The Master of Hestviken
by Sigrid Undset
The Master of Hestviken (Collections and Selections — omnibus)
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Oorspronkelijke titel en uitgave: Olav Audunsen i Hestviken, 1925. Liefdesgeschiedenis, zich afspelend in de 13e eeuw in Zuid-Noorwegen waarin de strijd tussen de eigen wil en de door het katholieke geloof opgelegde plicht een belangrijke rol speeltTags
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This is not a Viking Raid. There's no lightning slash of blades with our heroes quickly away congratulating themselves on their initiative. This is Thomas Hardy's country, a slow mind-numbing grind-out of tragic destinies. Well done, and I suggest that there's gratitude due to the English translator, Arthur Chater. It seems to me that many Sagas from Iceland, that a visiting Norseman starts trouble, and here in Norway, it's that Icelander....'Just Sayin...'
It would be presumptuous of me to say that this is the greatest novel of the twentieth century. But I am not prepared to say that it isn't.
Someday I hope to come back and say why. In the meantime, here is a note that may help other readers to understand it: Norse law in the Middle Ages distinguished between two kinds of killing. Killing someone might be wrong, or it might be a case of a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. But the killer was under an obligation to announce publicly what he had done at the earliest opportunity. Killing someone and keeping it secret, on the other hand, was murder and execrated by everyone. For one thing, it deprived the dead person's kin of the opportunity to seek revenge or compensation; thus it was a show more form of theft, theft being universally regarded with horror.
(Others on the internet have noted that the parents of the heroine of Undset's other great historical novel, Kristin Lavransdatter, make a cameo appearance in this one. So does the saintly English monk Edvin Richardsson.) show less
Someday I hope to come back and say why. In the meantime, here is a note that may help other readers to understand it: Norse law in the Middle Ages distinguished between two kinds of killing. Killing someone might be wrong, or it might be a case of a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. But the killer was under an obligation to announce publicly what he had done at the earliest opportunity. Killing someone and keeping it secret, on the other hand, was murder and execrated by everyone. For one thing, it deprived the dead person's kin of the opportunity to seek revenge or compensation; thus it was a show more form of theft, theft being universally regarded with horror.
(Others on the internet have noted that the parents of the heroine of Undset's other great historical novel, Kristin Lavransdatter, make a cameo appearance in this one. So does the saintly English monk Edvin Richardsson.) show less
Unlike Kristen Lavransdatter, this is a novel of weakness, in which the only hope of salvation is in turning to Christ. I admired Olav, and disliked the narrative twists with which Undset breaks his spirit.
2414 The Master of Hestviken: The Axe The Snake Pit In the Wilderness The Son Avenger, by Sigrid Undset (read 10 Oct 1991) For years my response to the question"What is the best book you have ever read?" was "Kristin Lavransdatter," which I read as a freshman in college. So why had I never read anything else by Undset? I decided I should. During the reading at times I thought this a great book, but on balance I cannot award it any special palm. It is laid in Norway from about 1280 to 1350, and tells the story of Olaf Audunson, who is betrothed as a child to Ingun. There is murder, a stricken conscience, and much else in the story, which at times is engrossing but at times seems excessively contrived.
A saga of a Norwegian family through three generations. If you have Norwegian blood in your veins you should read this book.
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Women and the Family, European Fiction, 1900-1934
68 works; 1 member
Author Information
158+ Works 12,079 Members
Sigrid Undset was the daughter of archeologist Ingvald Undset. Cultural, autobiographical, and religious topics constitute a large and interesting portion of her fiction, which in Norway is categorized according to the time of action: medieval or modern. Jenny (1911), an idealistic and tragic love story, is one of the latter novels. Undset's show more comprehensive knowledge of medieval Scandinavian culture has its literary monuments in Kristin Lavransdatter (1920--22) and The Master of Hestviken (1925--27), historical novels that depict life in the Norwegian Middle Ages. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928. Norwegian criticism of Sigrid Undset's writing centers on her religiosity (she became a conservative, almost reactionary Catholic in Lutheran Norway in the 1920s; she possesses an intensity of belief that is rather naturally expressed in the medieval novels. Yet while she has written religious polemics, the medieval novels are not tendentious. In fact, the central motifs are eroticism, marriage, and family life, in short, the full life of a medieval woman who sees herself in the light of contemporary Christian beliefs. These novels are great, realistic delineations of medieval personalities. During World War II she escaped the German occupation of Norway and fled to America, where she wrote her autobiographical Happy Times in Norway (1942). (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Olav Audunssøn
- Original title
- Olav Audunssøn (Volumes I - IV) (Volumes I - IV)
- Original publication date
- 1925
- First words
- Steinfinnssøn was the name given to a lineage that flourished in rural districts around Lake Mjøsa during the time when the sons of King Harald Gille reigned in Norway. (Arthur G. Chater translation)
Steinfinnssøn was the name given to a lineage that flourished in rural districts around Lake Mjøsa during the time when the sons of King Harald Gille reigned in Norway. (Tiina Nunnally translation) - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)But the friars were exposed to violent storms in crossing the mountains, and a few days after he had arrived at his new convent Eirik expired in the arms of his brethren. (Arthur G. Chater translation)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)The monks encountered terrible storms when crossing the mountains, and a few days after arriving at his new cloister, Eirik took his last breath in the arms of his brothers. (Tiina Nunnally translation) - Disambiguation notice
- This is an omnibus. It should not be combined with any of its parts.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- General Fiction, Fiction and Literature, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 839.823 — Literature & rhetoric German & related literatures Other Germanic literatures Danish and Norwegian literatures Norwegian literature Norwegian Bokmål fiction
- LCC
- PZ3 .U568 .M — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction in English
- BISAC
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- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.98)
- Languages
- 8 — Dutch, English, Estonian, French, German, Norwegian (Bokmål), Norwegian, Russian
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 13
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 17
