Undset, Sigrid. The Master of Hestviken: the Axe. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1962.
Reason read: I needed something for the Portland Public Library 2019 Reading Challenge. The category is women in translation.
Considered to be the companion to Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter, The Master of Hestviken series tells the saga of Olav Audunsson in thirteenth century Norway. As a boy he was raised by a foster family. When you are first plunked down in the middle of the drama you meet Steinfinn, a young man who fell in love with a fair maiden named Ingebjorg. So far so good, except Ingebjorg was betrothed to someone named Mattias. Doesn’t matter. Steinfinn and Ingebjorg run away and live together as if they are man and wife. They soon have a family of three children, one of them being the beautiful Ingunn. In addition to their own children they foster a young lad by the aforementioned name of Olav Audunsson. Thus begins the romance of Ingunn and Olav. Both Olav and Ingunn’s fathers agreed the two would grow up to marry each other, but after Steinfinn passes the young couple are told it was only a game their fathers played and the betrothal is not real. Cue the violins, people. Olav commits murder with an axe named Kinfetch and that complicates things. He escapes punishment but in the meantime Ingunn is struck by some mysterious paralysis amid rumors of witchcraft. And the plot thickens. Especially when she becomes pregnant during Olav’s exile…
As an aside, I have to admit, thirteenth century drama is not my cup of tea. Luckily, The Master of Hestviken is chopped up into four books and each book is a little over 200 pages long.
Author fact: Undset was originally born in Denmark.
Book trivia: Master of Hestviken was originally published in one single volume and according to the inside flap, had been out of print in England until 1962.
Nancy said: The Axe is part of the series that Pearl considers Unset’s “other” masterpiece.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Norway: The Land of the Midnight Sun” (p 162).
~*LunaSea*~ 