We have been re-reading
books that we loved many years ago, and it has occurred to us
that you might enjoy seeing them reviewed.
If you've never
read them, the reviews may pique your interest. If you have read
them already, you might consider dipping back into them as we
have.
We find that it
an interesting process, looking back at books we read in our twenties
and thirties. The books themselves haven't changed, but thanks
to the varied experiences that another twenty or thirty years
have added to our lives, we read them from a different perspective.
Herewith, the first review of an old, beloved book (actually,
three books):
Sigrid Undset (1882-1949),
the author of this trilogy, "Kristin
Lavransdatter", was
a remarkable woman. We suggest that you read the fascinating introduction
to Volume 1, "The Wreath," as the story of Undset's
life is far too complex to repeat here. Suffice it to say that
she is one of the great women of the 20th century: wife, mother,
authority on the Middle Ages, writer, freedom fighter, and winner
of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928.
Volume 1: The Wreath
The wreath referred
to in the title is the floral wreath that young Norwegian girls
in the Middle Ages were entitled to wear atop their unbound hair
until marriage. All three volumes of "Kristin Lavransdatter"
take place in the first half of the 14th century, roughly 1300-1350.
The story begins when
Kristin is seven years old, the eldest and beloved daughter of
Lavrans Bjorgulfson, Lord of the Manor called Jorundgaard. Her
mother, Ragnild, is described as rather moody and melancholy,
traits that may be understandable considering that she lost two
male children before Kristin was born, and of her three daughters,
the middle one was badly injured in an accident, and died young.
Although at first it
may seem confusing to enter into the culture of the Middle Ages,
Undset's true ear and her knowledge of the period soon draw the
reader in. Her ability to deliver characters of depth and complexity
makes her story as compelling as anything set in modern times.
And if ever you wondered what differentiates great literature
from soap operas or romance novels, these books should make it
clear.
We follow Kristin from
childhood to adolescence, during which she learns not only to
read and perform housewifely duties, but also becomes familiar
with the many medicinal uses of herbs and plants. Lavrans betroths
her at a young age to Simon Andresson, an eminently good catch.
Because of her youth, she is sent to live in a convent for a year
before the wedding, and during this time, she falls in love with
a dashing nobleman ten years her senior, Erland Nikulausson.
Erland has been in
disgrace, having been banished and excommunicated for his affair
with a married woman who bore him two children while her husband
was still living. He has since broken off with the woman and done
penance, and has been allowed to return to his homeland. After
her husband died, however, out of pity for his former mistress
and his love for his children, he has allowed her to live on his
estate at Husaby, creating more scandal. He has paid dearly for
his actions, and has lost the respect of his aristocratic family
and connections.
Erland's seduction
of Kristin; their clandestine affair; the confrontation when she
must finally confess it to Simon; and the dreadful effect that
her deceit and duplicity has on her family, makes up the last
half of the book. Although Kristin could not have hoped to marry
someone so far above her rank under normal circumstances, Erland's
rakehell reputation makes him less than acceptable in Lavrans'
eyes. We see Kristin's shame and the helplessness of her sexual
involvement, but it is clear that the true message of this book
isn't about the perils of illicit love, but about loss of honor
- Kristin's, Erland's, and the damage they have done to the honor
of their families. Their efforts to redeem it will continue throughout
their lives, and there will be many stumblings and woundings in
that process.
Volume I ends with
the reconciliation of Kristin with her father, the marriage of
Erland and Kristin, and a heartbreaking revelation about her parent's
marriage.
Volume 2: The Mistress
of Husaby
This book tells the
story of the early years of Kristin's married life. Three months
pregnant at her wedding, Kristin has kept her secret to herself.
When it ultimately becomes obvious to Erland, he shows clearly
his disappointment that the world will know that his first legitimate
son was conceived before the wedding. Kristin finds his lukewarm
response hard to bear, especially because she herself is convinced
that her child may be malformed as payback for her sin. The description
of Nikulaus's birth is harrowing, and Kristin's joy when she finds
the baby perfect is palpable.
Eventually, Erland
and his father-in-law, Lavrans, become reconciled. Simon, Kristin's
former fiancé, marries her youngest sister, Ramborg. The families
become very close, and things seem happy until Lavrans dies. Two
years later, Ragnild follows her husband in death.
As the years pass,
Erland and Kristin have seven sons. Erland is a faithful and loving
husband, but often impulsive and tactless. The manor of Husaby,
let drift during the years of his disgrace, thrives under Kristin's
capable management. Erland, however, has little interest in farming
or running his estate. He takes to a more adventurous life and
has great success at it. Slowly he wins his way back to positions
befitting his family's background.
As Erland's duties
as warden (a high official) of a northern district expand, Kristin,
left at home to rear the seven sons, is often bitter and exhausted.
During one of their times of conflict and anger, Erland briefly
takes up with another woman, more to spite Kristin than from any
fondness for the woman. When he breaks off with her, the woman
sets out on a revenge that will cost him dearly. She has taken
letters from his wallet that implicate him in a scheme to threaten
the monarchy. Imprisoned for high treason, he endures the rack
without implicating his accomplices. Kristin stands by him, and
Simon, her brother-in-law and former fiancé, eventually wins his
release.
Volume 3: The Cross
Forced, as one of the
terms of his release, to forfeit his estate at Husaby, Erland,
Kristin and their sons now live at Jorundgaard, the estate Kristin
inherited from her father. Simon Andresson and his family have
become very dear to Erland and to Kristin. The two families are
bound ever more tightly by many shared experiences, not only Erland's
rescue from prison, but also by Kristin's care of her nephew Andres,
Simon and Ramborg's eldest child, when he was deathly sick.
The years pass and
it becomes apparent that Ramborg has begun to resent Kristin,
sensing that Simon has never stopped loving her - as indeed he
has not. Despite Simon's pains to conceal his feelings, Erland,
too, recognizes them, and the two men have a final falling out.
Their enmity puzzles and distresses Kristin and her family, but
Kristin will not gainsay her husband, who declines to discuss
the matter, so the families no longer share visits.
As their sons grow
up and become involved with girls, Kristin and Erland have many
arguments. Erland accuses Kristin of smothering them; Kristin
accuses Erland of being too lax. Tensions build, and at last there
is a terrible confrontation during which Erland's resentment of
having to live on Kristin's land bursts out. The upshot is that
he removes himself to a small property he owns in the mountains.
For many months, although their sons try to broker a peace, the
two pridefully remain at a standoff.
Kristin is called to
Simon's deathbed, but her knowledge of herbs and cures cannot
save him. At the end, he extracts from her a promise to journey
to her husband's retreat and make up the quarrel. She makes good
her promise, and is reconciled to Erland. An ecstatic few days
ensue, during which an eighth child is conceived. Kristin leaves
believing that Erland will soon come down the mountain to live
with the family, but Erland believes she will come to live with
him. He considers the older boys capable of going out into the
world to make their own ways, and expects Kristin to bring the
two youngest ones with her.
When Kristin's pregnancy
becomes obvious, there is gossip in the village concerning Kristin
and Ulf, Erland's kinsman and the manager of Jorundgaard. The
baby is born, but is very weak, too weak to eat properly. Despite
Kristin's efforts, he dies before he is three months old. An angry
priest accuses Kristin of adultery and neglect of the child. The
bishop, who is called in, believes in her innocence, but wants
to know why her husband has not come forward to defend her. One
of the sons rides secretly to his father, and Erland rushes to
testify for Kristin - but a confrontation with the crowd when
he arrives erupts into violence, and Erland receives a mortal
wound.
A year later, in the
spring, Munan, her youngest surviving son, also dies.
The other sons go their
ways, except for Gaute, the third born, who is now manager of
Jorundgaard. As the years pass, he, who is most like Kristin's
father, Lavrans, shows himself to be a good guardian of the estate.
His two older brothers, Nikulaus and Bjorgulf, have gone to a
monastery, and given up their claim to the land. When Gaute brings
home a woman whom he will make his wife, Kristin agrees to turn
over the running of the household to her new daughter-in-law.
After the first child
is born, the tensions between old mistress and new make it clear
to Kristin that she must move on. She is not embittered by her
situation, realizing that the young people need the opportunity
to have their turn at life, but her departure is a very poignant
moment for all of them. She goes to a convent near the monastery
where her oldest sons are novices, and lives there as a lay sister,
intending eventually to take the vows. The year is 1349, the year
of the Black Plague. In 1350, the plague reaches Norway. Kristin
puts her medical skills to use, but nothing can stop the spread
of the disease. Having cared for others, heedless of her own well-being,
she finally succumbs to the Black Death herself.
To say that these are
great books is pathetically inadequate. Herewith, a passage that
shows better than any outside comment can indicate, the depth
and pertinence of this tale. Kristin's grown son, Ivar, has offered
her a home with him, now that she has given over her role at Jorundgaard
to her daughter-in-law.
"Kristin sat with her
little grandson in her lap, and thought that it would not be easy
for her at either place. It was a hard matter, growing old. It
seemed that she herself was the young woman, just lately...Now
she had drifted into a backwater. And not long ago her own sons
had been like this child on her knee...Recently, the thought of
her own mother rose often in her mind - her mother that she could
only remember as an ageing, heavy-hearted woman. Yet she had been
young, once; she, too, lay and warmed her baby girl with her body's
warmth. Her mother too had been marked in youth, body and soul,
by the bearing and nourishing of children; and she had thought
perchance no more than Kristin herself, when she sat with that
sweet young life at her breast, that so long as they two lived,
each single day would lead the child farther and farther from
her arms.
"'When you yourself
had borne a child, Kristin, I thought you would understand,' her
mother had said once. Now, she understood that her mother's heart
had been scored deep with memories of her daughter, memories of
thoughts for her child from the time it was unborn and from all
the years a child remembers nothing of, memories of fear and hope
and dreams that children never know have been dreamed for them,
until their own time comes to fear and hope and dream in secret
- "
Notes about the
books:
Vol. I: The Wreath,
297 pp
Vol. II: The Mistress
of Husaby, 403 pp
Vol. III: The Cross,
424 pp
Originally published
in Norwegian in 1920, US copyright 1925, by Alfred A. Knopf.
My bookstore had The
Wreath only in the 1997 edition. The other two volumes reviewed
here were from a 1987 edition by Vintage Books, translated by
Charles Archer. We strongly recommend the '97 Penguin edition
translated by Tiina Nunnally for the smoothness of the translation.
The Archer version is filled with archaic language (t'was and
t'were and "sooth," for example) and awkward grammar that is possibly
a too-literal translation of Norwegian construction. A quick search
shows that the Nunnally version exists in all three volumes, and
we recommend that you search it out.
E-mail
us if there are favorites of your own that you intend to or
have reread and why.
