Thor Fionn was raised by Thord and Thorin around the sky ifyour thir Bay in northern Iceland So as you see here, we really don't have any information on Thor Finn as a child we know the location of his birth and his mother and father but his Adventures which we see in the first season of Vinland saga are completely fictional although the writer was clever enough to include his adventures in this sort of gap period where we don't know much about Thorfinn and in this gap period Thor Fionn is of course participating in fictional events But as well as in historical events, that would have been happening during his youth It's interesting how in the series they included Leif Erickson in Thor Finn and his family's little community in Iceland because after his first voyage, we don't actually know where he was But we know at one point that Leif did get to meet and know Thorfinn It was also clever to make Leif a community leader and Storyteller in Thorfinn's home settlement it connects these two characters in a way Which makes sense later on in the narrative. When Thorfinn was an adult, He traveled to Greenland It was here that he met and married Gudrid Thorbjorn a daughter and she was a widow of Leif Erickson's youngest brother by the name of Thorstein Eriksen It is also here where ThorFinn could have first met Leif and this is probably the more historically accurate answer Gudrid was supposedly being taken care of by Leif who was her brother-in-law and Leif had been staying in this land in Greenlande Which was granted to him by his father Erik the Red who had died in 1003. Thorfinn and Gudrid had a large group of men and women and they decided to leave for the land lake discovered and together They had a child with the name of Snorri Thorfinnson, the first European born in the new world. A very important character In the series is Askelad. Askelad. unlike the previous characters does not seem to easily match up with a historical figure. His name literally translates to "ash lad" and comes from an archetype in Norwegian (and other European) folklore. The name refers to a type of Character who is usually the youngest of three brothers and is often seemingly lost in thought while playing with ashes. An even better description is a character who sits and is blowing in the ashes and embers of a fireplace. Blowing the embers in the fireplace was typically a job assigned to someone who was unable to do more serious and demanding work some have pointed out that Vinland sagas as Gilad can be compared to a character from the Laxdaela Saga Olaf Hoskuldsson, also known as Olaf the Peacock was an illegitimate child born to an Icelandic chieftain and a Thrall concubine brought from the Rus. She claims she was an Irish princess by the name of Melkorlike . Olaf and his mother had a very special connection She even taught him Gaelic. Olaf's father made the decision to move his concubine and his illegitimate son To another farm. When Olaf was an adult he went on various adventures But one thing he did was he met his grandfather in Ireland and he made good relations with a local king there. The Olaf the peacock story of course is far more complicated and Continued but if you have finished season one of the series you should be able to make connections between the fictional character of Askelad and Olaf the peacock and next we have Thorkil the tall and he, with the exception of the Danish monarchs, Perhaps has the most information we know about any of these main characters Thorkil was a prominent member of the Danish Allied Jomsvikings He was present in the Battle of herjongvoga and the Battle of svolder. In 1009 he was recruited by King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark to invade England thorkil first led his army to the Harbor of Sandwich and carved out large sections of England for the Danish crown as well as becoming very profitable with the imposement of Dane geld payments. After a few years passed, Thorkil, after a series of events felt that he lost control over many of his men. Thorkell, with 45 ships and a number of loyal Danes to accompany him, became mercenaries for Ethelred the unready and in 1013 his army fought against the Danish invaders in service to King Sweyn. Over the course of a few years something very interesting happens. And again, Vinland saga does a really good job with filling the gaps. Somehow Thorkell, the man who betrayed and fought against King Sweyn Forkbeard, was very close to Sweyn's son and therefore the new Danish King in 1016. We know this because King Cannut made Thorkell the Earl of East Anglia Knut the Great seemed to realize that Thorkell was such a valuable man that he tried to keep him on his side And later, King Knut made Thorkell the Earl of all of Denmark and he also gave him the responsibility of raising his son, Harthacnut for some reason Thorkell's role as Earl only lasted around a year and Canute's brother-in-law became the new earl in 1024. There is no more historical mentions of Thorkell the Tall after this event. It will be interesting to see how Vinland Saga handles this great character. Also I thought I should just note that the superhuman abilities shown in many characters, but especially Thorkell not accurate at all to history of course but these action scenes usually tend to stand out because it really doesn't match the hyper realistic portrayal of all the other aspects. These scenes are somewhat true to the Icelandic sagas themselves It was common for the Sagas to describe certain characters with superhuman abilities or to occasionally complete great feats of man and then finally we have the two Royals in the series. First is King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark Sweyn was born around 960 and he was the illegitimate son of the Danish King Harald Bluetooth and the grandson of the first historical King of Denmark Gorem the old And this is a footnote here, but if you wish to have a more detailed understanding of the lives of these three men - that is King Gorm the Old, Harald Bluetooth, and Sweyn Forkbeard - I have a video series about the early kings of Denmark that you can check out Anyway in Vinland saga, we do not get much of an idea of the early life of Sweyn in real life. He is known to have had a rocky relationship with his father. It is true that he did conquer England in 1013 perhaps in response to the Saint Bryce's Day Massacre. Through doing this he made the English King Aethelred the Unready retreat and hide in Normandy, but as far as I know Sweyn was never described as the damaged fatigued diseased man that we see in Vinland Saga. And there is not too much evidence pointing to a hostile relationship between him and Knut Sweyn was both the King of Denmark and England, but unfortunately He was only King of England for a few months before he died. The last character is Knut and both Prince Canute's birthdate and mother is actually unknown. He was born somewhere between the years of 980 and 1000. He was present during his father's conquering of England and he is described as being very young there. He may have learned how to become a soldier form Thorkell the Tall. By the end of his father's life, Prince Knut was put in charge of the Danish fleets in an Army in Gainsborough. And when Sweyn died in 1014, Canute's brother, Harald, was crowned King of Denmark While Knut was supposedly elected King of England by the Danes in England and by the people of the Danelaw themselves This was actually a position that Sweyn had to fight for because after hearing of the death of Sweyn, Aethelred the Unready left Normandy and returned to England to fight for the crown with the help of his brother. King Canute gained a large fleet of ships in attempt to conquer England. Once again, Canute also used Scandinavian allies to fight battles against Aethelred's oldest son, Edmund Ironside. Canute eventually conquered England piece by piece in 1015 and 1016. He was finally crowned King of All England in 1017. Later that year, Knut married the widow of a foreign Queen, Emma of Normandy, and together they would have a child by the name of Harthacanute who would become the next king of England and Denmark. It is important to note here that during King Sweyn's raids in England, he actually married off Knut to Aelfgifu of Northampton and Knut had two sons with her: Sweyn Knutson and Harald Hair-foot. This makes Emma of Normandy his second wife and then Harthacannute his third son. Plenty happened during the reign of Canute the great. He was responsible for creating and keeping together What historians now call the North Sea Empire. Canute ruled Denmark, England Norway, and Scania during his prime. He was one of the most powerful rulers in the world. Knut the Great is still looked at to be one of the best kings of England and Denmark to ever exist. I know I didn't give you a very detailed Biography of each of these characters because honestly this video would be much much longer. There could be full documentaries about each of these men and I hope I did a good job at sort of discretely showing you where the gaps in history are because again, Vinland saga is very clever and they know there's a lot of wiggle room with these characters and so there's a lot to play around with. I'm really excited to see what comes next and Thank you so much for watching
