Gunnar Hamundarsson returns to Iceland having served with great distinction as a mercenary soldier in the army of king Olaf of Norway. Soon he falls under the spell of the beautiful but flawed Hallgerd. Their marriage is the mid-summer highlight of the Rangariver Plains community and all goes well until there is a famine and he discovers that his wife has been stealing food from their neighbours. She is also accused of being implicated in the murder of Kari Grimsson, her husband's cousin, whom she felt insulted her on her wedding day. After Gunnar overhears a man speaking badly her, he kills him and his two companions. Banished for twenty years, instead of leaving for Norway, he secretly heads to the remote north of the country with his family and after changing their names, settles into a farming life for many years. A chance encounter with a figure from the past will soon change everything.