a vacation, his position at his former job was lost. While staying at the farm again, it is evident that Eleseus is weak compared to his brother and isn't a physical worker. After much consideration, Eleseus purchased Aronsens' home with Isak's money. He stayed for a while but after realizing that he no longer wanted that lifestyle, set off to America never to be seen again. Sivert, the second eldest son, is a strong, hard-working person. He is similar to his father in terms of strength. Sivert is named after his uncle who was supposed to leave his nephew most of his supposedly large fortune, which amounted to nothing at his death. Leopoldine is one of the daughters which Inger bore while she was serving her prison sentence for committing infanticide. Rebecca is the youngest daughter who was born afterwards. Geissler Geissler is the ex-Lensmand of the village. He was a great friend of Isak and helped him sell his land, release Inger from prison, and give advice on selling the mine. Geissler was replaced by Lensmand Heyerdahl after a sharp reprimand from his superior. Isak admired Geissler and was always excited when he came by. Geissler would often be doing big business with other people and travelling but towards the end of the novel, he was seemingly becoming worn out and out of health. As the plot progresses Geissler becomes antagonistic as his personal business begins negatively affecting the lives and businesses of the township. Isak's neighbours Isak's neighbours are Brede Olsen, Aronsen, Axel Strom and Barbro. The first neighbour to settle near Isak was Brede Olsen of the farm Breidablik. He was scatterbrained and unable to look after a farm properly. Evidence of neglect of Brede's tools were seen as Isak passed by his farm to go to the village. Brede's place was eventually sold because of outstanding charges with the banks in the villages. They allowed Brede to make it seem like he was selling Breidablik out of his own will to avoid unnecessary embarrassment. Breidablik was purchased by Axel Strom who bought it for his brother. Axel Strom was the owner of Maaneland. He was not proficient at farming as Isak was but received help from Barbro, Brede's daughter, who went to work for him. Aronsen was another very rich settler who set up a store in order to make profit from the many miners who