About This Book
A first-person narrator and his comrades discover a richly furnished funeral ship containing an interred chieftain and grave goods, then set out on coastal voyages that mix exploration, rescue, and combat. The plot follows their handling of storms, salvage, and naval engagements with rival crews, visits to secluded island hermits, and strategic use of beacons, sail, and oar. Interpersonal ties, including foster relationships and symbolic tokens of authority, shape decisions, while close descriptions of seamanship and burial ritual illuminate the material culture that frames the expedition and its eventual homecoming.