'Deliver us, O Lord, from the fury of the Norsemen . . .'After centuries of ranging unchecked across the northern world, the fortunes of the Vikings have begun to turn. In this time of violent change, a young man, struck by lightening, is believed to be marked by the gods as a keeper of the Norse religion's greatest secret . . . To save the Norse faith and himself, he embarks upon a journey, where he must confront not only his own gods but the gods of a people yet more savage.