When prince Ivar returns from a long trade journey, he learns the sad news that his wife died giving birth to his son, who died as well. He spends the winter alone in a hunting lodge, his sadness turns to hate and anger at the world. He makes a plan to go out to conquer and destroy as many villages as he can, sharing his grief with as many as possible.
Katie is a young Celtic peasant girl. She has been betrothed to marry Lord Carl, the village chieftain. She detests Carl, but will not go against her father's wishes. A month before her wedding, she is sitting atop a cliff when she sees the fierce figurehead of a Viking dragon ship approaching the shore.
It is destiny that these two will meet.