Volsungasaga, a compilation of legends about Sigurd the dragon slayer written in the 1200's, begins with a one page history of his great-grandfather Sigi. Little is recorded about this ancestor of the greatest family of Norse heroes, who simply is identified as a "son of Odin." Nothing in the saga explains what it means to be a son of the most powerful god in the Norse pantheon. A Telling recounts the coming-of-age of an orphan among the Norse at a time before Viking culture exploded across Europe. The earthy ruggedness of the characters is shaped by demands of land and sea, but does not mask the decency for which men and women of all times strive - even when their lives are governed by forces they cannot control.