Carl-Henning (Jasper Klein) is a young man working as an apprentice on a dairy farm in the Danish marshland. When he isn't working, he tinkers on a disabled car and dreams of a young girl who is a local student. After a few too many beers one night, he steals some money from the till at work. He is caught by the foreman, who beats the young man. Carl-Henning defends himself and knocks the man down a flight of stairs. Convinced he has murdered the man, Carl runs away and joins up with a traveling carnival. Although the foreman has only a slight bump on the head and all is forgiven, Carl never receives word he is welcome to return and begins a series of adventures that take him far beyond the farm.
In the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean on the island of Troldø lives a single farming family. The grandmother Gunhild is the only woman on the island and her son Enok is unable to find a wife. Gunhild's advanced age causes her to worry for the future of the family. So she initiates a plan to get Enok married, a plan that is put into action when the young Eva becomes stranded on the island. But the community must be shaken by several dramatic events before Gunhild can breathe a sigh of relief.
