A 17-year-old boy named Edgar is waiting for dawn in the fishing and trade village of Combe. He lives in a modest home with his family, who sleep nearby in the room with him: Pa, Ma, and his brothers, Erman and Eadbald. Edgar, who is good at remembering dates, will turn 18 three days after Midsummer Day, which is one week away.

The people of Combe pay rent to Wigelm, the thane. Like his father, Edgar has a natural talent and intuition for boatbuilding. Two years prior, the wreckage of a Viking ship washed up on the beach; he took every chance he could to study it, and the workmanship captivated him.

Edgar goes to the seashore and waits for Sungifu, a woman he loves. She is 21 years old. They met when Edgar was looking at the Viking wreckage and quickly fell in love. She is married to a 30-year-old man named Cyneric. They married when she was 14, and she hates him.

As Edgar walks across the shore, he sees a couple making love and then pushes his boat into the water. In the morning, he and Sungifu will run away to a fishing village 50 miles away.