Warning: Covers May Contain Spoilers for Vinland Saga by Makoto Yukimura

Vinland Saga has a special place among the Seinen Big Three manga series in how it consistently delivers excellence in its story and some exquisite volume covers. Makoto Yukimura’s sword-and-sandal historical drama concerns the trials and tribulations of Icelandic warrior-turned-settler Thorfinn Karlsefni as he works through personal trauma and seizes his destiny. The best covers of the Vinland Saga manga encapsulate this journey across its highs and cavernous lows.

While the art of Vinland Saga’s covers continuously improves, resulting in many of the most recent installments outclassing older ones, Yukimura has also crafted truly timeless images emulated in the historical fiction anime.

Each volume cover is a bespoke portrait featuring one critical character for any given arc and tells a story in and of itself. This makes them a desirable addition to any reader’s bookshelf, although the leather-bound deluxe hardcovers are nothing to scoff at.

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Thorfinn’s Not the Only One Drastically Changing by Volume #11

Canute is No Longer the Meek Prince from the Vinland Saga War Arc

The cover for Vinland Saga Volume #11 shows Canute’s maturity and grim visage as he ascends to king status. His visions for peace are etched in blood, and while he’s the antagonist of this arc, it’s still an encouraging sight for readers to see. For better or for worse, Canute has found his voice by this point in the story.

Vinland Saga Volume #11 takes place in the Slave Arc, with Thorfinn and Einar finding their stride as they develop Ketil’s farmland. Meanwhile, other fateful developments are happening in Denmark, with Canute’s reprehensible, including poisoning his brother. However, the most consequential step in Vinland Saga Volume #11 for Canute comes as he realizes he must confiscate land from his subjects, which brings the crosshairs to Ketil’s farm. This leads to an inevitable run-in with Thorfinn and one of the most critical moments in the series.

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Vinland Saga Volume #19 Shows One of Thorfinn’s Best Adversaries

Garm Strikes a Ruthless Yet Playful Pose

Thorfinn has encountered numerous noteworthy foes and rivals in Vinland Saga, including Askeladd, Thorkell, and Snake. But by the Eastern Expedition Arc, he loses interest in martial combat as he vows to live a non-violent life. Hohe soon finds challengers who push him to cross that line once more, often for no other reason than to seek glory by defeating him.

Garm is introduced in the first chapter of Volume #11, a deadly and prodigious spear-fighter whose taste for battle helps set off a disastrous power struggle known as the War in the Baltic. He’s self-centered, violently unpredictable, and makes rash decisions on behalf of Floki, resulting in a bloody conflict for power consolidation over the Jomsvikings. He also makes one of the most entertaining, agile combatants in this volume and beyond, as Yukimura creates a different beast from even Thorkell’s more ethical brutality.

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Volume #18 Asks Readers if Thorfinn Will Choose Violence

The Best Vinland Saga Covers Tell a Story on Its Own

By Chapter #71, or Season 2 Episode #9 in the Vinland Saga anime, Thorfinn has sworn off violence to atone for the atrocities he committed in his earlier youth. The rest of the Slave Arc tests this resolve as Thorfinn passes with flying colors, earning his freedom and a chance to forge a new path. Thorfinn’s quest for peace is tested in the cover of Vinland Saga Volume #18, with the unarmed protagonist surrounded by deadly Jomsvikings.

Volume #18 gives readers a mild reunion, with especially welcome returns from characters like Thorkell. After Thorfinn’s encounter with Hild in Norway, he brings the brilliant engineer along on his expedition to Greece, only to find a reckoning with his past while Hild keeps her eye on him should he slip up on his vow. Try Thorfinn; hiding only gets him so far. When confronted by the Jomsvikings as the War in the Baltic story begins, Thorfinn must stay on his course so he doesn’t lose himself because there’s a crossbow aimed at him the moment he slips.

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Vinland Saga Volume #15 Cover Introduces Gudrid

The Fettered Fern Story Includes Thorfinn’s Homecoming

Gudrid is one of the most lovable characters in Vinland Saga and perhaps the best companion Thorfinn finds for clear reasons later on. The cover is somewhat more symbolic than others, with Gudrid’s predicament being likened to a bird in captivity, invoking the Fettered Tern. Surprisingly, it parallels Thor’s stubborn desire to venture out in his father’s footsteps, which gives an excellent and layered first impression of Gudrid.

Thorfinn returns to Iceland in this chapter, receiving a new, clean-shaven look and suggestions from family about settling down and getting married. However, Thorfinn has different plans, as does Gudrid, who comes ashore to be married to Sigurd, son of local landowner Halfdan. Gudrid’s reckless defiance is memorable but sets off a chain of events that chases her and Thorfinn through the Eastern Expedition Arc.

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Thorfinn Collects a Bountiful Harvest in Volume #26

The Vinland Arc is the Most Hopeful in the Series

Thorfinn has landed with his party at what would eventually be called Prince Edward Island by Vinland Saga Volume #26. This is an example of the best qualities of the series covers in how they represent the manga’s characters, with Thorfinn’s journey encountering an increasingly happy tone by this point. However, looming over this hopeful cover is a potent fear of the Norse settlers exhibited by some locals.

By Vinland Saga Volume #26, great strides are made with the Lnu aboriginal population as Thorfinn’s party continues developing the land and farming wheat. Exchanges have been made, communication is fruitful between communities, and war has been evaded. However, a deadly premonition received by Shaman Miskwekepu’j stokes anxiety about the conflict ahead. The cover is hopeful for Thorfinn, but the increasing presence of these fields of gold is ominous for Miskwekepu’j.

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Volume #17 Cover Introduces Hild, One of the Best Vinland Saga Characters

Initially One-Note, Hild’s Character Grows Increasingly Fascinating as a Brilliant Hunter and Engineer

Vinland Saga is essentially a tale of Thorfinn coming to terms with his past and building a new future. However, as Volume #17 reminds readers, this past occasionally haunts him in more ways than just his nightmares. He reckons with his deeds meaningfully during the Eastern Expedition Arc after meeting Hild.

Initially introduced near the end of Volume #16, Hild is a taciturn and terse hunter living in Norway whose scary proficiency in bear-slaying initially stands as a boon to Thorfinn’s party. The group shares a meal, only for Hild to reveal a dreadful connection to Thorfinn’s past as a warrior, with her grim affirmation on display. Next is a race against time as Hild seemingly holds Thorfinn’s group’s lives in her hands, and Thorfinn must grapple with a way to atone for his past deeds.

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Vinland’s Newest Settlers Gather for a Group Picture in Volume #25

A Heartwarming Showcase of Thorfinn’s Allies of All Shapes and Sizes

Most of the best Vinland Saga covers mainly rely on one character, but this is an example of the hopeful energy in the Vinland Arc. Thorfinn’s party has found land they can call home, no matter their upbringing and prior lives. Particular highlights of this shot include Karli and Karli’s Mama looking happy and standing on their own, Mr. Ugge looking as paranoid as ever, and Cordelia towering over everyone, living her best life. It’s a lovely portrait and an increasingly happy image for the series in its most recently-released volumes.

Vinland Saga Volume #25 starts with the journey eventually reaching North America, but it has to venture further south to reach Vinland. It’s a hopeful sight once they discover the remains of Norse architecture, but previous hostilities with the local Aboriginals create a new challenge for Thorfinn. On top of tilling the land and making a sustainable home, Thorfinn must keep the peace with the inhabitants already living there.

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Volume #6 Shows Thorfinn in His Most Violent State

Askeladd’s Most Reliable Tool Has an Iconic Duel

Vinland Saga is a different beast upon reexamination of the War Arc, or Season 1 of the anime. Thorfinn is a killing machine motivated by the promises of Askeladd, a chance to avenge his father, being the eternal dangling carrot for the teen warrior. The cover shows how far off the deep end he has reached, corpses laid at his feet, strikingly of men much older than him.

The crucial events of Vinland Saga Volume #6 essentially involve Thorfinn’s duel with Thorkell and Prince Canute’s epiphany about peace. It’s a thrilling read with some of the most tense action in the series, especially considering the terrifying strength disparity between the two fighters, although Thorfinn stubbornly fights on. However, the volume’s critical developments for Canute essentially steal the show, saying something when the main draw is a David and Goliath-scale fight.

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Chaos Pushes Thorfinn’s Limits in Vinland Saga Volume #20

The War in the Baltic Reaches Increasingly Dangerous Heights

Much of the Eastern Expedition Arc features Thorfinn’s revelation about who orchestrated his father’s murder. The power struggle around him is also fittingly tied to the same man, Floki, as the Jomsvikings struggle to stand behind a clear leader. The volume cover fittingly foreshadows Thorfinn’s struggle not to give into his rage, hoping to rise above it.

The events of Volume #20 see the conflict erupt with Thorkell excited at the prospect of battle and Garm carrying the smoking gun as a key Jomsviking leader’s head. Key allies are captured as Thorfinn grapples with the situation’s weight. Spelled out by Bug-Eyes in Chapter #139, Thorfinn must consider killing the bloodthirsty captors obsessed with dying with glory if he wants to save his friends. However, this is a line Thorfinn desperately wishes not to cross.

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Volume #24 is the Best Vinland Saga Cover for One Simple Reason

A Glimpse at Happiness Is a Rare Sight in Seinen Manga

Vinland Saga Volume #24 is the sweetest, most wholesome portrait of a simple sight, Thorfinn pushing through his mid-twenties alongside his wife, Gudrid, and adopted son, Karli. This is an exceedingly rare sight in the Seinen manga world, but a deserved one, the culmination of Thorfinn’s positive karma. Whether this is his ultimate fate is another matter.

It’s hard to envision life getting better than in Volume #24, as Thorfinn makes headway in gaining helping hands for his expedition to Vinland. He does a beautiful deed by coaxing Halfdan to let him take Cordelia along and works to atone for stealing Gudrid from her intended husband, Sigurd. However, Sigurd’s surprise return to Halfdan with a new wife and heir is one of the most delightful moments in the series, tying off a crucial loose end before the hero’s voyage.

In Vinland Saga, Volume #24’s cover is as good as it gets with its visions of marital bliss.