Jón Magnússon Ósmann transports people, animals and wares across the water in northern Iceland. Heʼs a seal hunter; he sees ghosts and elves; heʼs a philanthropist who helps children and the poor; heʼs a god-fearing drinker and a poet. Ósmann is larger than life, strong and gregarious, yet fate ultimately drives him perilously close to the floods he has sailed on his whole life long.