In 8th-century Europe, a clash of cultures and religions inevitably leads to a clash of swords. This harsh, changing world suits Björn the Beautiful, who has a single passion: violence. His bloodlust led to his exile from his native land, and it's his bloodlust that brings him back. For Harald, it's the season of Jul and he's about to marry the gorgeous Lina. The festivities are interrupted by the arrival of Björn and his troops. With his people either slaughtered or enslaved, Harald begins a forced march with the other survivors. He wants revenge, but he must be patient like the serpent: know when to sleep, and know when to strike.

Björn the Beautiful's march through the North with his band of slaves continues. As payment for protection and passage through Svartalfheim, some slaves have been given to the ruthless Skanes. With their family now separated, the surviving members of Harald's clan must now find ways to endure and eventually escape their servitude. Family crises, sword-play, a slave-driving poet, and sacrifices to a giant: from the intrigues of Charlemagne's court to the non-human tribes of Europe's Far North, Hammerfall follows both the expansion of a religious empire and the suffering its violent spread inflicts upon the people of the conquered territories.

Our heroes and villains have left the dark region of Svartalfheim, yet new dangers await. Unlikely alliances are formed in the quest to survive long enough for destinations to be reached and goals attained. In the snow-covered regions of the north, bone-chilling sorcery, divine trickery, and foul deceit all play a role in revealing the coldness of the human heart. Will the love that also burns there be enough to conquer all the evil that men—and gods—do?

As our saga reaches its conclusion, old scores are settled, new lies are told, and the spilling of human (and non-human) blood continues. Each band of travelers engages in battles where victory might mean the difference between love and love lost, life and death, or the recovery of an ancient relic. Deceit and treachery are countered by steadfast honor and promises kept. The clash between the old gods and a new one can be heard in the sounds of swords piercing flesh, and wind whispering past bodies swinging from the trees. In the lands of "Hammerfall," things are rarely as they seem.