Magnús Jóhannsson

"Síðasti bærinn í dalnum" is in the spirit of old folktales, a classic fairy tale about the struggle of good and evil. In the countryside, all the farmers have fled because of pestering trolls. One farmer, however, holds his ground with his family as the grandmother keeps a magic ring that protects the inhabitants from all evil. The trolls try to steal the ring and thus set in motion a series of events where forces of evil, a dwarf who can make himself invisible and an elf queen come to light.

A 10-minute black-and-white silent film showing sheep being transported by Icelandic Airlines planes.

Image and sound manage to weave together everything that is still interesting to this day for foreign visitors who visit the country, namely diverse nature and natural phenomena such as wilderness, mountains, glaciers, rivers and waterfalls, hot areas, both hot springs and volcanic eruptions, as well as mentioning wild birds and salmon.

The film shows a salmon hatchery at Laxalón. It shows how the salmon were caught at the hatchery on the Elliðaá River, the eggs and sperm squeezed out of them, mixed together, the eggs hatched, and finally the fry were brought to the pond. The process of spawning and hatching of the fry is monitored, which are then raised until they are mature enough to be transported to new homes across the country and even to more distant places.

The film begins at Arnarhóll, where children are sledding. The rural romance floats over the lakes, and the lyrics suggest that children, some of whom get to enjoy a stay in the countryside in the summer, recall their connection with the animals and wander down to the southern end of the pond, Þorfinnstjörn, in search of peace. Hundreds of ducks of ten different species have nested there. It is traced how they raise their young in the nearby puddles and marshes and then bring them to the pond, where the children give them bits of their nest on their way to and from school.