Published 20 years ago, this sequence of poems charts the progress of a love affair from the passionate honeymoon with the milk bottles turning to cheese on the doorstep, through the stage of quarrels, jealousy, recriminations and boredom, to the point where love is as nice as a cup of tea in bed.

    In an effort to fund his project, Thorfinn visits Iceland where Halfdan, a wealthy man who shared a dark history with his late father, awaits. Meanwhile, the marriage between Halfdan's son Sigurd and Leif's relative Gudrid is well under way, but Gudrid dreams of being a sailor not a bride. A battle soon breaks out as Gudrid attempts to escape aboard Leif's ship. With Sigurd hot on their tail, Thorfinn and the crew press eastward to the city of Miklagard, picking up an orphaned baby and a dog along the way...