Book two of the Valknut Mask The Valknut or death- knot is said to symbolize the great God Odin's power to lay bonds on the minds of mortal men leaving them helpless in battle. It is said that he could also banish the tensions of fear and strain, by bestowing gifts of madness, intoxication and inspiration. A young novice at a remote monastery on the Northumbrian coast is captured by a group of Norse raiders and taken to Gotland, where he becomes slave to a blacksmith. Some years later his is ship wrecked on one of the many small islands off the coast of Svealand, and discovers an ancient full-face battle helm. The helmet is made from three triangular interwoven pieces of bronze, the symbol of the Valknut. It becose. the catalyst in a series of events that brings about peace to a war torn land, and a hero out of the most unlikely and unwilling of thralls..