Banished from his homeland in Norway for religious beliefs that ultimately resulted in murder, a Viking chieftain and his family must leave their home and travel to a new land. With the Christian king determined to stamp out the old gods, Thorvald Asvaldsson and his son Erik, who will one day be known as Erik the Red, embark on a perilous journey destined to change the world accompanied by the powerful seer Ragnar. Once restricted to sailing near their native shores, the dawn of the longship brings Viking warriors to the unsuspecting coastal areas of Europe. The warriors descend on settlements like a plague, attacking towns at will and displaying a savagery never before seen. At the height of the Viking expansion into Europe and the spread of the pagan religion, there is an evil in the world awaiting the travelers, an evil from the depths of hell itself.