Havelok is intricately constructed, consisting of a double arc in which the royal heirs of both Denmark and England are unjustly displaced as children but later restored to their rightful positions.
Havelok grows to an extraordinary size and strength, and has a huge appetite; during a time of famine, Grim is unable to feed him, and Havelok leaves home to seek his subsistence in Lincoln, barefoot and clad in a cloak made from an old sail.