Madeline (Maddie to her friends), an Australian history teacher, travels to York, England, to visit her friend Amber who is working there with a team of archaeologists unearthing Viking relics. They share a passion for the Viking Age, and both studied the Old Norse language. About to take part in a re-enactment at the Viking village and wearing typical clothes worn by a Viking woman, they are swept back in time to the town of Jorvik, a thriving trading town, as York was in the year 879 AD. Maddie meets Norse trader Erik and is stunned by his uncanny resemblance to the Viking she has been dreaming of. When Amber is kidnapped, Maddie persuades Erik to help her find her friend. Their journey takes them across to France and to Rouen, then further inland. They encounter misadventures on their perilous journey. Erik risks everything to aid Madeline in her quest. And the fear is always there; will she stay in the past to share her hero's life, or be snatched back to her own time?