Steen Steensen Blicher

In nineteenth century Jutland, Mikkel Krænsen, a peddler of knitted goods, wants the best for his daughter Cecilia, who is in love with the neighbour's son Esben. Only too late, the father realises that love is not as manageable as business.

A tale of murder and marriage in 1625 Denmark.

In a sexual and romantic drama of intrigue, lies, and gossip, a young woman over a long period of time, has children by both men, her husband and lover before her deception begins to fall apart. Elise (Ann-Mari Max Hansen) is an outgoing, happy woman married to Henry (Ole Ernst), the town doctor. Because of a mix-up one day, she finds herself first compromised and then romantically involved with William (Henning Jensen), a captain of the Dragoons. Her story is told from the viewpoint of the town vicar, who may not be such an innocent bystander as he first seems. Eventually, gossip begins to run rampant, and Elise's life heads for a radical change.

This is the story of Sejr, a tenant farmer, and his conflict with the dictatorial lord who stubbornly refuses to grant him the farm he needs in order to get married. However, the nobility and the peasants find common ground when a common enemy arises: the Robbers, a group of thieves who kill and rape, but also call for rebellion against those in power.

Sometime in the 1700s, Mikkel, a farmer from Jutland, wants to marry off his daughter Cecil to the wealthy Mads Egelund, but she is in love with the haberdasher Esben. Mads proposes, but does not receive a definitive answer. Shortly afterwards, Esben leaves for Holsten on business, and Cecil vows to wait for him. A couple of years pass. After an attempt to force Cecil to marry Mads, she is now in a state of insanity. Esben returns home happy and prosperous, but Cecil does not recognize him and, in a fit of madness, she cuts his throat during the night. Some time passes and Cecil regains her sanity. She does not know what she has done and is still waiting for Esben. Mads comes to visit, and after Cecil has rejected yet another marriage proposal, he reveals the truth to her, and with a wild scream she falls back into insanity.

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?

In the early 17th century, the tyrannical parish priest in Vejlby, Søren Jensen Quist, tries to force his daughter Maren into a lucrative marriage with the wealthy farmer Mikkel Ibsen. However, Maren prefers the bailiff. When Mikkel feels that both the bailiff and the priest are encroaching on his power, he arranges for the priest to be convicted and executed for the murder of Mikkel's brother, Nils Ibsen.