When Gille Kilmorsson, a master smith and a musician, saves a Southern merchant ship from the savagery of the corsairs, he takes as his only reward an old musical instrument. But it is an instrument with an ancient, magical past and the spirits it conjures up soon lead Gille and his companion, Olvar, on an amazing voyage of adventure and discovery. A voyage in which they must confront not only the mysteries of the sea but also a ruthless, barbaric tribe intent on massacring an innocent people ...