Athelstan was a young Anglo-Saxon, once a Christian monk taken as a slave by Ragnar Lothbrok and his fellow Vikings from Lindisfarne monastery. Athelstan was brought to live in Viking society and struggles to maintain his beliefs in an environment very different from his home across the sea. Torn between maintaining his beliefs and surviving in his new, cruel world, Athelstan began to doubt his faith in the Christian God.

Despite Athelstan's worldliness - extensive linguistic skills, logical mind, knowledge of the Bible, etc - he was hopelessly innocent when dealing with other people, especially the ambitious. Despite his intelligence, or perhaps because of it, he found himself torn between his old religious beliefs and cultural traditions and those to which he was exposed during his time with the vikings.