Yukimura's sensation during the Cold War and the September 11 attacks was projected on Thorfinn's character, who is traumatized by his actions as a warrior and thus decides to find Vinland in order to establish a place where people from different races are able to live together peacefully.

[5][6] In 1013 AD, the young Thorfinn works for Askeladd in the hopes of challenging him to a duel and killing him in revenge for his father Thors' death, when they were attacked by him on a journey to England.

Askeladd's company finds employment as mercenaries under King Sweyn in the Danish invasion of London by the British and Thorkell the Tall, Thorfinn's uncle who served with Thors in the Jomsvikings.

Askeladd changes his plan to act on his personal agenda as a descendant of Artorius, to secure his mother's homeland of Wales from being invaded.

When their friend Arnheid is nearly killed by Ketil, Thorfinn remembers his father's words about the peaceful lands of Vinland and agrees with Einar to reach them together.

With this proposed setup, the author agreed as he wanted Thorfinn to understand the causes of tragedy by his being a Viking in later parts of the narrative.

After a two-month hiatus, it resumed serialization in late December 2005 in the seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon, also owned by Kodansha.

[29] In November 2019, Yukimura announced that the manga has entered its final arc; it will be more than 50 chapters long and more than 1,000 pages, and will take "several years to write".

Yukimura traveled to Scandinavia in 2003 to conduct research on Vikings, which was difficult due to the language barrier, as he speaks no Norwegian and little English.

Yukimura was often told by his editors not to draw Canute with a beard, as they claimed its interference with the bishonen archetype he represented would diminish the series' popularity.

Due to the lack of historical information about the individual, Yukimura was motivated to make him the protagonist as he would take creative liberties about several moments from his life.

One of the few exceptions is Gudrid—she is based on a historical figure with the same name who made a major impact on the real Thorfinn's life, and Yukimura tries to be faithful to such an event.

The depictions of Mi'kmaq characters and culture were made with the guidance of Beverly Jedore and Yolanda Denny of the educational organization Miꞌkmaw Kinaꞌmatnewey.

[35] Yukimura's anxieties during the Cold War and following the September 11 attacks were also projected onto Thorfinn's character, who is traumatized by his actions as a Viking and thus decides to found Vinland to make a land where people from different races are able to live together peacefully.

[43][44][45] The series was transferred to Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon, starting in the February 2006 issue, released on December 24, 2005.

The cast includes Shohei Hashimoto as Thorfinn, Ryō Kitamura as Canute, Takeshi Hayashino as Thorkell, Ryoko Isogai as Bjorn, and Takashi Hagino as Askeladd.

[80] Yukimura drew a seven-page crossover manga chapter between the series and the Assassin's Creed Valhalla video game that was uploaded to Ubisoft's website on October 23, 2020.

[90] Johanna Draper Carlson of Comics Worth Reading described the action in the first volume as "fast-paced, well-illustrated, and detailed" but "didn't transcend its premise"; she was instead more impressed by the scenes depicting family life, saying "that's where the insightful character work I expected from Yukimura came through.

"[91] Carlson also praised the scenes depicting domestic life as providing grounding context for the story, as well as weaving in religion and politics, finding Vinland Saga "a fascinating read on multiple levels".

[92] In The European Middle Ages through the prism of Contemporary Japanese Literature, Maximen Denise from University of Tours noted how the lack of proper knowledge about the real life of Thorfinn in The Greenlanders and Eric the Red made Yukimura come across with a more original background for how the main character becomes a Viking during his youth, giving him a realistic characterization which contrasts with Thorkell's supernatural strength.

According to the writer, while Thorfinn is originally driven by revenge, the manga also explores his desire for power, similar to "those who desperately struggle to find their homelands in the 21st century 'medieval' Japan".

[94][95] The romantic relationship between Thorfinn and Gugrid surprised Manga News, though they still appreciated the handling of their wedding ceremony, which gave the narrative a lighter tone for a famously dark series.

[99] The panel composition, realistically barbaric violence, and attention to detail in constructing the setting were highlighted and compared with those found in Kentaro Miura's long-running series Berserk.

[100] The return of action scenes in the Merchant arc was praised by Manga News for showing how detailed Yukimura's art can be.

[102] In particular, he enjoyed how the manga went from the action story to a calmer take when Thorfinn becomes a slave as it helps him to form a notable character arc when he lets go of his violent days in favor of a redemption quest.

[103] Writer Hiroshi Seko believes Thorfinn's age and role in a story of Vikings to be one of the best reasons for the series' popularity.

[39] Golden Kamuy artist Satoru Noda praised Yukimura's artwork for how the manga already starts depicting Nordic elements alongside backgrounds.

[104] Yukimura recalls receiving several negative responses from the fans after the ending of the first story arc as Thorfinn is no longer portrayed as a Viking and instead spends the time farming.

The author apologized to the readers for such change but he still finds it impossible to return the series to its violent topics; Instead, Yukimura told the fanbase to consider the manga Attack on Titan for its focus on violence.

[105] Vinland Saga was awarded the Grand Prize of the Manga Division at the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2009;[106] it was also a Jury Recommended work at the 25th edition in 2022.