The Long Ships

Moorish king Aly Mansuh becomes convinced that the legendary Mother of Voices exists and begins planning an expedition to find it. He gathers legendary material and mobilizes his court for a daring voyage. The very possibility of the bell's power drives the political will behind the search.

A shipwrecked Norseman, Rolfe, is seized in the marketplace and brought in for questioning about the bell. He insists he knows no more than the legend itself and that the bell may simply be a myth. He manages to break free by leaping through a window, escaping the immediate danger of torture.

After returning by swimming, Rolfe confesses to his father Krok and brother Orm that he heard the bell pealing on the night their ship was wrecked off Africa. This revelation compounds the tension behind their father's ruined fortune and the plan that follows. It sets the stage for a dangerous voyage to seize the bell.

Krok's fortune has collapsed after spending on a funeral ship for Harald Bluetooth, who refuses repayment. Rolfe rationalizes that the ship doesn't yet belong to Harald since the king is alive, and the family doubles down on their risky plans. The scheme to steal the ship and hold Harald's daughter as hostage begins here.

Rolfe and Orm steal the doomed funeral ship and hire drunken Vikings to crew it. To prevent Harald from killing his father in revenge, they seize the king's daughter as a hostage, prompting Harald to assemble every longship he can find to rescue her.

The crew's superstition grows as the voyage drags on, and they demand fate be appeased. Quick-thinking Rolfe asks the captain about breaking the bad luck, and is told that a maiden sacrifice is the traditional remedy. He pretends to perform the kill, but actually sacrifices a sheep and later reveals the ruse to Orm.

After protracted difficulties at sea, the ship is struck by a maelstrom and wrecked, washing the Norse ashore on a Moorish coast. The survivors face hostile terrain and uncertain future as they begin to grapple with their new environment.

The Norse are attacked and captured by Moors and condemned to execution. Mansuh's reappearance reopens the search for the Mother of Voices, pressing Rolfe to reveal what he knows. Aminah, Mansuh's wife, urges her husband to use Rolfe and his longship to retrieve the bell.

Mansuh and Rolfe sail toward the Pillars of Hercules with the longship to retrieve the bell. They find only a domed chapel housing a small bronze bell, where the Viking had seemed to hear the Mother of Voices. Rolfe shatters the bell and reveals that the chapel dome itself is the disguised Mother of Voices.

A costly misadventure causes the Mother of Voices to topple from its cliffside and plunge into the sea. The expedition returns to the Moorish city, and Aly Mansuh rides with the bell in triumph. Harald's forces attack the city in a climactic battle, and the final moment comes when the bell falls and crushes Mansuh, sealing a Viking victory.

In the aftermath, Rolfe attempts to persuade King Harald to mount another expedition for the three crowns of the Saxon kings, a proposal that amuses Krok. The film closes with this humorous note as the Norseman eyes future voyages.