“you have no enemies, not a single one.”

-Thors

When Thorfinn first heard those words there was no way he could possibly comprehend what they meant, what they truly meant. Since then it is ironic how they have come to define his life, how struggle and pain have inevitably brought him back to them.

It is beautiful really, I can imagine just how proud Thors would have been, had he seen him confront Canute and declare those words; “I have no enemies at all “. I can imagine how proud Thors would have been, to see his son start down the path of a true warrior, and isn’t that all Thorfinn truly is? A warrior?

HE’S ROYALTY…WAS ROYALTY

Thorfinn is related to the chieftain of the Jomsvikings, an order of mercenaries unrivaled. His father Thors was a high ranking member of the order and possibly it’s most capable fighter, his mother was the niece of the chieftain at the time, making Thorkell his uncle….or grand uncle?

The bottom line is Thorfinn is of noble birth, but considering he recently disbanded the order I don’t know where that leaves him. I personally wasn’t too fond of the decision but well, life moves on.

HE SUFFERS FROM PTSD

I don’t imagine this comes as much of a surprise, I mean considering what he has been through his entire childhood it is only natural that Thorfinn would have some mental and emotional scars.

Thorfinn screams in his sleep and has regular nightmares. He carries with him a lot of guilt and it’s amazing how he manages to get by, considering just how much trauma he’s suffered.

HE’S A REAL PERSON

Thorfinn’s character is based on that of the real life icelandic explorer Thorfinn Kalsefni whose expeditions were documented in two sagas collectively called the “vinland sagas“.

Vinland was a area of coastal North America explored by the vikings nearly 500 years before Christopher Colombus. Thorfinn’s expedition was a short lived attempt to establish a permanent settlement there.

THE MEANING OF KALSEFNI

The byname Karlsefni means “a thorough man” which can also roughly be translated as “a sterling man” in a sense “a real man”. Quite the name I’d say, and it says a lot about how the man was perceived.

I’d say the name is well deserved … in the manga at least, Thorfinn over the course of the story has in many ways personified what it means to be a man, but not just a man in that sense, but a human being in general, a person.

Persevering through some of the worst horrors imaginable and still finding the will to live, the will to fight, the will to treasure, long and love. I’m not sure that’s what people had in mind when they gave him the nickname, but it is what I see. It is what Kalseferni means to me.

SO WHO IS THORFINN?

Thorfinn is the son of Thors. A man who has seen pain and strife send him down the path of the true warrior, the man in search of Vinland, the one who will create a land of peace and joy, where there is no war and bloodshed…..lets see how that goes.