A young man establishes himself as a bard, making his living telling tales and singing songs in local inns and occasionally fooling around with women. After getting caught with a man’s wife, the bard has to flee, essentially exiling himself and taking refuge in Saxon lands. During his travels, he meets a Saxon who begins to tell him Norse tales.

Shifting between the bard’s travels and tales of Asgard, the novel is written in rhyming couplets to mimic the singsong storytelling style of a bard. The story goes through various tales and adventures concerning Odin, Thor, and Loki as well as other characters. Lyrical, comical, and sometimes a little crude, each chapter or tale keeps a light-hearted tone regardless of the subject matter. Aside from recounting the history of the Norse myths, the stories also do a great job of describing the setting and mood in a short amount of words, whether it’s the dark caves of the Underworld or the cold, snowy peaks of the mountains. The feelings of the characters in the stories are conveyed as well, and the result is a full-bodied myth that feels like it’s being experienced first-hand.

The character of the bard tends to stay in the shadows, acting more as the medium through which readers gain access to these Norse stories. He does show up closer to the end, where his travels take him into the lands of King Arthur, and so the story shifts from one bunch of legends to another, enticing readers to stay tuned for the bard's future adventures.

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