The story follows a young Viking boy (Karl Urban) who gets lost in the shuffle of a violent brawl between his people - the Norsemen - and a native tribe of early Northern America. Given the name "Ghost" by his native mentor, Pathfinder (Russell Means), and the rest of his family, the boy grows to know the ways of his new tribe, practicing their beliefs and adopting their ways of life. When the terrorizing Norsemen return years later, the tribe decides the boy - now a strapping young man - is their best defense and they count on "Ghost" to protect and save them.