The year is 1016 & England burns while the Viking armies blockade the great city of London. King Ethelred lies dying & the England he knew dies with him; the warring kingdoms of Mercia Wessex & Northymbria tremble on the brink of great change. One man lives to bear witness to the upheaval: Godwin barely out of boyhood & destined to become one of his country's great warriors. When Ethelred's son Edmund takes the throne determined to succeed where his father failed he plucks Godwin from domestic peace to be right-hand man in his loyal shield wall. Godwin must traverse the meadows wintry forests & fogbound marshes of Saxon England raising armies of monks ploughmen & shepherds against the Viking invader. With epic courage & ferocity Godwin & Edmund repel the butchering Danes in three great battles. But an old enemy the treacherous Earl Eadric dogs Godwin's footsteps & as the final battle approaches around the valiant English the trap begins to close.