Sjöström was much taken by "Terje Vigen," a poem by Henrik Ibsen. But it was not until he visited the Norwegian coast near Grimstad that the figure of the spirited, defiant fisherman of the title coalesced. Seeing the pounding sea, the rocks and ships, Sjöström realized that Terje's strength was the strength of the sea itself. With this revelation, he set about making a film in which the landscape, the very soil, would express the spiritual nuances of the community. Sjöström, himself, plays the foolhardy Norwegian fisherman who pierces the English blockade during the Napoleonic Wars, and fetches provisions from Denmark for his family. In a community balanced by its relationship to the sea-both protector and source of danger-purpose and endeavor are precarious. Tamper with this balance and a life can be destroyed. Following this notion, Sjöström subtly shifts Terje's relationship with the omnipresent sea, sighting alienation off the jagged coastline. Peter Cowie observes: "Terje Vigen, like most of Sjöström's heroic figures, battles unavailingly against the forces of authority. But the rebel in front of the camera is a fiendish master of discipline behind it. For sheer editing skill, the sea-chase could hardly be better, contrasting Terje's desperate rowing with the well-drilled English crew slipping through the breakers and bearing down on their prey. The naturalism of Terje Vigen, and its use of the sea as an ever-present location, set Sjöström apart from his contemporaries in other countries."