#VINLAND_FANART.PROJECT – Прощание/Farewell
! To understand this script, it is necessary to listen to: ГРАЙ - Прощание/Farewell (Official video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB7z6MYzVUc (no commercial or profit use is intended, just its emotional content) The script is written in bold font – the song lyrics in italic format are translated from Russian.
0:00 - 0:17 Thorfinn (at 28) walks on the black beach in southern Iceland next to his home [camera with a very long shot flying from behind his back and approaching him, till crossing him.] + Title Прощание
He looks towards the harbor where his longship is, watching the neglected sails and he stares at the sun in front of him with a wide shot on the sea behind the ship [his eyes are lightened up by the sunlight - framed from the bottom side left-].
0:17 - 1:09 Hot flares will paint the grass red, (The sun is setting on the beach; Thorfinn looks at the infinite land/mountains behind him *camera rotates 180° along with his back*, various colors paint the black mountains - marked in red -)
Southern winds will feed the fire so fast, (Warm winds sweep the grass on the coast and he looks towards south up to Denmark from where colorful stormy clouds are coming in - painted in pink, yellow, lilac and orange -)
The funeral birds float silently, (He looks at a geirfugl -bird- on the shore and it turns into a crow flying above the house where Askeladd was killed)
My hand is clenching a handful of the past. (He finds himself as at 18 on top of Askeladd while he is dying and tugs at him desperately)
The sunset will leave lasting scars on the heart, (As he gets taken away by the two soldiers out of the house, the sun is setting down)
A moan will scare the magpies off the branches, (Thorfinn screams in pain and magpies – mythological Nordic birds – fly away from the branches and the roofs as gets dragged.)
And the thunderous rook-clouds* (He returns back to the current reality and sees the rain approaching along with the drakkar-shaped clouds - they are red and blue -)
Will scatter your ashes in a lisping rain. (a sudden thunderstorm strikes and he gets wet in the colorful rain as if it were a rainbow)
1:10 - 1:25 He 'opens up to the wonder of the world' with open arms and his face upwards trying to capture the rain on his skin. The wind is blowing through his hair and he slightly smiles enjoying it as a liberating act.
He sees the longships coming closer to the shore as in a dream and he seems to see *closely * his group of mercenaries with Bjorn, Torgrim, Atli, etc. on board.
1:25 - 1:43 Askeladd’s ghost glimpses on his right – he is setting out and reaches the shore with the wolves; Thorfinn raises his hand trying to call him back.
He turns to him while standing directly on the shore and looks at him first with a father-like expression and then smiles at him, after that he walks off.
1:43 - 2:00 Going with packs of wolves into the distance (Thorfinn sees Askeladd following the wolves going towards the twilight onto the sea)
Do not repent, my thoughts are with you. (Thorfinn sees with vivid eyes the memories of Askeladd’s "kindness" as a young boy when he was with him - then closes his eyes as an adult in a sad way)
Through the veil of silence and rain (He abandons himself under the silent rain and sinks on his knees while shedding some tears)
Your very long journey is foretold by destiny. (Thors appears and puts his hand on Thorfinn’s shoulder being now a child looking towards the harbour from behind)
2:00 - 2:16 Thors kneels and shakes Thorfinn’s head *shot from behind*
Thorfinn looks at him *from the front* as a teenager, Thors wipes a tear from his eyes *close-up*
2:16 - 2:50 Time has frozen, there is nothing inside. (Thorfinn - 20 y.o. - is walking at midnight towards the slave group who is celebrating around the fire; he has an empty look)
The gusli will cool down the farewell pain. (There is sitting Einar in a circle with other slaves singing and playing the gusli and Thorfinn loses himself while staring at the flames and his thoughts get scattered)
Walking through midnight don't look back, (He falls asleep in his nightmares and sees himself at the top of the people he killed hanging off of him)
The eyes will soak up the salt of oblivion. (He tries to climb up to the exit as he remembers suddenly the scenes from the past when he killed them) 2:51 - 3:08 The sunset will leave lasting scars on the heart, (The sky clears up and Thorfinn stands up a bit sorrowful, Karli smiling - he is 8 - comes from behind and bumps into his legs)
A moan will scare the magpies off the branches, (After him follows Gudrid with the little 4-year-old Snorri holding her hand; she smiles at Thorfinn)
And the thunderous rook-clouds* (Thorfinn starts to head back home after them but stops and turns around again)
Will scatter your ashes in a lisping rain. (While looking to the East he sees the longships disappearing into the darkness, Askeladd and Thors are on board along with all the dead spirits – they are departing far away)
3:08 - 3:40 The rain and the rainy clouds go away with them like dusk - they are blue like fog with many stars, as if they were a bit fairy)
Thorfinn looks at them with positive melancholy, lingering at the ships *towards the camera* with the wind still blowing on his hair - then smiles; the camera films him then from afar as he enters the house.
Trivia / script information:
Concerning the location where Thorfinn (at 28) is, I didn’t choose Reynistaður or Glaumbær in Skagafjörður in Northern Iceland as it happened in reality; like in the manga he is in Southern Iceland around Hof area, on the coast, as he walks on the black beach [more or less the coordinates are: 63.798955, -16.642144].
I wanted to give credit to the first season, strengthening Askeladd’s value to Thorfinn and letting space for his dad too.
I developed the script as if I already knew how the whole story ends before its actual end (Yukimura’s), by taking inspiration from Thorfinn Karlsefni’s actual historical life after returning from Vinland.
Thorfinn in this script revisits his life journey from his youth till his return from Vinland; this journey is also meant to be a ‘spiritual’ one.
Iceland is the point of departure as well as the final end point for Thorfinn.
Since the script is set to be after returning from Vinland, here appears Snorri Thorfinnsson too. Snorri is intended to be the son Gudrid and Thorfinn will have in Vinland, while his brother Thorbjorn (who according to history should have been born much later) in the manga is meant to be (?) Karli. Karli is older than Snorri in this case.
I previously thought about Karli being 6 years old here, the same age Thorfinn had as he left Iceland, but when they arrived to Vinland, he was 4, so he must be around 7 or 8 here.
The geirfugl is an ancient bird, extinct nowadays in Iceland (XIX sec.). I could have chosen (Icelandic) crows as the lyrics state, but as reading through the typical Icelandic birds I felt like picturing an ancient bird for a medieval story was fitting more.
*ладьи-облака – rook/longship clouds: since I was not sure about what was meant, I found “crows”, “towers” and “longships” as a translation. I decided then to profit from this imagery in a mixed way.
*The song I chose for this script is from a Russian folk band. I would usually use another song from current neopagan folk bands from Scandinavian countries (there are actually many famous bands out there, I can’t alas type their names here) but this one had really a beautiful melody and the right lyrics and ‘picture thoughts’ flew in my mind perfectly. The script is written by me (Marica Regina).
Vinland Saga and all characters © Makoto Yukimura, Kodansha Ltd.
Прощание/Farewell © ГРАЙ
