Kristin Lavransdatter read-along | 2025

[TimeforaGandT]

Following on from The Count of Monte Cristo read-along in the first half of 2025, we are reading Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset for the second half of 2025.

The medieval epic tells the story of a passionate and headstrong woman from childhood in three books : The Wreath, The Wife and The Cross.

It’s a majestic 1124 pages in the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition which has been translated by Tiina Nunnally and this is the edition I am using for page number references. Kudos to anyone who is reading it in the original Norwegian.

There are 67 chapters in total (if I have counted correctly) and the consensus is to read three chapters a week / one every two days with Sundays off. I have ignored the Introduction as part of the read-along as, in my experience, there are often contain spoilers.

Starting on Monday, 7 July our first week looks like this:

The Wreath – Part 1 (Jørundgaard)

Monday / Tuesday – Chapter 1 (pages 5 to 21)
Wednesday / Thursday – Chapter 2 (pages 22 to 37)
Friday / Saturday – Chapter 3 (pages 38 – 47)
Sunday – day off

I will try and tag all those who have previously expressed interest.

Well now @TimeforaGandT so have I!
I'm afraid that curiosity got the better of me :)

Ah, Fuzzy, glad it wasn't just me who couldn't tear myself away.

Me too!

Enjoyed these chapters and have found it really interesting the way Kristin is being portrayed.

She is enfuriatingly naive and inexperienced, but she is still very young, and is complete putty in Erland's hands. We all know he's a bad choice, but she looks up to him so much.

I liked the way the scales fell from her eyes a bit in the encounter with Simon. She suddenly saw him as others might see him as a cheat and dishonourable. Not enough yet to convince her she's mad, but foreshadowing maybe!?

Well, .....

I could not believe the way Erland and Kristin behaved in this week's chapters. Maybe some excuse for her youth and naivety but only some as I am sure she would have been well aware of the enormity of her actions. But his disregard for the risks of being caught and the use of "rooms by the hour" were astonishing. He must have been very well aware of the potential scandal if they were caught.

I thought Simon acted in a very gentlemanly way and came out of it all very well. He could have behaved very differently and no-one would have blamed him under the circumstances.

I feel sorry for Lavrans - he didn't want the convent to know about Kristin's dishonour so couldn't take them to task for their failure to look after her. His disappointment must surely bring home to Kristin how badly she has behaved and it's interesting to see that she won't give Erland's name to Lavrans as she doesn't completely trust that he will be there for her and marry her.

I thought it was really interesting in the confrontation with Simon, when Kristin saw Erland as Simon sees him - and then instead of getting the ick, SHE feels responsible for him! She’s utterly sucked in. It has all sorts of abusive relationship patterns all over it. Let’s see now if Erland comes through, though I’m almost hoping he runs for the hills.

Yes, it's so depressing that she thinks it's all her fault - but only where Erlend is concerned! She has let Lavrans and Simon down so badly.
I can definitely imagine Lavrans on the Teenagers forum ...

I think Kristin is lucky to have such a kind father! It could have gone differently in another household.

I wasn't sure if her father actually knew all of it - or just that she wanted to break off her engagement. Which is obviously significant. He may be in for more sadness ahead.

Although as someone from more modern times I do slightly rail against the whole concept of honour being linked to female chastity.

I’ve also been surprised by this week’s chapters. It’s cleverly done as even though I’m horrified by Erlend’s behaviour and Simon’s is exemplary, we can see why Kristin prefers Erlend. I thought Erlend’s mother’s attitude that Kristin should have responded to Simon’s advances a striking piece of historical imagination as possibly wouldn’t have been the norm in the period it was written in?

Interesting about the idea of honour and Kristin’s reputation - much as I like to think I’m too liberal to approve of the mindset, it’s still one that I feel I can step into in a fictional world in a way that the mysticism or religious mindset isn’t available to me. Perhaps i read too much Austen at an impressionable age.

It’s conflicting, isn’t it? Because clearly she’s not attracted to Simon, but is having a whale of a time in the sack with Erland. And that’s great, she’s got physical fulfilment and bodily autonomy and all that. But. In those days you got pregnant, and that’s why all that morality was there - to ensure firstly the girl’s best interests (well, sort of) and that there would be someone to take responsibility for the offspring. Much as we might not like the traditional marriage framework, back then it would have been in Kristin’s long term best interests (as long as husband wasn’t abusive) once she had children. She’s too young to take that in yet.

I agree @MotherOfCatBoy and to be fair it doesn't just seem to be Kristen who is at fault, there are societal expectations on the men too.

I think that at first she was quite keen on Simon, but the sheer physical attraction to Erlend has completely pushed aside the thought of being intimate with him.

The book highlights the burden of female honour, but both Simon and Lavrans have turned a blind eye to quite a lot of what Kristin has got up to.

Also it points out that men also have burdens of honour. It's clear from the text (although I'm not sure how much Kristin has realised it) that Erlend really is regarded as being something of a pariah in 'decent society'. He is tolerated due to his noble connections, but on the basis that he will atone to Aline and their children. He mixes with the most disreputable and dodgy friends and is committing another social outrage by seducing a very young girl who is betrothed to another.

Last point, details of her parents' marriage are mentioned at the beginning, but it is mentioned again that Lavrans had an arranged marriage with an older woman, who we think was in some sort of disgrace. I don't think he really loves her but has stayed loyal to her even though he had no sons with her, because he saw it as his duty. He must be quite pissed off that Kristin has no intention of following this example.

I enjoyed the chapters and also all the comments!

In keeping with what others are saying, I kept feeling horrified by Kristin and Erlend's relationship, and at one point my modern head kicked in and I had to tell myself that they're not actually doing anything wrong by today's ethical standards: they're just having an extramarital sexual relationship, and they want to marry someone of their own choosing.

In some ways Kristin seems admirably self-possessed, despite everything. It's interesting that Erlend doesn't actually like her willingness to lie/deceive on his behalf, but as she points out to him, he's the one who led her to behave like that in the first place!

The imposition of the honour code on women can get very oppressive and ugly, but here it seems almost reasonable, because Simon and Lavrans are both so reasonable in their approach to the situation. I suspect that few men in the historical medieval period would have behaved in such an enlightened way.

And if Undset has made the father and the fiance sympathetic, she's done the opposite with Erlend, who comes across as weak and unreliable in comparison. When I think of adulterous medieval couples like Lancelot and Guinevere / Tristan and Iseut, Erlend seems very unheroic in comparison to Tristan and Lancelot. It's not as though Kristin is sacrificing her reputation in order to be with a noble warrior. Erlend blushing with shame when Simon storms their bedroom is very cringe-inducing; you can feel Kristin's mortification.

it's interesting to see that she won't give Erland's name to Lavrans as she doesn't completely trust that he will be there for her and marry her. Good point @TimeforaGandT!

And onto Part III (of Book 1)....

This week we are reading:

Monday / Tuesday - Chapter 1 (pages 193 - 198)
Wednesday / Thursday - Chapter 2 (pages 199 - 209)
Friday / Saturday - Chapter 3 (pages 210 - 231)

Anything could happen!

Some interesting chapters this week!

Chapter three has a lot going on😯
I think that Kristin's parents had another child? I thought they only had two girls.

Yes, I think another girl after the one who was injured.

Thanks! I didn't realise it.

I am fully up to date with the book and the thread. We seem to have come full circle with our ‘fallen’ women theme.

I would agree that there is some very clever writing here and as a whole I quite like it. Kristin is bloody infuriating though. Though @cassandre by modern standards they are still doing something wrong since she is technically betrothed and he has a current mistress and children. Erlend is reprehensible. It’s one thing to sleep with her, many more people in the medieval period were sleeping together outside of marriage than we think, but it’s the way he goes about it, with the house of ill repute and taking the chance that she will be seen. Given the next book‘s title, I am deeply worried for Kristin.

I really like Lavrans. He behaved more reasonably than my own father would in this situation!

I really liked the line 'Fru Aashild said acidly, "Anyone might think you have eloped before." ' Very snarky. Ha!

I'm surprised by how self-assured Kristin is for such a young girl. The scene with her mother when she is so defiant struck me as quite contemporary in its tone and her choice of words is meant to shock and hurt her. The breakdown between the two of them is sad but you would wonder why her mother was so distant with her growing up. It's like the mother in 'Les Liaisons Dangereuses' who didn't parent her daughter and it led to all sorts of trouble.

There's lots to say about chapter three. I'll just mention the violence with which Erlend wrestled with his mistress to get her drink the poison. Very shocking. Also, Kristin's declaration that both of them killed her (again, standing with Erlend) and Eline's declaration that Erlend betrayed her on a few occasions is another black mark against him. That's if we choose to believe her which I'm inclined to do!

I can’t believe how deep in Kristin is! I only hope she doesn’t have children with this man but suspect she will…
I can imagine a girl that age defying her parents even after they have patiently explained all their reasons to her. It’s harder to see her coldness to Éline and her complicity in her death. Two children now without a mother (albeit an unstable one).

Rangfrid was interesting. There’s a suggestion she has been happy with Lavrans because he has been kind to her, but that she’s sexually frustrated because he won’t give her more than his « married rights. » Seems as though she wanted more passion. If Lavrans doesn’t have it in him to understand that kind of bond, it illuminates how he could arrange a marriage for Kristin with someone she doesn’t desire, and why he doesn’t understand what’s driving her now. It also means the mother and daughter have something in their nature in common.

@MotherOfCatBoy I made the same point upthread about Lavran's attitude to marriage - he did his duty by marrying a woman he wasn't in love with, he has gone out of his way to find a nice husband for Kristin and is annoyed that she's behaved so badly. The detail from Ragnfrid about their sex life was a very interesting addition to that backstory though.

Although there's quite a lot of talking and discussion, these are still exciting and interesting chapters. Shocking too! It throws an interesting light on the role of women. Clearly they are expected to do what their men tell them, but Elaine and Aashild have both gone against that and done their own thing. However, they have both made a big sacrifice to do so - especially Éline, as her 'disgrace' affects her children too.

I think that Aashild is frustrated that Kristin won't listen to any sense on the matter and is determined to throw herself away on Erlend. I was struck by the part where she says that Kristin will always be viewed as his mistress unless her father agrees to the marriage, and K doesn't believe her.

Im very concerned that Erlend is a man who enjoys the chase more than the capture, and K is just going to be left at home, in a half life, while he goes on his next adventure.

Just finished chapter 3. Oh my goodness, that scene with Eline. I have to say Kristin has gone down in my estimation hugely, she seems to show very little remorse regarding her own role in Elaine’s demise or shock at the way Erlend behaved. She isn’t even behaving like a naive 17 year old. She is calm, accepts she wanted her dead anyway and is only concerned with marrying Erlend, in spite of what she has just heard and seen. I’m quite floored and I have an intense dislike for the pair of them.

Given the title of book 2, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Erlend.

Actually, another thought, this reminded me very much of Therese Raquin - but eventually the stress of murder (this was or was very close to that) gets her. Now I think about it we also have it with Lady Macbeth. I can’t envisage the marriage being a happy one and I wonder if we might see a descent into a sort of madness for Kristin.