For more than forty years, Osmann rows people, animals and goods across the icy waters of Skagafjordur, becoming a figure of near-mythic stature. A fisherman and a seal hunter, a poet, drinker and devout believer, he shelters the needy and lives in close communion with a landscape where elves, ghosts and faith coexist. His generous spirit extends to friendships and to three great loves, yet his life is marked by profound loss: children die in infancy, friends drown or emigrate, and modernity slowly encroaches on the valley he has always known.