In a Danish village in the early 1600s, a young woman named Anne, whose mother was thought to be a witch, develops sympathy toward an old woman, Marte, who is accused of witchcraft. The intervention of Anne's older but kindly husband, Pastor Absalon saved her mother -- but now, urged on by his overbearing mother, he refuses to help Marte. When Absalon's son returns home and is attracted to Anne, it's a matter of time before her family destiny catches up with her.
The God-fearing vicar Niels Quist lives with his beloved daughter Mette in the small Jutland town of Vejlby. The newly elected county bailiff and local magistrate, Erik Sørensen, is the lucky fellow who wins Mette’s heart, but their happiness is short-lived: One day, the vicar’s farmhand mysteriously disappears, and all signs suggest that the vicar is the killer. But is Erik Sørensen willing and able to sentence his own true love's father to death?
