Slave Vikings attack a village in Northern England where Einar, his mother and sister Lotta live a peaceful farming life. They escape into the woods, but Einar's mother is shot and killed by an arrow. When Lotta strikes back at a captor, she too is cut down and killed. Einar is taken to Denmark along with other prisoners to be sold as slaves. He briefly escapes, but is recaptured and brutally beaten, and eventually resigns himself to his fate. He is bought by Ketil, a major landowner, to work on his large farm in southern Denmark. Upon arriving there, Einar meets another of Ketil's slaves: Thorfinn.