The year is 793 AD. The North is ruled by tradition, steel, and the iron fist of Earl Haraldson, a cautious and aging chieftain. While the men manage the homesteads and domestic politics, the women are the primary seafaring warriors of Kattegat—yet even they are forbidden from sailing into the unknown West.
Ragna Lothbrok, a restless farmer and mother of two, believes the gods have a grander design for her. With the help of her eccentric, ship-building friend Floki, she secretly commissions a new kind of longship. Alongside her husband, the fiercely protective and domestic-minded Lager, Ragna assembles a crew of rogue Shield-maidens to cross the "Open Sea."
Their journey leads them to the shores of Northumbria, where they capture a young monk named Athelstan. This clash of cultures, faiths, and genders ignites a firestorm that threatens the stability of Scandinavia and the future of England.
