The film is based on the prose of J. A. Friis, Norwegian writer and university professor of Lappish. After the death of her Norwegian parents, Laila is taken in by Aslag Laagje, a wealthy Lapp (Sami) shepherd and owner of a huge herd of reindeer. Laila is raised with another of Aslag’s wards, Mellet, who falls in love with Laila. Aslag arranges for them to be married, but in the meantime Laila meets Anders Lind, her cousin, and they fall passionately in love. They plan a secret meeting, but Anders doesn’t show up; that same night he spends at the side of his dying father’s bed. Laila thinks he has abandoned her, and she agrees to marry Mellet. Anders, however, arrives at the ceremony in the nick of time; the truth of Laila’s origins comes out and the lovers rush into each others arms. Viewers will enjoy the film’s period elements: the wild northern landscape and Sami traditional dress, customs and music, the latter of which, in combination with the traditional piano accompaniment for silent films, intensifies the melodrama’s atmosphere.