Shortly after the death of Charlemagne, a woman called Joan is born in Ingelheim am Rhein. She is the daughter of a village priest (Iain Glen). He also rules his wife (Jördis Triebel) and family with a rod of iron, though his Saxon wife still secretly worships the pagan god Wotan. Even so, Joan grows up to be an articulate girl, who intensively studies the Bible, unbeknownst to her father. After her eldest brother's sudden death, their father wants to send his second son John to the cathedral school in Dorestad, but when the teacher Aesculapius (Edward Petherbridge) visits them in Ingelheim, Joan proves to be far more capable of dealing with the Scriptures than John. Against her father's wishes, Joan is taught by Aesculapius, who introduces her to literary works such as Homer's Odyssey.
In the opening scene in Ireland, a young boy loses his parents in a Viking raid, but is spared in spite of the command of Thord, the Vikings' leader, to kill him. His sister is kidnapped by the Vikings. Twenty years later, the boy has become a man and travels to Iceland to seek revenge against the perpetrators and find his sister. His name is never revealed, and he is only known as "Gestur" by the characters in the film since he is a stranger to them. "Gestur" simply means "guest" but is also not an uncommon given name.
Ahmad ibn Fadlan is a court poet to the Caliph of Baghdad, until his amorous encounter with the wife of an influential noble gets him exiled as an "ambassador" to Northern Barbarians. Traveling with Melchisidek, his caravan is saved from Turkic raiders by the appearance of Norsemen (presumably Varangian). Taking refuge at their settlement on the Volga river, communications are established through Melchisidek and Herger, a Norseman who speaks Latin. Ahmad and Melchisidek are in time to witness a fight, which establishes Buliwyf as heir apparent, followed by the Viking funeral of their dead king, cremated together with a young woman who agreed to accompany him to Valhalla.
Part 1
The film is set around the time when many Europeans had changed their religion from paganism to Christianity. The film is split into three parts, and comprises the story of Siegfried from childhood to his death. The film opens with a young Siegfried awakening in the middle of an invasion of his parents' castle by Saxons. The castle is soon overrun and all are slain except for Siegfried, whose mother has sent him down the river. In the morning he is picked up by a blacksmith, Eyvind, who raises him under the name Erik.
Chrysagon de la Cruex (Heston) is a Norman knight charged with defending a Druid village. At the heart of the story is a doomed romance which defies the social norms and sparks a growing confrontation with Chrysagon's brother, Draco (Stockwell).
Lord Alwin (LeRoy Mason), Earl of Northumbria, is captured in a Viking raid and taken to Norway as a slave. There he is bought by Helga (Pauline Starke), an "orphan of noble blood" under the guardianship of Leif Ericsson (Donald Crisp). He proves a troublesome slave, and Leif's sailing master, Egil the Black (Harry Woods), prepares to kill him for his insolence, but Helga stops him. When Alwin challenges Egil to a swordfight, Leif is impressed by his courage and permits it. Alwin manages to break Egil's sword, but spares him. Helga then gives Alwin to Leif.
This Icelandic Saga begins with Gisli, Thorgrim, Thorkel, and Vestein making a blood pact to protect one another. Controversy breaks out when one of the men, Thorgrim, refuses to complete the pact because he does not want any involvement with Vestein. Thorgrim claims that taking on Vestein as a brother is taking on more trouble than he can handle. The scene ends with the men storming off from one another and the blood oath incomplete. The plot begins to unfold when Thorkel hears his wife tell Aud, Gisli’s wife, that she had amorous feelings for Vestein before she married Thorkel, leading Thorkel to suspect his wife was unfaithful.
Before Thor ever lifted his mighty hammer Mjolnir, there was the sword. Fantastic journeys beckon from the mysterious nine realms. Places of dark mists and fiery voids. Of winged creatures and giants in the ice. And the most alluring quest of all – the search for the legendary Lost Sword of Surtur.
Beowulf (Ray Winstone) is a legendary Geatish warrior who travels to Denmark with his band of soldiers, including his best friend, Wiglaf (Brendan Gleeson). They travel in response to the call of King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins), who needs a hero to slay a monster called Grendel (Crispin Glover), a hideously disfigured troll-like creature with superhuman strength. Grendel attacks Hrothgar's mead hall, Heorot, whenever the Danes hold a celebration there, and Hrothgar was forced to close the hall. Upon arriving, Beowulf immediately becomes attracted to Hrothgar's wife, Queen Wealtheow (Robin Wright Penn), who does not love her husband and reciprocates Beowulf's interest.
In London in the year 1907, a British aristocrat named Sir Anthony Ross (Donald Sinden) hastily arranges an expedition to the Arctic to search for his lost son Donald. Donald had become lost on a whaling expedition to find the fabled island where whales go to die.
A spacecraft crashes in a lake in Vendel-era Norway. On board is an alien monster, the Moorwen, and the "outlander", Kainan, who activates a distress signal and sets out to trace the Moorwen, which had stowed away on his ship and caused the crash.
Siegfried von Xanten defeats the dragon Fafnir, and becomes invulnerable by bathing in the beast's blood. He then wins a net of invisibility (Tarnkappe) and the legendary Treasure of the Nibelungs (Nibelungenschatz) from the dwarf Alberich. Siegfried falls in love with Kriemhild, sister of King Gunther of Burgund. However, Gunther will not allow Siegfried to marry her until he has helped Gunther to win a wife himself. They travel to Iceland where Siegfried helps Gunther to defeat and win Queen Brunhild. They return to the Burgundian court at Worms and both weddings take place. However, jealousy and envy cause frictions at the court. Intrigues eventually result in Hagen of Tronje killing Siegfried during a hunt. In part 2, Kriemhild marries Etzel, king of the huns, in order to gain revenge for the murder of her husband. The Burgundians, led by Gunther and Hagen, follow an invitation after Kriemhild gives birth to Ortileb, and travel to Etzel's hall, where they are attacked by the huns. Hagen kills Ortileb in the fight. There is a great slaughter and Gunther is killed. Finally Kriemhild kills Hagen and is then killed herself.
In 786 AD, three large Viking ships land in England. King Harald (Folco Lulli), the only Viking chieftain interested in maintaining peace, makes a plea to King Loter (Franco Ressel). The English king sends Sir Rutford (Andrea Checchi) to work out a deal with the Vikings. Rutford stages a surprise attack on the Vikings. King Harald is felled by an arrow fired by Rutford's chief assassin. During the battle, Harold's two young sons, Erik and Eron, are whisked away by one of his chiefs. Eron is rescued but Erik is left behind in the chaos.