Two ravens

The setting is twelfth-century Iceland. It is a world of conflict within conflict: Christian against pagan, father against son, brother against brother. And in the tough, impassioned Bjarni, who reflects both the violence and the poetry of this primal land, we have a hero congruent with his time.

Fleeing his country-unwilling to bear the yoke of his father's ferocious domination-Bjarni steal the boat upon which his family's survival depends, enlists the help of his younger brothers, and sets sail for the Norway of the Vikings, stirred by the legends of their strength and courage.