Vi er i Norge en gang for længe siden. Den fattige bondesøn Espen Askedreng og hans brødre begiver sig ud på en farlig rejse for at redde kongens prinsesse, så de kan bruge belønningen til at genopbygge familiens gård. Prinsessen er blevet kidnappet af Troldkongen; en grusom trold, der siges at være umulig at bekæmpe.
This is the first movie of a Norwegian fantasy adventure trilogy, starring Vebjørn Enger as Espen Askeladd. His character is a poor farm boy who has never even dreamt of falling in love in a royalty. There she is – princess Kristin who has just turned 18 and who is obliged to marry the noble prince Fredrik. The stubborn princess wants to live and love her way and she successfully escapes the castle. Sadly, there is an old prophesy, saying that if the wedding doesn’t happen immediately, a hideous troll will take the young woman up in the mountain. Now the king is ready to do anything to save his beloved daughter and he gives a difficult promise – her hand and half of the kingdom will belong to whomever saves her. Do you believe in trolls, unicorns and witches? “There’s always something true in all fairytales!”