Vinland Saga: Askeladd’s Character Explained

I recently began watching Vinland Saga and it’s already one of my favourite anime’s. I did not read the synopsis nor did I talk to anyone about it so I had no idea what to expect going into it other than it was an anime about vikings. I’m a fan of norse mythology and enjoyed the TV series Vikings which focused on the tales of Ragnar Lodbrok, hence I was expecting something similar from Vinland Saga.

Vinland Saga did give me viking stereotypes like sailing ships, picking up their shields and swords to march into battle, conquering, pillaging and of course passionately celebrating their victories. However, the anime depicted significantly more by delving into deep thought-provoking dialogues and relevant themes like slavery, honour, peace, war and religion. I was extremely impressed by how the anime boldly took on these themes through well-written and complex characters. At times it didn’t feel like I was watching an Anime.

Askeladd’s Backstory

In season 1, Askeladd is the key figure we follow throughout the season and the complex nature of his character continuously had me debating wether I was rooting for him or wanted him to die. To peel back Askeladd’s layers, we need to start with his backstory. Askeladd’s mother Lydia was a Welsh noblewoman who was captured and enslaved by Danish viking Olaf during a raid. Olaf had many women and these women bore him many children so Askeladd was just one of his many sons whom he did not even bother to name. Initially Olaf favoured Lydia, however after she fell ill he stopped caring for her and instead moved her to the stables, which left Askeladd no choice but to work any job he was given from a very young age to provide for himself and his mother. ‘Askeladd’ was a nickname he received which meant ‘one covered in ashes’ because as a young boy his jobs often left him covered in ash and manure. Lydia named him Lucius Artorius Castus after their legendary ancestor. Lucius Artorius Castus was a great military general of the Roman empire and was essentially the king of Britannia which would later become England and Wales. Through his mother’s bloodline, Askeladd had a valid claim to the throne of England, however he kept his bloodline and real name a secret throughout his life and only disclosed it to Canute before his death. When Askeladd was a child, Lydia regularly repeated the story of Artorius, claiming that the general was resting in a paradise on earth, far away from war and slavery tending to his battle wounds and that one day he would return to Wales to free its people from suffering and oppression. Although Artorius was someone that existed centuries before Askeladd and it was clearly impossible that he was still alive, Askeladd believed in the story just as his mother sincerely did.

As a child, Askeladd experienced the harsh realities of being a slave. He saw how his mother was treated and realised that vikings like his father had no morals or values, all they knew was to go to war, get drunk, take women as their slaves and treat them however they wanted to. Naturally, his resentment grew towards the Danish vikings, especially his father. Therefore, Askeladd resonated with his mother’s bloodline instead of his father’s.

War Arc

Season 1 of Vinland Saga focuses on the war arc and we experience this predominantly through the actions of Askeladd which at times were mysterious and kept us guessing throughout. Here’s where I come in. You have to remember that Askeladd has deep-seated hatred towards the Danes, when he was a child he even killed his own father in his sleep. Now that we know his true allegiance lies with the people of Wales, his actions during the war arc makes more sense. Askeladd leads a band of viking mercenaries who trust and respect him as their leader. Assassinating Thors was nothing personal for him, it was just another job where he deemed the risk was worth the reward. Throughout the season, the anime portrays Askeladd to be calculative and opportunistic, he is shown to have luck on his side and even in the most dire of situations manages to use his wits to survive. An example of his opportunism is when he and his men are running out of food, there is a battle taking place between the French and Danes. Askeladd decides to aid the Danes in this battle on the condition that they split the reward equally and in the end manages to trick the Danish leader and steals all the treasure for himself and his men. However, later in the season Askeladd decides to risk everything including his own life on a gamble which is uncharacteristic of him. He decides to risk the lives of his men to protect prince Canute from Thorkell’s army which does not make sense because Askeladd has never shown any loyalty towards the Danes, in fact he loathes them. It is revealed that Askeladd is doing this in the hopes that if Canute survives he will convince his father king Sweyn to sign a non-aggression pact with Wales therefore foregoing any future raids and attacks on his homeland.

Why after all these years did Askeladd suddenly decide to make his move? I believe its due to numerous reasons. Firstly, Askeladd does have a strong bloodline, however he was a slave and essentially had no backing from any major group to become a king. On the contrary, if the Danish or English found out about his true heritage, they would hunt him down and kill him because he would be seen as a threat to the throne. Secondly, part of him still believed that Artorius would return to change the world because according to his mother’s story, he was supposed to guide Artorius to become king of the world. Finally, I believe that after spending time with Canute, Askeladd realised that the prince is not like the typical viking and that there might be potential for him to one day grow into a king that might bring about positive change to the world. I believe Askeladd now understood that Artorius was never coming back and that someone else could take on that role and that person was Canute. This also explains why he orchestrated the assassination of Ragnar so that he could replace him as Canute’s chief retainer. Askeladd never wanted to be king, all he wanted to do was keep Wales safe from the conquests of the Danish vikings. This is the main reason why he travelled with his band of mercenaries for over a decade so that he could stay close to vikings and act as a spy for the Welsh army. The opportunity of protecting Canute presented itself and someone as clever and cunning as Askeladd would never pass that up. Despite all of Askeladd’s heartless actions including killing Thors, fighting and killing his own men and massacring an entire village of innocent people, his complex character had a considerate side too. Even though he despised his band of mercenaries, he admitted that Bjorn was his only true friend and despite claiming that he was using Thorfinn for his own plans, he acted as his father figure and genuinely cared for him. Arguably his greatest moment was a sacrifice for Canute. King Sweyn gave Askeladd an ultimatum of either giving up prince Canute’s life or protecting Wales from a huge viking attack. Askeladd knew there was no way to protect both his homeland and the prince but instead of choosing between them he killed Sweyn and pretended like he had become deranged to take full responsibility. He knew he was going to be killed for his actions but he was satisfied with sacrificing his life for Canute and Wales.