The famous Swedish Karoliner army has suffered its biggest defeat ever at Poltava in 1709. The Swedish king Karl XII is waiting in the small village of Bender for the Turkish sulton to help him defeat his arch enemy, the czar of Russia, Peter the Great. But the Turks think he's an expensive guest and want him out of Turkey. However, he refuses. The sultan then decides to send Karl XII a princess to marry him, to get him out of the country (a bride for a bribe). The two Swedish soldiers Lagercrona and Kruus are to escort the princess. They experience many different adventures on their way to Bender, namely because other Swedish soldiers and agents try to stop them from ever reaching the village, because they don't want Karl XII to leave Turkey. After their long adventure to get there and a few misunderstandings, the famous "kalabalik" of Bender, where the Turks decide to drive Karl XII out of Turkey by force, begins.

A young man is hiding in the bushes. His clothing and hair indicates it's the 1700s. The young man tears out a page of a book and wrap a string around it. He approaches a girl and hands over the book page to her.

About an unemployed father's relationship with his son. The father explores his innermost desires. Dancing ballet in red tulle skirt is one.

Three city kids are taken somewhat reluctantly to a farm out in the forests of Sweden. There they meet the resident country kids who's rosy cheeks and youthful antics mirror the apathy and cynicism of the children grown up in the callous and barren streets of the city. In the country, strange and mysterious things are afoot. Sudden fires, cars braking down and enigmatic sightings point to there being more than the modern man fathoms in the woods. People talk of trolls and beings in the woods, guardians of the land, but the grown ups do not believe and the cynical city children say such talk is nonsense.

In a small village in Västergötland, everything is turned upside-down when the local loner dies and his cottage is inherited by his unknown relative Fanny. She rides into town on a big black motorcycle with her androgynous boyfriend Zack, wearing black leather and spikes. When they decide to stay, Flogfält's plans to buy the cottage are upset.