Vinland Saga vol. 6

At long last!  You all bought your copies too, right?  If you haven’t, then know that this volume continues the title’s ongoing standard of excellence.  Even if there’s a good deal of setup going on for the inevitable conflict.  You see, Canute continues to grow into his role as king, taking even more underhanded measures to bring about his goal of Heaven on Earth.  We even see that his methods are endearing him to his late father, King Sweyn, in death and a particularly inspired touch at that.  This forthcoming conflict that I mentioned stems from Canute’s need for funds to keep his standing army together in England and his plan to appropriate the necessary farmland in order to do it.

Hmmmmm… Who do  we know in this series that has a lot of farmland?  Hey, how about Ketil, the landowner who is also current master to Thorfinn.  The man has even shown up at Canute’s camp to pay tribute to the new king.  There are a lot of happy coincidences here, but this section makes for compelling reading as Canute remains clear-eyed about the reasons for his ruthlessness even as he descends into outright villainy.  We’re also treated to an interesting contrast from Ketil and his two sons, Thorgil and Olmar,  with their reactions to this plot.  Ketil and Thorgil see this as the prelude to the mother of all battles.  While the latter welcomes the challenge, the other is left a quivering mess when we see him last in this volume.

Then there’s Olmar.  Already established as an utter fool, that impression is strengthened in ways both funny and tragic here.  While his efforts to impress King Canute only succeed in making him a laughingstock, the young man’s efforts to avenge his honor later on only serve to set the king’s plan in motion.  There’s a moment, after he kills a man for the first time, when it looks as if Olmar gets the hint that glory in battle isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  We’ve seen for a while that he’s not cut out to be a warrior, but it looks like he might finally be getting the message himself.  Too bad that there’s a lot more fighting coming his way now.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch — er, farmland —  Thorfinn and Einar are on the cusp of earning their freedom as they have finally  managed to clear the land they were given to work on.  As they ponder what to do afterwards, a new character makes his name known after he goes on a rampage at a nearby farm.  A slave like those two, we soon find out that the man has a name, Gardar, and that he’s married to Arnheid, Ketil’s mistress and the girl Einar is sweet on.  This complicates things exponentially as everyone on the farm has some stake in taking down Gardar.

If you’re thinking that this business with Gardar can’t end well, then give yourself a pat on the back.  As with Canute’s schemes, the larger plot points of this volume are pretty easy to see coming.  They also forecast more interesting developments as I’m sure the forthcoming battle between Ketil and Canute’s forces will lead to the king coming face-to-face with the pacifist-in-training Thorfinn after all these years.  What will they say to each other now that their heads are in much different places than when they last saw each other?  That kind of answer will have to wait until vol. 7 arrives in December, or even further down the line.

Again, it’s the little things that make the second half just as involving as the first.  Thorfinn and Einar’s plans for what to do next involve a lot of soul-searching on the former’s part as he truly wants to give up fighting, even as circumstances conspire against him in that regard.  Einar also has to deal with the fact that the woman he’s smitten with is claimed by two other men with more power — figurative and literal — than he’ll ever have.  Then there’s Snake, head of security for the farm and a man with a close bond to Ketil’s father and a fighting prowess equal to Thorfinn’s.  I look forward to finding out what his deal is.  Arnheid and Gardar’s plight is marred by the contradictory actions of the former, because she still loves him after all these years, I guess.  Yet there are still some strong parts in there, with her explanation of how she wound up where she is and the volume’s final heartbreaking scene.

We’re still a little ways off from the thrilling highs of vol. 4.  Fortunately what’s here still makes for compelling reading, even as it serves to set up the next major conflict in this series.  Now I’m just hoping that the real source of drama in “Vinland Saga” comes from that.  Not from wondering whether or not we’ll see another volume on these shores.  So if you haven’t started reading this yet, there’s no time like the present.