During the great Nordic war in 1719, the Swedes have occupied parts of Norway. During the retreat over Tydal mountains most freezes to death. However, some seek refuge in mountain huts. The farmers chase them. The Swede hater Sjur come on tracks of Per Jons, seeking refuge in a mountain hut where Sjur's daughter Eli is located. She takes care of the wounded Per and there is a love affair between them. A relationship which does not fall in well with her father.
Ranged across several generations, the story begins with a wealthy merchant, Lind, and his wife travelling in the coldest depths of winter to christen their baby daughter. Attacked by wolves, they lose the baby, which is found by the Lapp Jaampa (a dominating performance by Tryggve Larssen) and subsequently raised by a rich reindeer herder,
This the story of a wizard elk - Rauten, as people called him. He was a human being in animal guise. The story begins in Ré Valley, which lies like a yawning gap between mountains, long and flat with borders of forests so dark that they look as though part of the blackness of night lingered in them. A river moves sluggishly along the bottom of the valley, making its way slowly and carefully between stretches of light-red sand. It runs northwards, a rare thing in Norway.