The Girl of Solbakken

Synnove lives with her parents at the farm Solbakken on a sunny hill. Thorbjorn, who lives at Granliden in the shadow of a big mountain, often looks wistfully up to Solbakken. As teenagers they meet and fall in love. Another boy, Knud Nordhaug, is also yearning for Synnove. Together with some companions he bullies Thorbjorn, who knocks them down. When Knud meets Synnove's father, he gets him to believe that it is Thorbjorn who is the bully. Synnove's parents forbid her to meet Thorbjorn henceforth. Some years later Knud proposes to Synnove, but is turned down. At Midsummer Eve Thorbjorn and Synnove meet secretly. They renew their love-vows, and Thorbjorn promises to develop a better reputation in the village. When Thorbjorn is driving a loaded cart to the town, the wagon breaks down. As the Nordhaug farm is nearby, he goes there to lend a new wagon. Knud sees Thorbjorn and starts a fight. When Thorbjorn turns away, Knud stabs a knife in his back. For many weeks Thorbjorn hovers between life and death. Ultimately he rises from the bed, but as a changed man, open for reconciliation.