One day, when Askeladd receives word that Danish prince Canute has been taken hostage, he hatches an ambitious plot-one that will decide the next King of England and drastically alter the lives of Thorfinn, Canute, and himself. Not yet skilled enough to defeat him, but unable to abandon his vengeance, Thorfinn spends his boyhood with the mercenary crew, honing his skills on the battlefield among the war-loving Danes, where killing is just another pleasure of life. However, Thorfinn is not part of the group for the plunder it entails-instead, for having caused his family great tragedy, the boy has vowed to kill Askeladd in a fair duel. Thorfinn, son of one of the Vikings' greatest warriors, is among the finest fighters in the merry band of mercenaries run by the cunning Askeladd, an impressive feat for a person his age. Vagabond is the fictitious retelling of the life of one of Japan's most renowned swordsmen, the "Sword Saint" Musashi Miyamoto-his rise from a swordsman with no desire other than to become "Invincible Under the Heavens" to an enlightened warrior who slowly learns of the importance of close friends, self-reflection, and life itself.
An itinerant monk, the distinguished Takuan Soho, takes pity on the "devil child," secretly freeing Shinmen and christening him with a new name to avoid pursuit by the authorities: Musashi Miyamoto. Upon being captured, he is strung up on a tree and left to die. He instead finds himself a wanted criminal, framed for his friend's supposed murder based on his history of violence. The pair enlist in the Toyotomi army, yearning for glory-but when the Toyotomi suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tokugawa Clan at the Battle of Sekigahara, the friends barely make it out alive.Īfter the two are separated, Shinmen returns home on a self-appointed mission to notify the Hon'iden family of Matahachi's survival. His aggressive nature has won him the collective reproach and fear of his village, leading him and his best friend, Matahachi Honiden, to run away in search of something grander than provincial life. In 16th-century Japan, Shinmen Takezou is a wild, rough young man, in both his appearance and his actions.
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