Vinland Saga Episode 3 Review: Troll

Thors survived one more episode, but I am sure that his days are numbered. As their journey begins, things are starting to get interesting and we will finally get to see Thors fighting once more. He was actually just slapping people in the face, but this will do for now.

Japanese Original Episode Title: 戦鬼

Plot

Floki asks Askeladd, the leader of a Viking army, to kill Thors, who was once known as the Troll of Jom. Back in the village, everyone is ready to depart for their long journey and their first battle. As the villagers are bidding them goodbye, Leif shares a secret with one of the village girls: Thors is not going to take anyone into battle but will stop instead in Norway first to leave everyone behind and then hire warriors to fight with him and take them to England. When their warships are in the middle of the ocean Thorfinn, who was hiding all this time in a barrel inside the ship, makes his appearance which makes Thors angry and worried but he is left with no choice but to let him stay at the ship. As they reach the Faroe Islands to make their first stop, rest and trade with the locals, Leif realizes that something is wrong and they get ambushed by Askeladd and his men. Thors commands everyone to stay behind as he takes his sword and jumps at the enemy ship, punching everyone unconscious apart from Bjorn and Askeladd.

Episode Highlights

Ylva is the hottest girl in town: God damn Ylva, the whole village is in love with you. I pity the rest of the girls. All the young lads went to propose to her before they leave for war and she didn’t like any of them. Ari was first though, she has to consider him before anyone else, especially since his mother embarrassed him so much with the lunch box and the salted herring situation. Kudos to all the guys for having the courage to confess their love to the daughter of Thors the Troll. Can you imagine him sitting like this, while they propose?

Thors is a beast: First, he is twice the size of everyone that has showed up on our screen so far. Second, he was rowing the boat by himself. I mean, why did he even bother bringing the other five guys with him? They should just give him another huge paddle and let him do his thing. It’s also crazy that he could row like that for all that way and then be ready to slap the shit out of a whole crew. He is truly an animal. You can really see why he got the ‘Troll’ nickname.

Askeladd is not joking: The intimidating vibe between him and Floki was actually impressive. When Askeladd asked for more money and Floki didn’t really fancy the idea, I thought Floki was going to cut off his eye or something but then Bjorn read the atmosphere and in seconds he threw his spear into what we initially think was just a wall. But before the scene ends we realize that Floki had one of the Jomsvikings hiding behind the flag, probably ready to assassinate Askeladd in case they didn’t reach an agreement. Askeladd seems to be quite the formidable ‘enemy’, he will certainly be trouble for Thors (he will definitely be the one to kill him).

Themes & Trivia

Thorfinn Karlsefni: Thorfinn Karlsefni was an Icelandic explorer. Around the year 1010 AD, he followed Leif Eriksson’s route to Vinland, in a short-lived attempt to establish a permanent settlement there with his wife Guðríður Víðförla Þorbjarnardóttir and their followers. The byname Karlsefni means ‘makings of a man’ according to the preface of Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson, although the Cleasby-Vigfusson dictionary glosses it as ‘a thorough man’, elaborated elsewhere as a ‘real man’, a ‘sterling man’.

Comments

So, from the little Swedish I know, I am aware that bjorn or björn is the word for ‘bear’, so you can probably expect this character to be equally strong as Thors. And another thing that I want to comment on is that Floki’s voice sounds amazing. His voice actor, Atsushi Ono, fits the character perfectly.