It’s the summer of 1276. Sturla Thordarson is in residence in his home at Stadarholl and has just finished recording the incident at Flugumyri, where people had been burned alive in their homes, when he is summoned to immediately present himself at the court of Magnus the Law-Mender, King of Norway. Sturla reluctantly sets off with two other Icelandic chieftains, Hrafn Oddsson and Thorvardur Thorarinsson, but the three associates suffer damages to their ship in a storm off the coast of the Faroe Islands, forcing them to endure the winter there. This long delay gives Sturla cause to recollect the treacherous events of the past 40 years and perceive them in a new context.

In this novel Karason gives voice to the poet himself who presents the reader with his experience of this riotous medieval period and shows us his innermost thoughts.

English translation available