Odd Tangle-Hair, and his companion old Einar Tree-Foot, arrive at Novgorod, the capital of Prince Yaroslav the Wise and his consort, the willful and passionate Princess Ingigerd. There, Odd is “caught between two wolves”: Ingigerd, his lover, and Harald the Ruthless, his sworn lord, who are bent on destroying each other. Add to the mixture an invasion of Pechenegs, wild nomads of the Russian steppe, years of bitter slavery, and a secret mission to Constantinople.