Undsets first published worksthe novel Mrs. She was particularly entranced by the dramatic Old Norse sagas she read as a child, later declaring that her exposure to them marked 'the most important turning point in my life.' Her fathers interest in the past had a tremendous influence on Undset. Two years after her birth, the family moved to Oslo, where her father, a distinguished archaeologist, taught at the university. Sigrid Undset (1882≡949) was born in Denmark, the eldest daughter of a Norwegian father and a Danish mother. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. In the more than 75 years since it was first published, it has also become a favorite throughout the world.įor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. Kristin Lavransdatter became a touchstone for Undset's contemporaries, and continues to be widely read by Norwegians today. Granted independence in 1905 after five hundred years of foreign domination, Norway was eager to reclaim its national history and culture. Undset's ability to present a meticulously accurate historical portrait without sacrificing the poetry and narrative drive of masterful storytelling was particularly significant in her homeland. In addition, she restores key passages left out of that edition. Nunnally, an award-winning translator, retains the natural dialog and lyrical flow of the original Norwegian, with its echoes of Old Norse legends, while deftly avoiding the stilted language and false archaisms of Archer's translation. Her grasp of the connections between past and present and of human nature itself, combined with the extraordinary quality of her writing, sets her works far above the genre of 'historical novels.' This new translation by Tina Nunnallythe first English version since Charles Archer's translation in the 1920scaptures Undset's strengths as a stylist.

Undset's own lifeher familiarity with Norse sagas and folklore and with a wide range of medieval literature, her experiences as a daughter, wife, and mother, and her deep religious faithprofoundly influenced her writing.

The trilogy, however, is more than a journey into the past. Kristin Lavransdatter interweaves political, social, and religious history with the daily aspects of family life to create a colorful, richly detailed tapestry of Norway during the fourteenth-century. ' should be the next Elena Ferrante.' Slate

The Cross by Sigrid Undset