This is one of William Morris' fantasy books, set in the world of the
ancient Germanic Gothic tribes.
J.R.R. Tolkien acknowledged the literary influence of this book,
as well as The Roots of the Mountains,
published in the same year.
In this book, Morris' Goths live in a land called the Mark on a river
in the forest of Mirkwood, in ancent Germany.
They worship the Germanic gods Tyr and Odin by horse-sacrifice.
Morris' Goths have shamans who can see the future.
They repel an invasion by the Romans, led by a war leader with a mysterious
piece of cursed dwarf-forged armor.