Kristin Lavransdatter

This is a book that I first came across back in the 70s but couldn’t afford to buy at the time. Fast forward nearly forty years to Summer 2020 when one of the ladies in my book club, which takes the summer off, mentioned that she was going to read Kristin Lavrandatter over the summer. What a great idea, thought I. And so, with some saved up gift cards, I ordered it online and read it during the summer, too.

Here we have three novels as part of one epic story (1144 pages in this version). Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Undset, consists of The Wreath (published in 1920), The Wife (1921), and The Cross (1922). She won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928. The prose is beautiful and poetic in this translation by Tiina Nunnally. She omits nothing, as an earlier translation does, paying respect to Undset’s story and Kristin’s life.

Set in medieval Norway, the story spans the life of Kristin from the time she was a little girl to her death at about age 50. Along the way, she marries, has 7 surviving sons, and endures hardships physical, mental, and spiritual.  

Undset’s characters try their best to live according to their Catholic faith (this is before the Reformation, which split the Church). Since we all are stained from original sin, we all fail sometimes and so do these people. They carry grudges, have children out of wedlock, commit adultery, give in to their jealous natures, and put themselves and others in danger because of their egos. However, they do take their faith seriously and suffer greatly in the knowledge of their sins. They make pilgrimages to holy shrines, seek forgiveness in the Confessional, and attend Mass no matter the difficulty of weather or terrain. They are flesh and blood people, not characters made up to conform to a particular archetype. The story is gripping and Kristin is a compelling heroine, despite her weaknesses. Or, maybe because of them.

The book encourages readers to examine their own lives in light of their relationship with God and the world, and whether it has been a life well lived.