Who Is Gudrid in Vinland Saga, and Is She Based on a Real Person?

We know that Thorfinn’s journey is far from over, as we have only scratched the surface of his story during the events of season 1 of Vinland Saga. In that regard, season 2 will tackle more of his character development as he is set to meet new people that would be important to the larger journey that he will take in the future. One such character is Gudrid, who is set to be one of the more important characters in Thorfinn’s journey. So, who is Gudrid in Vinland Saga, and is she based on a real person?

Gudrid was a widowed young woman that Thorfinn met during the time when she was fleeing from her second husband by arranged marriage. She ended up joining Thorfinn in his journey of creating a new settlement in Vinland. Gudrid also ended up marrying Thorfinn during their expeditions. 

The fact that Gudrid is Thorfinn’s love interest is the reason why she is such an important character in the storyline and is set to become one of the more important figures in Thorfinn’s life. After all, Thorfinn started out as a character that hardly knew anything about forming relationships with people, and Gudrid should be one of the characters that would allow her to undergo a massive development in his character.

Who Is Gudrid In Vinland Saga?

The entire Vinland Saga anime storyline is one that allows Thorfinn to meet a lot of different people in his journeys. Of course, we saw in season 1 that he had one clear goal in mind, and that was to become strong enough to challenge Askeladd to a duel and kill him in an honorable way to avenge his father. But Askeladd was killed by Canute, as this goal was taken away from Thorfinn.

We also learned that Thorfinn was sold off as a slave due to the attempt he made at Canute’s life. It is his time as a slave on Ketil’s farm that will allow him to undergo massive character development and make him understand what his true goal is. And we are talking about the fact that he has to go on an expedition to find Vinland, a place that he only heard in stories from Leif Erikson, a famous explorer that told him tales of Vinland while he was still a young boy living in Greenland.

Of course, season 2 will allow us to see more of the people that will help Thorfinn become a better person and a man with a clear purpose and goal in mind. While the Slavery arc should cover a good part of the second season, we do believe that Thorfinn will end up meeting someone who will become important in his life in season 2. We are talking about Gudrid. So, who is Gudrid in Vinland Saga?

In the manga, Gudrid was first introduced as a widowed young woman that was previously married but is now forced into another marriage by her family. As such, she was introduced as someone who was fleeing from her second husband, who we know as Sigurd. Her second marriage was one that was arranged by her family, and that’s why she rebelled against both her family and her husband. Her first husband was Thorvald, who was the deceased younger brother of Leif.

After fleeing from her second husband, Gudrid ended up joining Thorfinn and his company in their quest to find Vinland. The fact that her choice was taken away from her when she was forced to marry a man that she didn’t choose to be her husband was one of the reasons why she chose to go on a journey that could be promising. Of course, it is also worth mentioning that Thorfinn and his friends want to establish a Vinland settlement that’s devoid of injustice, inequality, and slavery, and that could be one of the reasons why Gudrid joined up with him, as she never had an opportunity to make her own decisions in life.

Sometime after returning to Greenland following the Slavery arc, Thorfinn and Einar decided to go to Greece so that they could secure the funding they needed for their journey to the west in the hopes that they could find the fabled Vinland. As such, Gudrid accompanied them on their journey to Greece and fell in love with Thorfinn during the expedition to the east.

During the Eastern Expedition arc, however, Sigurd followed them closely because he still wanted his wife back. That is why Thorfinn would have to contend with Gudrid’s second husband while he was on a journey to Greece.

Sometime in between his journey to Greece and the return to Greenland, Thorfinn marries Gudrid. As such, Gudrid is currently the wife of Thorfinn in the manga and is the love interest of our main character in Vinland Saga.

Is Gudrid Based On A Real Person?

We know for a fact that there are a lot of characters in Vinland Saga that are loosely based on historical figures. After all, the entire story is loosely based on the Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders, known collectively as the Vinland sagas. We also know that names like Thorfinn, Leif, Canute, and a lot of different characters in Vinland Saga were taken straight out of the stories of their source materials. So, does that mean that Gudrid is also based on a real person?

In fact, Gudrid is actually based on a real person that also lived during the time of Erik the Red and the other Greenlanders. She was said to be an Icelandic explorer that was married to Thorstein Eiriksson, who told her before his death of a prophecy of her marrying an Icelandic man. After that, she married Thorfinn Karlsefni, who is the main inspiration for Vinland Saga’s Thorfinn.

Together with Thorfinn, Gudrid led an expedition to Vinland, which is said to be the current-day version of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. Their son, Snorri, was said to be the first European birth in the Americas outside of Greenland.