Ropartz had already created a score for Louis Tiercelin's stage adaptation of Pierre Loti's novel Pêcheur d'Islande (An Iceland Fisherman) on the same basic theme.
Ropartz makes frequent use of leitmotives and also incorporates elements of Breton folk melodies to represent the hero's nostalgia for his homeland.
Autumn: A cottage in Iceland: Tual, a Breton fisherman who has survived a shipwreck, has been recuperating in the home of Jörgen, an old trapper.
Tual reminds her that after he had dragged himself ashore from the shipwreck, he nearly died in the Hrafuaga, a dangerous Icelandic swamp; only Jörgen's timely arrival saved him.
In the absence of a preacher Jörgen "marries" the couple by insisting that Tual dedicate himself to Kaethe by swearing on the "mud of Hrafuaga" that if he ever abandons her it will swallow him up.
Act 2 Spring: The Icelandic shore: Tual dreams of Paimpol, his home in Brittany, while making a small fishing boat.
Jörgen returns home tipsy after drinking gin and reminisces about Kaethe's late mother, describing how they grew up together.