One evening, in a remote Norwegian mountain-town, two 12 year old girls meet. For the first time in their lives they are thrown into a strong emotional confrontation. The next day, Unn is unable to meet Siss again. Instead, she ventures alone into the cold, lonely winter landscape.

The daughter of a prominent medieval Norway landowner, Kristin grows up in total harmony with the ideals of the time: strong family ties, social pride and devout Christianity. As she accepts the fact that she has been arranged to marry the son of another landowner, Kristin's beauty, innocence and purity evokes violent emotions around her: envy, lust, murder, revenge. She seeks refuge in a convent, awaiting marriage. Here, the passion of her life strikes, the knight Erlend Nikulaussonn. However, their love cannot be private, and suddenly Kristin is the centre of a scandal.

Hindu god Indra has a daughter Agnes, who visits Earth to find out if people have legitimate complaints. She marries a lawyer from Bergen and has children, but is disillusioned by marriage and embarks on a journey among men.

In the not-so-distant past, somewhere in northern Norway. The main character is Margit, an orphaned young girl. She has been sent to live on the farm of Krestian and Johanna, where we also find the farmhand Bæla, a physical giant but mentally still a child. Krestian and Simon, his brother, are constantly fighting with each other, and Simon tempts Bæla with "a thousand kroner" to get him to "beat the crap out of Krestian." Margit senses that something is about to happen and tries to prevent Bæla from becoming a murderer. Margit's surroundings include the helpless Vavva, the consumptive and malicious young boy Arild, and Magdalena, who has entrusted her life to the Lord.