Thorfinn

Short in stature, a trait remarked on by many around him, Thorfinn keeps a slight, deceptively strong build beneath ragged clothing, a mess of choppy hair, and a pair of knives at his side. His look changes little across the years, though as a small boy his face was rounder and brighter, his eyes wide with curiosity and his hair neatly kept.

Blades have left their record all over his body, and while his face stayed unmarked in youth, adulthood brought several visible scars, largely because he refuses to fight with weapons and instead tries to subdue opponents without doing lasting harm. In 1015 the guest Fox sliced off the tip of his left ear when Thorfinn would not flinch. Three years later, a clash with Snake over Arnheid's husband Gardar carved a long line from his right temple across his cheek to his jaw. Garm's spear later took another piece of that same ear, and by 1021 a fresh scar crossed the bridge of his nose. Before departing for the west, he began combing his hair back, a style he still wears at twenty-seven.

At the outset, Thorfinn is a warm, adventurous child who adores his family and hangs on every tale Leif Ericson brings home. His admiration for his father runs so deep that he stows away on his ship, and losing him becomes the root of everything that follows. By the time he rides with Askeladd's band, that spark is gone, replaced by a cold, single-minded hunger to avenge Thors. He grows aloof and shuts others out, indifferent to their opinion of him, and his worst flaws, a hot temper and reckless impulse, repeatedly bring him defeat and suffering. He also shows little empathy, walking away in disgust from the atrocities his companions commit without truly opposing them.

Askeladd's death guts him of any reason to go on, and as a slave he becomes a hollow, despairing man with no will to live. Recovery comes slowly through the friendship of Einar and the kindness of Snake and Sverkel, who help him see that a worthwhile life is still within reach. He grows gentle and pacifist, resolving to become a trader and to leave his years of killing behind, taking after Thors in his search for a first resort other than force. He turns deeply empathetic toward those broken by war, carries heavy guilt over the villages he helped destroy, including Hild's family, and becomes fiercely protective of the people he loves.

Thorfinn was born in the Icelandic winter of 996, the only son of Helga and the late Thors Snorresson, the most renowned Jomsviking warrior before his desertion. Through his mother, daughter of the third chief Sigvaldi, he is tied to the order's leadership, and he has an elder sister, Ylva. He grew up ignorant of his father's warrior past until Floki arrived seeking Thors for a campaign. Thorfinn hid aboard the ship, and when the mercenary Askeladd ambushed and killed his father in exchange for sparing the boy's life, he swore to take revenge in a fair duel.

For over a decade he marched with Askeladd's band across England, becoming a lethal, joyless killer while trying to earn the single combat he craved. When Askeladd murdered King Sweyn to save both Canute and Wales and was then struck down by the prince, Thorfinn lost the one purpose that had held him together. He lashed out at Canute on instinct and, as punishment, was sold into slavery on Ketil's farm in Denmark.

Empty and haunted by nightmares of the dead, he began to heal there through his bond with Einar and the mentorship of Snake and Sverkel, ultimately vowing never to harm another person and to be reborn. After Arnheid's death at Ketil's hands, he and Einar swore over her grave to reach Vinland and build a place free of violence and slavery, the land Leif had described in childhood. Freed at last, Thorfinn left the farm, reconciled with his mother and sister in Iceland, and traveled to Greece to raise funds. Years later he set sail west and founded Arnheid Village in Vinland. His combat gifts, honed since childhood on the battlefield, remained formidable throughout; his great-uncle Thorkell, the mightiest Viking of the age, even judged him fit to lead the Jomsvikings, a role Thorfinn accepted only to dissolve the order entirely.