Einar is the handsome son of Ragnar Lodbrok but when his good looks are scarred by ex-slave Ogier Gyrfalcon's bird of prey, he swears a harsh vengeance. Ogier sets out to find his destiny and frees a Welsh princess, taken captive en route to her marriage to King Aella. When Ragnar is captured during an invasion and put to death by Aella, the Norsemen launch into bloody slaughter - and after Aelaa's death, leaving the throne of Northumbria vacant, the battle is on between Einar and Ogier as to who will succeed. This book was the basis for the 1958 film The Viking starring Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Ernest Bourgnine and Janet Leigh.