Eli Sjursdotter is a 1938 Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 drama film

Drama film

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by Arne Bornebusch and Leif Sinding

Leif Sinding

Leif Sinding was a Norwegian journalist and film director.He worked for the newspapers Verdens Gang, Aftenposten and Morgenbladet. Among his silent films are Himmeluret from 1925, based on Gabriel Scott's comedy, and Fjeldeventyret from 1926...

, starring Sonja Wigert

Sonja Wigert

Sonja Wigert was a Norwegian actress. She appeared in 34 films between 1934 and 1960.-Selected filmography:* Blood and Fire * Onsdagsväninnan * Letter from the Dead...

, Ingjald Haaland

Ingjald Haaland

Ingjald Haaland was a Norwegian actor and theatre director. He was born in Fusa.He made his stage debut at Dore Lavik's touring theatre in 1908. He was a member of the ensemble at Det Norske Teatret from its start in 1913, and served as theatre director from 1922 to 1933. He also played in...

 and Sten Lindgren. The film is based on Johan Falkberget

Johan Falkberget

Johan Falkberget, born Johan Petter Lillebakken, was a Norwegian author.-Life and career:Johan Falkberget was born on the Falkberget farm in the Rugldal valley in the Norwegian copper mining municipality of Røros.In 1891, he began to write his Christianus Sextus trilogy, though it was not...

's 1913 novel by the same name.

In 1719, during the Great Northern War

Great Northern War

The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...

, a Swedish army is making its way home through Trøndelag

Trøndelag

Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger...

during a particularly cold winter. The Swedish soldier Per Jönsa (Lindgren) seeks refuge in a mountain cottage, where he is cared for by the peasant daughter Eli Sjursdotter (Wigert). This is not well received by Eli's father (Haaland), who hates the Swedes.