Vinland Saga Chapter 171 Released After 2-Month Break – Here’s What Happened

Vinland Saga serializes in the Monthly Afternoon, a magazine published by Kondasha, which releases on the 24th-25th of every month.

The March issue of the magazine surprisingly did not contain a new Vinland Saga chapter. This hiatus took the fandom by surprise as it was odd that no information was given beforehand, or even after the release of the magazine.

It is possible that this un-announced hiatus was due to the series creator, Makoto Yukimura, having caught a cold in early March.

Anyhow, chapter 171, titled “Sailing West Part 5”, was finally released after a month-long, unannounced hiatus on 25th April.

The chapter mainly revolves around Thornfinn’s wife, Gudrid, traveling around the village, hearing about how much Hild had helped everyone and feeling a bit jealous. 

Chapter 171 starts off with Gudrid on the lookout for Karli. She runs into some men at the pier who are busy replacing the rudder on a ship.

This new extremely remarkable rudder was created by none other than Hild, who has all sorts of craftsmanship under her belt. Gudrid then walks around the area, thinking about her significance and role in Vinland.

She runs into Karli trying to shoot practice arrows, and upon asking where Karli got the bow, she finds out this was also made by Hild. She tries to help Karli by fixing up his shoes, but it turns out Hild already did that as well.

At this point, she begins comparing herself to Hild and tries to assure herself that she does have significance in the grand scheme of things as she can read and write.

The chapter ends with Gudrid running into and talking to Hild as Hild is trying to surveil a tense situation.

About Vinland Saga

Vinland Saga is a Japanese historical manga series written and illustrated by Makoto Yukimura. The series is published under Kodansha in its monthly manga magazine – Monthly Afternoon – aimed at young adult men. It currently has 22 volumes in tankōbon format.

Vinland Saga is set within Viking times, where a young Thorfinn’s life goes astray when his father Thors – a well known retired warrior – is killed while on a journey.

Thorfinn then finds himself under the jurisdiction of his enemy – his father’s killer – and hopes to seek revenge on him when he grows stronger. The anime is loosely based on the expedition of Thorfinn Karlsefni in his search for Vinland.