‘Vinland Saga’: Who Is Thorfinn’s Mother & What Happened to Her?

The diversity of contemporary manga and anime is well recognized, but despite the fierce competition, some works manage to stand out. One such work is Vinland Saga, which stands out from the competition due to its accurate portrayal of historical events, the authenticity of its content, and its emphasis on European history rather than Asian (Japanese or Chinese) history. This has also been applied to the Vinland Saga characters, most of whom are fantastic and who are also based on real historical figures. In this article, we are going to talk about a character from the series – Thorfinn’s mother. She is an exceptionally important secondary character, mostly because of her connection to the series’ protagonists, so we simply wanted to tell you who she is and what happened to her later, i.e., where she is now.

Thorfinn’s mother is named Helga and she is a beautiful, kind, blonde-haired woman who loved her late husband and her children very much. She is the mother of Thorfinn and his sister, Ylva. She is remembered as a kind-hearted person. She is the niece of Thorkell and the daughter of Sigvald. When Thors was thought to have died in battle, the family left Jomsborg for Iceland to escape the war. She is alive and well even at this moment and is living in the same village as her daughter and her family.

The rest of this article will focus, as you’ve probably deduced for yourselves, on Helga, Thorfinn’s mother, and her role in the Vinland Saga manga. As you know, Helga is a very important secondary character with ties to Thorfinn, so we understand that you want to know more about her, especially in light of the mystery surrounding her current status and whereabouts. Spoilers from the manga will be present, so be careful how you approach the article.

Thorfinn’s mother is named Helga, and she is alive and well in the series

One of the most thrilling series of its time, Vinland Saga, is incredibly well-liked worldwide. In that regard, it makes sense that the Vinland Saga series characters are well-liked and that readers would want to learn more about them, especially because they don’t receive as much attention as the protagonists of some other popular shonen titles.

The thing about the characters in Vinland Saga is that regardless of whether they play a significant role in Yukimura’s larger narrative or not, each one of them is intriguing in some way and has a unique tale to tell. As previously said, the focus of this essay will be on a minor figure who appears to play a significant part in the life of Thorfinn, the main character, and that is his mother – Helga.

Helga was born around 969 as the daughter of Sigvald, the chief of the Jomsvikings. She is a beautiful blonde-haired woman with blue eyes; she is 150 cm tall. We first see her in 1002 when she was 33 years old, so in the current timeline, she is around 50 years of age. Personality-wise, Helga is known as a very kind, gentle, and kind-hearted person. This was known from the beginning, and it was proven on numerous occasions, specifically when her relationship with her husband and her children were in the spotlight.

When she was young, she was given to Thors by her father after he became the captain of the Jomsvikings. And while this did seem to be an arranged marriage, it was also a happy one, as the two of them had a son, Thorfinn, and a daughter, Ylva.

She initially lived with Thors and her children in the warring North, but after Thors was thought to have died in battle (he faked his death), Thors, Helga, and little Ylva escaped Jomsborg for Iceland to live away from the war. And they did find peace there, but Thors died in the meantime, and Helga was left alone with her daughter as Thorfinn was experiencing his own adventures. So, is she alive now, or did something happen to her as well?

Well, for all of you who are interested, we can confirm that Helga is, as Ylva, alive and well in the current narrative of the manga, although she is not seen that often. When Thorfinn returned to his family home in Iceland, he found his mother alive and well, and his sister Ylva now has a family of her own. He became an uncle to the young Marl, his sister’s son, and all seemed to be well with the family, so we can only hope that Yukimura leaves it like that.

Although Thorfinn is based on a historical person, the real Thorfinn’s mother was called Thorunn, not Helga, which means that Helga is an original character

As fans of the series will know, many Vinland Saga characters are actually based on real, historical people. Some of them are direct adaptations, while others are more loosely based, but most characters contain a degree of historicity in them, despite Yukimura giving each of them their own treatment in the context of the original manga. This doesn’t mean there are no original characters in the series, so we are asking ourselves this about Helga. So, is Helga original, or is she based on a real person?

As far as we know now, Helga is an original character. Namely, we do know that Thorfinn is based on the real-life Thorfinn Karlsefni, although he is a heavily fictionalized version of the real explorer. Now, it is only natural that the real-life Thorfinn had a mother, and knowing that Thors was at least partially based on the real-life Thord Horsehead, you might assume that Helga is also a real-life person.

But, as far as it is known, the real-life mother of Thorfinn was called Thorunn, which means that Helga is most likely a completely original character.