The three robbers Kasper, Jesper and Jonathan lives together with their always hungry lion in the little town of Kardemomme by, the home to a fair but kind police officer, and the strict Aunt Sofie.

This is a tale that has an epic scope in scenery "the northern snow-covered lands of coastal Norway" and is dramatized by moments of tumultuous stormy weather. But the focus is on Heikki (Stein Bjorn) a young man who is inspired by the northern lights to take a horse-drawn sled and make his way to the sea, hoping to come back with abundant fish. He is overtaken by a snowstorm and is forced to find shelter in a small, isolated cabin that is home to a half-crazy widow, her baby, and a blind man. Driven to arson by her internal demons, the woman destroys the cabin. She and the blind man perish, but Heikki manages to save the baby. He is now faced with an even greater challenge as he holds the infant and looks in the direction of the coastline.