The whole of this work is known as “Kristin Lavransdatter”. Part 1 is called “The Bridal Wreath”, and was published in 1923 Part 2, “The Mistress of Husaby”, was published in 1925 and Part 3, “The Cross”, in 1927. In the end, I find her to be a self-centered young woman who forgets about her first love quickly, starts an affair she knows will tear apart her community, pushes away a father whom she has always loved, is not too upset when Erlend’s mistress conveniently kills herself, and in the end gets what she wants.Sigrid Undset’s masterpiece is actually a trilogy. Her father finally relents after his wife intercedes and Kristin manages to get married without people knowing her wreath is a lie.

Well, except when Erlend shows up again and she gets pregnant. Kristin’s father is obviously reluctant to bless the union of Erlend and Kristin, so Kristin just acts depressed for nearly a year. While Erlend and Kristin profess their love for one another, Eline commits suicide. Erlend and the woman, Eline, have two children together. Erlend comes from a royal line but has been excommunicated by the Catholic Church and pushed aside by his family for having an open affair with a woman who is married to an elderly husband. While there she meets Erlend Nikulausson in town and begins an affair with him (less than a year after losing her first love), including losing her virginity to him (the “wreath” represents her virginity). The convent is home not just to nuns, but young women waiting to return to life beyond the convent. Her father then gets her engaged to a young man she does not want to marry, but she agrees to spend time at the convent while awaiting her marriage.

She is quick to fall in love, first falling for a farmhand who is later killed. They’ve lost infant sons and their youngest daughter, so Kristin is all they have. While the mother is reclusive and depressed, Lavrans is a successful and popular farmer and close to young Kristin. This is 14th-century Norway and Kristin is the daughter of Lavrans and Rangfrid. Instead, her life goes on and she seems to learn nothing from the damage she leaves in her wake. In fact, she is quite unlikable but with none of the redeeming qualities we may find in other failed people. In Sigrid Undset’s first volume of the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy, we find a young heroine who grows up to be so self-centered she is hard to like.

Kristin lavransdatter by sigrid undset