The incidents in this novel take place during a time before the Reformations and they have with them the distinct hue of extreme Faroese legend and tradition. Wrestling matches would define and redefine the boundaries between pastures.

The use of a knife would come about during these fights, secretly though. Shipwrecked people from Norway would come to the Faroe Islands and would remain here. But the old Faroese farming society did not show generosity towards these men. Farmers hungry for land stood in their way and the greed didn’t shy away from murder or foul play. Marital arrangements were made in order to keep land property together. There is a struggle between good and evil, willpower and weakness, love and hate. A sequence of terrible incidents and murders occurs.