The family eats their morning meal in tense silence. Finna, too ill to eat much, takes medicine from one of many bottles supplied by Dr. Finsen. After a brief nap, Bjartur goes to tend the sheep while the elder boys do outdoor chores. Inside, Finna lies bedridden, Ásta Sollilja is knitting and Hallbera spinning. Nonni plays an elaborate game with animal bones, but his grandmother scolds him for the noise and makes him knit. He claims to be a ghost to escape the task, prompting her to sing a long Latin-sprinkled hymn. When she criticizes his knitting again, Nonni diverts her by pointing out Ásta Sollilja has fallen asleep. Nonni asks for a ghost story, and Hallbera tells grim tales of famine, shipwrecks, murder, and the local evils of Kolumkilli and the witch Gunnvör.

Bjartur interrupts to announce visitors: the Bailiff of Myri with a farm laborer. The bailiff complains that Bjartur has buried another child in the Myri churchyard and offers to take Ásta Sollilja for a month to be educated by his wife. Bjartur angrily rejects the offer, asserting his daughter will never be dependent on others. The bailiff then offers to sell him a cow, which both Hallbera and the sick Finna support. The Bailiff dismisses Finna’s medicine as useless. Accused of profiteering on sheep, the Bailiff launches into an angry defense, claiming his dealings are charity and transitioning into a pitch for farmers to unite in co-operatives against merchant exploitation. Bjartur remains skeptical of the gentry’s motives. As the Bailiff leaves, he gives Ásta Sollilja a two-crown coin for a handkerchief and makes a final offer on the cow.

As dusk falls, the family eats supper silently. Hallbera mutters a charm invoking Bukolla, and Bjartur snaps at her to stop such talk before the children. Ásta Sollilja tells her father she wants to learn. When he offers to teach her the Bernotus Rhymes, she insists she wants to learn Christianity and go to Rauthsmyri as the bailiff suggested. Bjartur forbids it, praising his first wife for dying rather than yielding to Rauthsmyri’s influence. Seeing Ásta weeping over her washing-up, Bjartur softens. He promises to start teaching her to read tomorrow and says they may go to town and buy Orvar-Odds Saga and a handkerchief in the spring. He tells her to give him the Bailiff’s money, calling it “Judas money.” He offers her a garment from the chest for spring and, in a rare moment of affection, strokes her and promises to take her to town. Ásta nestles against the soft spot on his neck and is comforted.

The lamp is lit and evening proceeds. Bjartur whittles, the boys tease wool, and the dog settles by the hatchway. Nonni falls asleep as the day ends, and his grandmother unlaces his shoes.

Ásta Sollilja’s reading lessons begin with the Jomsviking Rhymes. When the ballads turn to “wenching,” Bjartur refuses to read them aloud. Ásta asks why, and her father slaps her face, not speaking to her the rest of the day. They switch to the Bernotus Rhymes, which she reads with blushing fascination. She identifies deeply with the heroine, Princess Fastina, waiting in her bedchamber while the hero, Bernotus, battles enemies alone on a distant strand. Ásta sees her father as Bernotus Borneyarkappi, the strongest man in the world.

One night, watching Bjartur work alone while others sleep, she whispers his name from under the blanket, wanting to tell him he is her Bernotus. But when he looks at her, she trembles and retreats, afraid he might slap her as he did over the Jomsviking verses. She feels she was lucky not to have spoken. He goes downstairs to check the lambs, and she follows his every sound, her heart thumping. He hums a verse from the rhymes as he returns and puts out the lamp.

In early March, a cow is brought over by Gudny from Rauthsmyri. Bjartur is initially furious, unwilling to have a cow compete with his sheep for fodder. The cow is installed in the horse Blesi’s stall. When Bjartur tries to pay the messengers, they say the cow may have been paid for from elsewhere. Bjartur is enraged at this implication of charity, threatening to kill the animal if he does not know who paid for it. The messengers leave.

Despite Bjartur’s hostility, the cow brings joy and improved health, and the fresh milk marks a new era. The children’s quarreling ceases, Ásta Sollilja works industriously on new clothing, and Hallbera remembers better hymns and less grim stories. Most remarkably, Finna recovers from her winter illness weeks earlier than usual and rises to kindle the fire and feed the cow. She forms a deep bond with the cow, whom she calls Bukolla, tending her faithfully and conversing with her. When Blesi the horse grows jealous and bites the cow, Finna nails an extra crossbar between their stalls to protect her. Bjartur grumbles that the cow deprives his sheep of hay, but the household thrives. Spring arrives, the snow melts, and the first birds return, bringing serene, happy days that Nonni will never forget.

The bailiff visits again, accompanied by his son, Ingolfur, and his daughter, Audur, 20 years old, beautiful, and elegantly dressed in riding breeches. Ingolfur greets Bjartur effusively. The bailiff attempts to return the money Bjartur sent for the cow, explaining it was a gift from the Women’s Institute. Bjartur furiously refuses the charity, railing against the Institute’s patronage and threatening to kill the cow. He insists he owes nothing to God or man and demands that no one “meddle” with his family.

Ingolfur launches into a long speech about the co-operative movement, arguing that co-operatives will provide fair prices and emancipate farmers from merchant tyranny. Bjartur rejects the proposal fiercely: He refuses to join any society or pay for the losses of big farmers. Impatient, Audur urges them to leave. The bailiff asks Ásta Sollilja if she bought a handkerchief with the money he gave her. Bjartur claims that the money was lost in a bog. The bailiff calls him a pig-headed mule, and they ride away. Ásta has been watching from the home-field with her rake.

The cow, Bukolla, is let out to pasture and gallops joyfully. The family dog harasses the cow, but Bjartur takes the dog’s side. When the lonely cow tries to run away to Rauthsmyri to find her stall-sisters, Finna decides to tend her herself, taking Nonni along. They spend serene days on the heath, knitting and listening to the landscape. Finna tells Nonni gentle stories about elves who help poor people. Finna hints at her own past friendships with elves from her childhood in Urtharsel. When Nonni proposes they go live with the elves, taking Bukolla along, Finna says they must look after Grandmother.

The narrator reflects on the beauty and meaning of Finna’s songs and stories. Finna teaches Nonni to sing, and he feels that her song is the most precious and incomprehensible expression of human dreams. Nonni knows that when he grows up, there can be no greater happiness than to return to his mother’s song.

On St. John’s Eve, Ásta Sollilja prepares for her promised trip to town. Bjartur gives her Rosa’s flowered dress, though it hangs loosely on her. At midnight, she bathes naked in the river dew, making a wish and discovering a new awareness of her body. The next morning, the journey awes Ásta, especially the ocean and the sights of the town. Stylish girls laugh at her appearance. In the merchant’s shop, the warehouseman jokes about her marrying his son, Magnus. The merchant, Tulinius Jensen, makes a great show of friendship with Bjartur. Bjartur has Ásta recite poetry and the merchant gives her a penny for a handkerchief.

They visit a bookseller to buy Orvar-Odds Saga, but it is out of print. Ásta glimpses a book titled The Secrets of Love, which simultaneously fascinates and terrifies her. Bjartur argues with the bookseller over modern literature and buys Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They spend the night at a cheap lodging-house where a brawl erupts among men. Terrified, Ásta wants to go home. Bjartur tells her they will share a bunk for safety. Lying beside him, cold, frightened, and lonely, Ásta is comforted by his unusual proximity. She shifts position and his hand touches her intimately. Confused by the new sensation, she responds passionately. Immediately, he abruptly pushes her away and leaves. Ásta is devastated and confused, not understanding what has happened. She wanders the desolate morning streets in the rain until her father finds her. They begin the journey home in silence. When they stop to eat, Ásta vomits. She loses her handkerchief and tears her mother’s dress when she slips in the mud.

For the first time, Bjartur hires summer labor: an old “pauper” woman named Fritha. She is foul-mouthed and perpetually complains about the tyranny of man. Her talk disrupts the silent, authoritarian atmosphere of the croft. One night, Ásta Sollilja reads Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs through twice, weeping with emotion and identifying deeply with the heroine. She is deeply moved by the story’s power to show life truly and sympathetically.

The summer is relentlessly wet. The children work 16-hour days, soaked to the skin in torn, inadequate clothing. They are continually sick, exhausted, and hungry. Fritha’s tirades against Bjartur as a “slave-driver” who starves and exploits his family begin to resonate with the miserable children. Her talk articulates their subconscious resentment, acting as a voice of emancipation. She insists Bjartur will kill Finna before giving her a coat and that the family’s independence is worthless. Helgi becomes openly defiant, and Nonni declares that their mother is ill because Bjartur will not give her a coat. Mealtimes of salt fish and sour pudding in the pouring rain are the only relief in their grueling days. The children grow to hate the work, the wet, and the unending tyranny of their father’s will.

Late in the summer, a stranger from the south is seen crossing the heath. Bjartur confronts him suspiciously. The visitor is on holiday and asks permission to pitch a tent and fish in the lake and Bjartur agrees. The visitor’s presence brings excitement and mystery; he is slim, sunburned, well-groomed, and displays a bulging wallet. His exotic pipe smoke leaves a fabulous fragrance. Ásta dreams of him as a fairy-tale prince.

The next day, the cow Bukolla gives birth to a male calf. The family is overjoyed, but Bjartur immediately remarks that they should “ready the knife” (224). Finna becomes protective of the cow and calf but, on Sunday morning, Bjartur announces he has killed the calf and is taking the veal to town. Finna is heartbroken and takes to her bed. Fritha curses Bjartur, and the children remember the calf’s prettiness and playfulness. The cow bellows ceaselessly for her lost son. Great tears run from her eyes. Finna cannot face the cow for days so Fritha milks the grieving animal instead.

The visitor appears at the croft with gifts of trout and geese. Ásta, cooking barefoot in a tattered slip, feels intensely ashamed of her appearance. The visitor cooks the trout himself while Hallbera watches. On Sunday, Bjartur sends Ásta and Nonni with a tub of milk to the visitor’s tent. He invites them to stay for fried duck. Inside his fragrant tent, he asks Ásta her name. Upon hearing Ásta Sollilja, he gazes at her and says he now knows why the valley is so lovely. They eat the meal, and Ásta is transfixed by him, imagining his house standing alone in a wood.

That evening, Ásta sees him walking over the ridge toward Rauthsmyri and feels a pang of doubt. Two days later, he returns at nightfall to announce he is leaving. Hallbera asks him to give greetings to her sister, Oddrun, whom she last heard of in the south 30 years ago. He promises to do so. He says goodbye to Ásta Sollilja, stroking her cheek and telling her he will never forget her lovely name in this lovely valley. She lies awake pondering his promise and his visits to Rauthsmyri. The next morning, his tent is gone. The fragrance of his tobacco eventually fades from the house.

The bailiff’s business in Vik is ruined by a co-operative society, so he and his son, Ingolfur, start a competing co-op in Fjord. A merchant, Tulinius Jensen, launches a price war, offering unprecedentedly low prices and easy credit. Bjartur takes advantage to buy timber and iron, announcing he will build a house. The children dream ecstatically of the new dwelling, imagining two floors and multiple rooms. Ásta pictures a great kitchen and a drawing-room with pictures and a sofa, wondering if the visitor will return.

While working together in the marshes, Bjartur sees his first wife in Ásta’s face—the “cross-eye” of longing and anguish. He suddenly feels tired and vulnerable. Ásta tells him it will be lovely when he starts building. He strokes her head and promises to build a big house for the flower of his life someday, but not this year.

That autumn, he builds a new ewe-house with a corrugated-iron roof and renovates the ground floor of the croft for the cow and horse. Master builders arrive, bringing lively conversation about merchants and co-operatives. Ásta sits by the window each evening, watching the clouds. She weaves the shifting colors and forms into elaborate daydreams about the visitor.

Bjartur, tempted by the new ewe-house, keeps more sheep than usual over the winter, although feeding them will be difficult. The family is unusually healthy due to the cow’s milk. Finna is again not bedridden this winter, though she still coughs from the fire smoke. She faithfully tends Bukolla, keeping her stall clean and talking to her when the cow moans in depression. The children learn to love the cow because of the milk that brings harmony to the household.

The minister, Reverend Teodor, visits and insists Ásta and Helgi receive religious instruction before confirmation. Bjartur argues about modern religion, defending the old ways and the late Reverend Gudmundur. They agree Ásta may be confirmed a year after Helgi, but both must go to the homesteads next winter for instruction.

In early March, Bjartur finds one of his ewes, Hetja, mysteriously earmarked. Helgi reports seeing a strange bundle roll into the lake. The household fears the ghost of Kolumkilli. But an early thaw brings hope and the family enjoy the first signs of spring.

On Good Friday, the weather breaks. A terrible blizzard begins. Bjartur’s sheep, weakened by poor hay and lungworm, are in peril. The storm rages. Hallbera sings a terrifying hymn about a “madman.” On Easter morning, Finna takes to her bed, unable to face what is coming.

The Easter blizzard lasts five days, devastating the flock. The good hay is nearly gone and Bjartur must choose between feeding the sheep or the cow, Bukolla. When the storm breaks, may ewes are too weak to move or graze. Bjartur begins cutting the throats of diseased sheep, burying them and mourning each one.

The family is down to one meal a day. Finna makes whipped milk with a whisk to stretch the meager supply, explaining that Jesus taught this to a poor woman. The cow grows thinner, her yield vanishing. One evening, Finna begs Bjartur to go up-country and ask for hay. He refuses furiously, declaring he will never beg or be in anyone’s debt. Finna pleads that they owe the cow so much. Bjartur insists he will never betray his sheep, which took him 18 years to build and 12 more years of land payments to secure. The cow was forced on him to deprive the sheep of hay. There is only one thing he will do for the cow, and that will be done. Finna says in a toneless voice that if he is going to kill Bukolla, he must kill her first.

The weather remains foul. Bjartur has lost 25 ewes, each one graven in his memory. Visitors arrive: Audur of Myri and an escort, bound for Fjord to catch the mail-steamer south. The blizzard forces Audur to stay the night. She is “hysterical” with despair, terrified of missing the ship and her appointment in Reykjavik on Saturday. She refuses to eat, lies wrapped in her own horsecloth on boxes, and repeatedly goes out to check the weather. She is sick several times. Ásta lies awake, wondering whom Audur must meet and fearing it involves the southern visitor.

The next morning, the storm has passed. Audur is cheerful and wolfing down food. Her escort reveals to Bjartur that she is pregnant and getting married. He implies the father is the co-operative hero from the south—the visitor who camped by the lake. Bjartur sees his guests off.

More snow is likely. Bjartur takes down and whets two butcher’s knives. He orders his son Helgi to come downstairs with him. Finna throws her arms around his neck, begging him not to kill the cow, crying that she cannot bear to see the children starving any longer. With a jerk of his shoulders, he throws her off and disappears downstairs. Finna hears the cow lowing piteously and sinks into Hallbera’s arms.