He needs to choose a nickname. Dane the Dangerous? Dane the Despicable? He just can't decide. Even his best friends, Drott the Dim and Fulnir the Stinking, aren't any help. But when Dane witnesses his proud father shamed by the tyrant Thidrek the Terrifying, Dane's indignation earns him a moniker that sticks—Dane the Defiant. So defiant is Dane that when Thidrek kidnaps Dane's beloved Astrid in hopes of trading her for Thor's Hammer, the ancient, magical weapon of mass destruction, Dane goes after him like a bat out of Valhalla. Navigating treacherous seas, a nasty smiting by the gods, and a rather lonely frost giant, Dane and his rowdy band of Norsemen will stop at nothing to end Thidrek's terrifying reign and take their place among the greatest Viking heroes of all time.