Eldsmiðurinn (The Blacksmith) is a film about an eighty year old craftsman and inventor, who lives alone on the east coast of Iceland. He claims to have made the first multi-gear bicycle and he has also converted a clock into a calendar. This remarkable personality is seen at work and talking about his world views. The film also shows the point of contact between simple craftsmanship and more developed technology in areas like transport, wind-generators etc. It also represents the collision between world-views as represented in the news media (TV, radio) and traditional ways of thought, often tinged with mysticism, in isolated areas of the countryside.