This section of the trilogy is named for the golden wreath Kristin wears as a young girl, which is reserved for virgins of noble family. Out of shame, she keeps this a secret from everyone, including Erlend, and is wed with her hair loose and wearing the family bridal crown - privileges reserved for virgin brides. Erlend and Kristin are formally betrothed, but she becomes pregnant before the wedding. Lavrans forbids their relationship, but after three years of Kristin's defiance and the death of Ulvhild, he no longer has the strength to oppose Kristin. They have had two children together, Orm and Margret, who have no legal rights since they were born of an adulterous relationship.Įrlend and Kristin begin a passionate romance which is sealed with Erlend's seduction of Kristin and their eventual complicity in Eline's death, both grievous sins in the eyes of Church and State. Erlend has been excommunicated by the Catholic Church for openly cohabitating with Eline, the wife of a prominent judge Eline left her elderly husband to live with Erlend, flouting both religious and social law. After an attempted rape raises questions about her reputation, she is sent to Nonneseter Abbey, Oslo, a Benedictine nunnery, which proves to be a turning point in her life.ĭespite being betrothed to a neighboring landowner's son, Simon Darre, Kristin falls in love with Erlend Nikulaussøn, from the estate of Husaby in Trøndelag. At an early age, she is exposed to various tragedies. Raised in a loving and devoutly religious family, Kristin develops a sensitive but wilful character, defying her family in small and large ways. Kristin Lavransdatter is the daughter of Lavrans, a charismatic, respected nobleman in a rural area of Norway, and his wife Ragnfrid, who suffers from depression after the loss of three infant sons and the crippling of her younger daughter Ulvhild in an accident. She experiences a number of conflicts in her relationships with her parents, and her husband, in medieval Norway.
Kristin grows up in Sel in the Gudbrand Valley, the daughter of a well-respected and affluent farmer.
The cycle follows the life of Kristin Lavransdatter, a fictitious Norwegian woman living in the 14th century. Her work is much admired for its historical and ethnological accuracy. This work formed the basis of Undset receiving the 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded to her "principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages". Kransen and Husfrue were translated from the original Norwegian as The Bridal Wreath and The Mistress of Husaby, respectively, in the first English translation by Charles Archer and J. The individual novels are Kransen ( The Wreath), first published in 1920, Husfrue ( The Wife), published in 1921, and Korset ( The Cross), published in 1922. Kristin Lavransdatter is a trilogy of historical novels written by Sigrid Undset.
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