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The Master of Hestviken #4
Olav Audunssøn: IV. Winter
The fourth and final volume in the Nobel Prize–winning writer’s epic of one man’s fateful life in medieval Norway
Set in thirteenth-century Norway, a land racked by political turmoil, bloody family vendettas, and rising tensions between secular powers and an ascendant church, Sigrid Undset’s spellbinding masterpiece now follows the fortunes of Olav Audunssøn to the final, dramatic chapter of his life as it unfolds in Winter, the last volume of the tetralogy. When the orphaned Olav and his foster sister Ingunn became betrothed in their youth, a chain of events was set in motion that eventually led to violence, banishment, and a family separation lasting years. The consequences fracture their marriage and threaten the lineage for generations. Now, at the end of his life, Olav continues to grapple with the guilt of his sins as he watches his children, especially Eirik, make disastrous choices and struggle to find their rightful place in a family haunted by the past.
With its precise details and sweeping vision, Olav Audunssøn summons a powerful picture of Northern life in medieval times, as noted by the Swedish Academy in awarding Undset the Nobel Prize in 1928. Conveying both the intimate drama and the epic proportions of Olav’s story at its conclusion, Winter is a moving and masterly recreation of a vanished world tainted by bloodshed and haunted by sin and retribution—yet one that might still offer a chance for redemption.
As with Kristin Lavransdatter, her earlier medieval epic, Sigrid Undset wrote Olav Audunssøn after immersive research in the legal, religious, and historical writings of the time to create an astoundingly authentic and compelling portrait of Norwegian life in the Middle Ages. And as in her translation of Kristin Lavransdatter, Tiina Nunnally does full justice to Undset’s natural, fluid prose—in a style by turns plainspoken and delicately lyrical—to convey the natural world, the complex culture, and the fraught emotional territory against which Olav’s story inexorably unfolds.
Set in thirteenth-century Norway, a land racked by political turmoil, bloody family vendettas, and rising tensions between secular powers and an ascendant church, Sigrid Undset’s spellbinding masterpiece now follows the fortunes of Olav Audunssøn to the final, dramatic chapter of his life as it unfolds in Winter, the last volume of the tetralogy. When the orphaned Olav and his foster sister Ingunn became betrothed in their youth, a chain of events was set in motion that eventually led to violence, banishment, and a family separation lasting years. The consequences fracture their marriage and threaten the lineage for generations. Now, at the end of his life, Olav continues to grapple with the guilt of his sins as he watches his children, especially Eirik, make disastrous choices and struggle to find their rightful place in a family haunted by the past.
With its precise details and sweeping vision, Olav Audunssøn summons a powerful picture of Northern life in medieval times, as noted by the Swedish Academy in awarding Undset the Nobel Prize in 1928. Conveying both the intimate drama and the epic proportions of Olav’s story at its conclusion, Winter is a moving and masterly recreation of a vanished world tainted by bloodshed and haunted by sin and retribution—yet one that might still offer a chance for redemption.
As with Kristin Lavransdatter, her earlier medieval epic, Sigrid Undset wrote Olav Audunssøn after immersive research in the legal, religious, and historical writings of the time to create an astoundingly authentic and compelling portrait of Norwegian life in the Middle Ages. And as in her translation of Kristin Lavransdatter, Tiina Nunnally does full justice to Undset’s natural, fluid prose—in a style by turns plainspoken and delicately lyrical—to convey the natural world, the complex culture, and the fraught emotional territory against which Olav’s story inexorably unfolds.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1926
17 people are currently reading
639 people want to read
About the author
Sigrid Undset
273 books874 followersSigrid Undset was a Norwegian novelist whose powerful, psychologically rich works made her one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century. Best known for her medieval sagas Kristin Lavransdatter and The Master of Hestviken, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928 for her vivid portrayals of life in the Middle Ages, written with remarkable historical detail and emotional depth.
Born in Denmark to Norwegian parents, Undset spent most of her life in Norway. After her father's early death, she had to forgo formal education and worked as a secretary while writing in her spare time. Her debut novel Fru Marta Oulie (1907) shocked readers with its opening confession of adultery and established her bold, realist style. In early works like ,i>Jenny (1911), she explored modern women's struggles with love, freedom, and morality, often critiquing romantic idealism and social expectations.
Though she gained recognition for her contemporary novels, Undset felt increasingly drawn to historical fiction. This shift led to her masterwork Kristin Lavransdatter, a trilogy published from 1920 to 1922, which follows the life of a woman in 14th-century Norway as she navigates love, faith, motherhood, and spiritual growth. With its intricate character development and deep moral themes, the trilogy brought her international acclaim and remains a cornerstone of Scandinavian literature.
In 1924, Undset converted to Roman Catholicism, a profound personal decision that shaped her later writing. Her tetralogy,i>The Master of Hestviken (1925–1927) centers on a man burdened by unconfessed guilt, offering a deeply spiritual and psychological portrait of sin and redemption. Her Catholic faith and concern with ethical questions became central to her work and public life.
A vocal critic of both communism and fascism, Undset fled Norway after the Nazi invasion in 1940. Her books were banned by the occupying regime, and she lived in exile in the United States during the war, advocating for Norway and the Allied cause. The loss of her son in the war deeply affected her, and although she returned home after the war, she published little in her final years.
Undset’s legacy rests not only on her historical novels but also on her fearless exploration of conscience, duty, and the human condition. Her characters—especially her women—are fully realized, flawed, and emotionally complex. Her writing combines psychological insight with stylistic clarity and spiritual depth, making her work enduringly relevant and widely read.
Born in Denmark to Norwegian parents, Undset spent most of her life in Norway. After her father's early death, she had to forgo formal education and worked as a secretary while writing in her spare time. Her debut novel Fru Marta Oulie (1907) shocked readers with its opening confession of adultery and established her bold, realist style. In early works like ,i>Jenny (1911), she explored modern women's struggles with love, freedom, and morality, often critiquing romantic idealism and social expectations.
Though she gained recognition for her contemporary novels, Undset felt increasingly drawn to historical fiction. This shift led to her masterwork Kristin Lavransdatter, a trilogy published from 1920 to 1922, which follows the life of a woman in 14th-century Norway as she navigates love, faith, motherhood, and spiritual growth. With its intricate character development and deep moral themes, the trilogy brought her international acclaim and remains a cornerstone of Scandinavian literature.
In 1924, Undset converted to Roman Catholicism, a profound personal decision that shaped her later writing. Her tetralogy,i>The Master of Hestviken (1925–1927) centers on a man burdened by unconfessed guilt, offering a deeply spiritual and psychological portrait of sin and redemption. Her Catholic faith and concern with ethical questions became central to her work and public life.
A vocal critic of both communism and fascism, Undset fled Norway after the Nazi invasion in 1940. Her books were banned by the occupying regime, and she lived in exile in the United States during the war, advocating for Norway and the Allied cause. The loss of her son in the war deeply affected her, and although she returned home after the war, she published little in her final years.
Undset’s legacy rests not only on her historical novels but also on her fearless exploration of conscience, duty, and the human condition. Her characters—especially her women—are fully realized, flawed, and emotionally complex. Her writing combines psychological insight with stylistic clarity and spiritual depth, making her work enduringly relevant and widely read.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
April 17, 2023
God, my God, have You chased me up to the skies and down to the bottom of the sea? Olav had once ended up alone before God’s countenance beneath the ink-blue vault of a winter’s night. That was the time when he lost half of his life. Now that he had lost everything he had tried to put in Ingunn’s place, he was forced to feel God’s eyes on him again, as if peering from the forests of kelp in the darkness of the sea floor.
I have found the Olav Audunssøn tetralogy to be delightfully entertaining and immersive (telling, as it does, the tale of one nobleman’s dramatic life story in Medieval Norway), and Winter ties it all up nicely. As the fourth and final volume in this series, the entire thing had the feeling of a denouement or epilogue — everything truly exciting happens in the earlier volumes; this would probably not much satisfy as a standalone read — and I had to keep reminding myself to put it in the larger context; and when I did, I had to admit that author Sigrid Undset ended her epic exquisitely. I am so delighted to have taken a chance on this new English translation (by Tiina Nunnally) of the 1926 classic and can only hope it’s discovered by more modern day readers. (Note: I read an ARC through NetGalley and passages quoted may not be in their final forms.)
He no longer gave any thought to himself or his own concerns. He considered himself an old man now, and he’d made his choice as to what would become of him. Yet for that very reason it seemed there was only one purpose behind everything he might still achieve and accomplish until night came to claim him — and that was to protect these two young maidens. How their future might take shape was not something that worried him greatly — he was certain it would turn out in the best possible way. When the time came, he would undoubtedly marry them off, and it would be a most peculiar man who wouldn’t want to bear such treasures through the world on outstretched arms if he ever had the good fortune to acquire them. But there was plenty of time for Olav to consider this matter; both maidens were still so young.
The last volume in the series culminated in fearsome battle scenes as the Norwegian king called upon his noblemen to resist an incursion by a Swedish duke. Now an “old man” approaching fifty (“he was now gray-haired and the right side of his face had sunk inward, his cheek crisscrossed with furrows from the fearsome scar“ received in that battle), Olav Audunssøn — the Master of the Hestviken estate on the Oslo Fjord — has settled into a calm domestic routine with his daughter, Cecilia, and his foster daughter, Bothild; his son and heir having left the estate years earlier for parts unknown. Olav assumes that settling his daughters into appropriate marriages would be the last official duty of his life, but when his son Eirich does return home (in the company of his handsome but feckless best friend, Jørund), Olav allows the boy to have his say in matters — to everyone’s detriment. This shift to an Austenian focus on courting and marriage might seem like it belongs in a different series, but as Olav is in his twilight years and his lifelong concern was about keeping faith with his ancestors and continuing a respectable family line, seeing how the generations carry on does make for an appropriate finish to his story.
After Olav died, folks did not consider his reputation to be as glowing as Brother Eirik would have wanted — and all the grandchildren were fully aware of this. Olav had been a brave soldier, a capable and honest landowner. But he was odd and unapproachable and a gloomy companion in the company of more cheerful men.
In the end, Olav’s was a respectable but not a happy life: by keeping a promise to his wife (who suffered and wasted away so young), Olav was forced to live outside the community and fellowship of the Church; punishing himself and those around him with coldness and distance. Undset masterfully demonstrates the consequences of Olav’s early conflict between duty and love, and it warrants the epic length of these four volumes to follow all the ripples through time. And then she ends the whole thing with an ironic, stinging paragraph In God’s time, the suffering of any one man doesn’t add up to much, so what was the point of all this pain?
December 1, 2009
Good Lord.... it's left me crushed. Olav and the destruction and misery he sows is one of the most fascinating and memorable characters I've ever come across in literature. I find myself wanting to pray for him at Mass, like I'd heard the tragic story of my taciturn grandfather for the first time. Except he never existed beyond Undset's imagination--and now mine.
I won't say more. This, friends, is literature.
I won't say more. This, friends, is literature.
March 6, 2019
Incredibly beautiful. I forced myself to take it slow through this final book in The Master of Hestviken series. This book is so raw and takes the reader through the end of both Olav's and Eirik's life. I was pleased to see the progression of Eirik's character and how he understood his life and his father's life. Excellent conclusion to a beautiful series. I will reread this series.
August 12, 2024
Big fan of this tetralogy. The story of Olav Audunsson is epic in scope, but describing it as an epic is somewhat misleading. Olav is a larger-than-life character, but his life is underappreciated and often overlooked by his peers. The man's greatest struggle was internal, and while he accomplished much during his life, his qualities were always subtle. His story in that sense reminds me of John Williams' "Stoner". A life that seems sad and inconsequential, but in fact is a life of consequence. If you are looking for a Viking epic, you are barking up the wrong tree. But Undset is a great writer and I loved following Olav's story from early childhood to a death at old age. There is much to appreciate here. Solid four stars for this final installment, and four stars for the tetralogy as a whole.
October 21, 2025
It’s said Undset won the Nobel for depictions of medieval life; she won it for ease of metaphor, sublimity of geographic symbolism.
The turns of the final pages of this man’s life recontextualize every thematic interest that came before—as I suppose it does in the end of any man’s life—to fearlessly examine the universal problem of evil and the mystery of good. Although committed to the myopic lens of medieval Norwegian Christian guilt, shame, and hope—reader, I wept.
The turns of the final pages of this man’s life recontextualize every thematic interest that came before—as I suppose it does in the end of any man’s life—to fearlessly examine the universal problem of evil and the mystery of good. Although committed to the myopic lens of medieval Norwegian Christian guilt, shame, and hope—reader, I wept.
2023
October 21, 2025Women in Translation TBR
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Univ Of Minnesota Press
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Univ Of Minnesota Press
September 14, 2025
This may be controversial for Kristen/Sigrid Undset fans, but this book's ending miiiggghhhtt just be better than the end of KL.
December 3, 2023
What an amazing series this was. Boy do I never want to get sent back in time to 13th C Norway. Brutal. Read this tetralogy if you can. Solid.
4.5 ⭐️
4.5 ⭐️
February 20, 2023
Library drama! Bibliomation treachery! Someone recalled my Master of Hestviken library book when I expected I'd get to renew it!
In consequence, I ended up purchasing the fourth volume and taking a hiatus from the tetralogy until it arrived. I'm very glad to have finished the whole book now: at over 1000 pages, it was a big undertaking, and sometimes (like most big undertakings) required a lot of effort to continue.
The last installment closes out Olav's life, but the middle portion of the volume is told from his son's perspective. This seemed at first glance like either a copout or a red herring, but it does mirror the switch of perspective from Olav to Ingunn in the first volume. It's true, I was fascinated to see things from the point of view of someone so different in temperament from Olav, and it was a real pleasure to see his son become such a stable adult, good farmer, and devoted Christian -- and even, for a brief time, to experience monastic life with him.
The story wraps up in a way that may be sensational or may be profound -- I can't decide -- or maybe both together.
Taken as a whole, I think The Master of Hesviken (or Olav Audunsson in the more recent translation) is a splendid book. Looked at separately, the latter two volumes aren't as fine as the first two.
I'm sure Tiina Nunnally's new translation is superb, but I have to say I really enjoyed the old-timey translation by Arthur G. Chater.
I think the cover illustrations for these paperback volumes are pretty lovely, with a sort of pre-Raphaelite style that suits the novels well. I was delighted to find that they were done by an artist I know, Kinuko Craft, who has produced some lavishly illustrated fairytale picture books.
In consequence, I ended up purchasing the fourth volume and taking a hiatus from the tetralogy until it arrived. I'm very glad to have finished the whole book now: at over 1000 pages, it was a big undertaking, and sometimes (like most big undertakings) required a lot of effort to continue.
The last installment closes out Olav's life, but the middle portion of the volume is told from his son's perspective. This seemed at first glance like either a copout or a red herring, but it does mirror the switch of perspective from Olav to Ingunn in the first volume. It's true, I was fascinated to see things from the point of view of someone so different in temperament from Olav, and it was a real pleasure to see his son become such a stable adult, good farmer, and devoted Christian -- and even, for a brief time, to experience monastic life with him.
The story wraps up in a way that may be sensational or may be profound -- I can't decide -- or maybe both together.
Taken as a whole, I think The Master of Hesviken (or Olav Audunsson in the more recent translation) is a splendid book. Looked at separately, the latter two volumes aren't as fine as the first two.
I'm sure Tiina Nunnally's new translation is superb, but I have to say I really enjoyed the old-timey translation by Arthur G. Chater.
I think the cover illustrations for these paperback volumes are pretty lovely, with a sort of pre-Raphaelite style that suits the novels well. I was delighted to find that they were done by an artist I know, Kinuko Craft, who has produced some lavishly illustrated fairytale picture books.
March 14, 2025
An enormously powerful story of sin, flight from God and the dark consequences thereof; and of grace, repentance and forgiveness. The final measure of God's justice is startling.
April 11, 2024
I have truly loved this series. Each book has been different, each phase in Olav’s story has a different feel.
This final portion of Olav’s story is fantastic. The ending was so powerful and a moving look at the end of life.
More than a great story though, this series shows the profound ways that God works in a person’s life, even when that person puts up walls.
This final portion of Olav’s story is fantastic. The ending was so powerful and a moving look at the end of life.
More than a great story though, this series shows the profound ways that God works in a person’s life, even when that person puts up walls.
May 29, 2024
...and now I feel guilty for disliking Eirik in the earlier books.
(Maybe I'll write an actual review when I find a moment. )
(Maybe I'll write an actual review when I find a moment. )
July 26, 2020
The fourth volume is a satisfying conclusion to the 1000 page epic story of Olav the “Master.” I did enjoy that this series focused on a male character since a female had already been done so well in Kristin L. Except for a brief time in the third volume, I always found the series compelling. Although I am not a religious person, I find the characters’ religiousness and how it affects their actions, especially as it contrasts with their more primal urges, to be fascinating and true to the times. I enjoy examinations of such issues even in more modern books such as The End of the Affair.
With its clearer translation, I did enjoy the Kristin L. series more than this one. However the more archaic language of the Master series translation was, truthfully, not as much of a hindrance as I would have thought, It may be that I preferred the Krisdtin story since it my first Undset. The surprise I experienced at how much I enjoyed it certainly enhanced the pleasure of the reading experience.
The Master series does more successfully portray the second generation characters. The daughter is an interestingly drawn and complex, though secondary, character. The last volume even centers more around the ‘son avenger’ Eirik than it does Olav, the Master at the center of the overall series. In this book, Eirik is fleshed out and is a more complex and successful person than anticipated, although I was slightly disappointed in the end of Eirick’s story.
As with Kristin L. I found great pleasure while immersed in middle age Norway. I will read more Undset.
With its clearer translation, I did enjoy the Kristin L. series more than this one. However the more archaic language of the Master series translation was, truthfully, not as much of a hindrance as I would have thought, It may be that I preferred the Krisdtin story since it my first Undset. The surprise I experienced at how much I enjoyed it certainly enhanced the pleasure of the reading experience.
The Master series does more successfully portray the second generation characters. The daughter is an interestingly drawn and complex, though secondary, character. The last volume even centers more around the ‘son avenger’ Eirik than it does Olav, the Master at the center of the overall series. In this book, Eirik is fleshed out and is a more complex and successful person than anticipated, although I was slightly disappointed in the end of Eirick’s story.
As with Kristin L. I found great pleasure while immersed in middle age Norway. I will read more Undset.
May 9, 2014
It is a gift. I have never read a better story of human sin and God's providential love.
Like her better-known masterpiece, Kristin Lavransdatter, The Master of Hestviken follows the protagonist (Olav Audunsson) through a lifetime and is matched but not exceeded in scope by classics like War & Peace or Les Miserables. Volume one deals with youth stepping into human responsibility and, with it, the tragic perpetration of grave evil; volume two sees life lived in maturity, well and badly; volume three watches Olav draw near to but decline the chance to repent for his youthful crime; and volume four shows him growing old in his sins, slowly crushing the humanity and love of God that had drawn him to repentance, and the powerful work of God's mercy upon him and his household nevertheless, where a kindness also done in his youth and often regretted becomes the means of his salvation.
Undset masterfully portrays people living their lives with careful planning, sometimes successful and sometimes undone by chance. Like the people we meet every day, the characters are loveable and frustrating. And over all hangs the mercy of God and the mystery of good and evil.
Like her better-known masterpiece, Kristin Lavransdatter, The Master of Hestviken follows the protagonist (Olav Audunsson) through a lifetime and is matched but not exceeded in scope by classics like War & Peace or Les Miserables. Volume one deals with youth stepping into human responsibility and, with it, the tragic perpetration of grave evil; volume two sees life lived in maturity, well and badly; volume three watches Olav draw near to but decline the chance to repent for his youthful crime; and volume four shows him growing old in his sins, slowly crushing the humanity and love of God that had drawn him to repentance, and the powerful work of God's mercy upon him and his household nevertheless, where a kindness also done in his youth and often regretted becomes the means of his salvation.
Undset masterfully portrays people living their lives with careful planning, sometimes successful and sometimes undone by chance. Like the people we meet every day, the characters are loveable and frustrating. And over all hangs the mercy of God and the mystery of good and evil.
April 30, 2023
While I had enjoyed the first book in this series, books two and three hadn't gripped me quite so much, but luckily the final book, Olav Audunsson IV: Winter, recaptured my interest once more. I thought this was a great finale to work as a whole and everything felt well wrapped up by the end. I would still say that I prefer Undset's other major work, Kristin Lavransdatter, but Olav Audunsson is, nevertheless, an enjoyable read if you are looking for medieval period historical fiction. The characters and story are memorable and the prose easy reading and yet descriptive. It gets 4 stars from me.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
October 12, 2021
Sigrid Undset is said to have considered this work finer than her Nobel prize winning Kristin Lavransdatter. I agree. The 2nd book (The Snake Pit) was extremely tormented and I wasn't sure if I could continue the series, but I was rewarded for my perseverance. I don't want to spoil the plot, but I found the ending to be really beautiful.
February 21, 2021
so much more happens with a larger cast of characters in this final chapter of the Hestviken saga that it's not as slow a read as the earlier books.
Impressive how Undset manages to make even the wretched Eirik sympathetic.
Impressive how Undset manages to make even the wretched Eirik sympathetic.
June 26, 2022
#3 was so-so, but she stuck the landing. Beautiful reflection on many of the same themes as Kristin Lavransdatter like generational effects of sin and refusal to confess, redemption, and marriage but with a focus on two male characters, father and son. The image of Eirik walking Olav's metaphorical untended fields and finding the one healthy stalk to harvest 💔
June 15, 2024
If you have not yet read the Olav books, do yourself a favor and dig in. You are transported by the story with all of its twists and turns, and the ending is positively triumphant!
May 18, 2022
The Master of Hestviken series is a bit more repetitive and, in places, tedious than Unset's Kristin series, but still a masterpiece by any measure. It is Greek tragedy comes to Norway. Don't expect it to put you in a good mood, but you will be enriched. I've read both series twice and could easily start all over again. BUT...if I ever do, I'll definitely be making a family tree chart for myself in order to keep track of how everyone is related to one another. Everyone seems to be a cousin or an uncle. It gets complicated. Worth the effort.
October 29, 2023
A beautiful, engaging, and satisfying ending to the tetralogy. I’m sad it’s over and am more than a little jealous of people who still get to discover Olav Audunsson. Nunnally’s translation was worth waiting for!
June 13, 2024
One of the best books I have ever read. Eirik and Olav will stay with me for the rest of my life.
December 1, 2023
Better than Kristen Lavransdatter.
January 28, 2024
I absolutely loved how the last quarter of this epic saga ended. While the first three volumes were filled with drama, suspense, violence, honor and duty, this volume takes a turn and focuses on Olav watching the world - his children, grow up and looks at settling them down. He is just on this side of his fifty but already world worn and sunken cheeks.
Olav lived a life of misery, lost love, duty, and regrets. But there is dignity and honor. There is a legacy left behind. The conclusion marks end of an era, of the Master of Hestviken estate.
Thanks to University Of Minnesota Press and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Olav lived a life of misery, lost love, duty, and regrets. But there is dignity and honor. There is a legacy left behind. The conclusion marks end of an era, of the Master of Hestviken estate.
Thanks to University Of Minnesota Press and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 30, 2015
An astonishingly mature and sympathetic exposition of the way in which the (unforgiven) sins of the fathers find their way into a second and third generation. Undset has all of Hugo's knack for the particular and historical elements of human existence, and all of Dostoevsky's sense for the universal and spiritual; all of Dostoevsky's sensitivity to the depravity of man's nature and its need for mercy, combined with all Hugo's confidence that providence works through and not only in spite of that brokenness. Undset is an absolute master of the human spirit.
October 22, 2023
A fitting conclusion to Undset's magnificent tetralogy.
November 7, 2023
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.5 of 5
In this fourth, and final, volume in the Olav Audunsson series by Sigrid Undset, Winter, Olav's life is wrapped up as the man, now in his twilight years, looks on at his life and guilt over some of his actions (as detailed in the previous three books) overwhelms him and he wants to set things right with what time he has left. Watching his son, Eirik make mistakes, may be the most difficult thing for Olav to see as he reflects on his own poor choices. Forgiveness might be impossible, but he might be able to clear his conscience with some effort.
It's difficult to say whether or not this would have the same impact on a reader if this were the only volume of the series to be read. There is some reflection on past deeds, but to not have read of the events definitely would prove to be a disadvantage - this is the end of a long life and things are slower, more reflective. The excitement happens in the previous three volumes.
But this is an important look at not only Olav's life, but a look at the end of an era (though the death of anyone elderly ends an era). Just as Tevya learned to adapt to new ways in Fiddler on the Roof, Olav learns to adapt. Olav expects that one of his final tasks will be to find husbands for his daughters, yet he's willing to go back on his word to one man in order to allow his daughter to marry the man she loves rather than the man he's selected. This is not the Olav of the earlier books!
Some of the beauty of this book, and the series, is the writing (Sigrid Undset) and/or translation (Tiina Nunnally). Often through my reading I would remind myself that this is not a translation of an ancient, Medieval text - the landscape of this era is so well defined her by Undset. Nor is this a 'modern' day writer writing about this age - the driving concerns of Olav and his contemporaries is every bit as 'modern' as we find today.
And this is one of my takeaways here ... mankind hasn't changed much over the centuries. Technology has changed, but what drives us as humans hasn't.
The challenges that face Olav, even now in his winter years, are reflected in what's happening with his country as well. From war with the Swedes to trying to find a religion (or a way to talk with God), we see how we face a constant need to reinvent ourselves, how everything we do affects those around us. But making amends or setting things right doesn't come easily - even once the attempt is made.
He had never imagined that something like this would happen - that when he was finally prepared to throw down his weapons and surrender, no one would be there to receive them. And he sensed that the deathlike calm he'd been feeling was actually the utmost apprehension, for he was now shivering with cold and despair because he would be forced to take this leap one more time.
I can't help but wonder if the similarities to Olav and Christ are intentional. In addition to the act of allowing a child to have free will (to chose her own spouse), we have Eirik say, near the end:
God's ways are hidden. But never will I believe that it happened because Father's sin was worse than that of most other men. Maybe it happened in order to present an example - the rest of us go about our lives untroubled by our misdeeds. God chose Father to pay the full price, because He knew Father's heart was stronger and more steadfast - not like those of us who are incapable of swallowing even a single drop of the Lord's righteousness.
It's a powerful book and a very appropriate end to the series. I'm not sure I could recommend this as a standalone, but this is definitely four books you should read.
Looking for a good book? Olav Audunsson: Winter, by Sigrid Undset is the fourth book in a series and the end of journey for a man, Olav Audunsson, living in medieval Norway. It's a great end to a great series.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
In this fourth, and final, volume in the Olav Audunsson series by Sigrid Undset, Winter, Olav's life is wrapped up as the man, now in his twilight years, looks on at his life and guilt over some of his actions (as detailed in the previous three books) overwhelms him and he wants to set things right with what time he has left. Watching his son, Eirik make mistakes, may be the most difficult thing for Olav to see as he reflects on his own poor choices. Forgiveness might be impossible, but he might be able to clear his conscience with some effort.
It's difficult to say whether or not this would have the same impact on a reader if this were the only volume of the series to be read. There is some reflection on past deeds, but to not have read of the events definitely would prove to be a disadvantage - this is the end of a long life and things are slower, more reflective. The excitement happens in the previous three volumes.
But this is an important look at not only Olav's life, but a look at the end of an era (though the death of anyone elderly ends an era). Just as Tevya learned to adapt to new ways in Fiddler on the Roof, Olav learns to adapt. Olav expects that one of his final tasks will be to find husbands for his daughters, yet he's willing to go back on his word to one man in order to allow his daughter to marry the man she loves rather than the man he's selected. This is not the Olav of the earlier books!
Some of the beauty of this book, and the series, is the writing (Sigrid Undset) and/or translation (Tiina Nunnally). Often through my reading I would remind myself that this is not a translation of an ancient, Medieval text - the landscape of this era is so well defined her by Undset. Nor is this a 'modern' day writer writing about this age - the driving concerns of Olav and his contemporaries is every bit as 'modern' as we find today.
And this is one of my takeaways here ... mankind hasn't changed much over the centuries. Technology has changed, but what drives us as humans hasn't.
The challenges that face Olav, even now in his winter years, are reflected in what's happening with his country as well. From war with the Swedes to trying to find a religion (or a way to talk with God), we see how we face a constant need to reinvent ourselves, how everything we do affects those around us. But making amends or setting things right doesn't come easily - even once the attempt is made.
He had never imagined that something like this would happen - that when he was finally prepared to throw down his weapons and surrender, no one would be there to receive them. And he sensed that the deathlike calm he'd been feeling was actually the utmost apprehension, for he was now shivering with cold and despair because he would be forced to take this leap one more time.
I can't help but wonder if the similarities to Olav and Christ are intentional. In addition to the act of allowing a child to have free will (to chose her own spouse), we have Eirik say, near the end:
God's ways are hidden. But never will I believe that it happened because Father's sin was worse than that of most other men. Maybe it happened in order to present an example - the rest of us go about our lives untroubled by our misdeeds. God chose Father to pay the full price, because He knew Father's heart was stronger and more steadfast - not like those of us who are incapable of swallowing even a single drop of the Lord's righteousness.
It's a powerful book and a very appropriate end to the series. I'm not sure I could recommend this as a standalone, but this is definitely four books you should read.
Looking for a good book? Olav Audunsson: Winter, by Sigrid Undset is the fourth book in a series and the end of journey for a man, Olav Audunsson, living in medieval Norway. It's a great end to a great series.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
October 30, 2023
Nunnally, whose lauded translation of the epic Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy in the 1990s helped to revive widespread interest in Nobel Prize–winning Norwegian author Undset (1882–1949), translates the final installment in Undset’s subsequent medieval Olav Audunssøn tetralogy. Undset’s own favorite among her works, this weighty saga transports readers to 13th-century Norway, where clannish Old Norse traditions vie with newly ascendant church doctrines, nowhere more poignantly than in the lifelong moral struggles of the title character. Betrothed in his youth to his adoptive sister Ingunn in the first installment, Vows, Olav’s fated and impetuously consummated marriage unleashes a tumultuous chain of trials, betrayals, and violence, with consequences destined to outlive their marriage. His happiness achieved at long last, Olav ultimately reaps the whirlwind in book two, Providence, followed by Crossroads, which delves into our antihero’s reckoning of his sins, as he falteringly seeks to set his own children on a better path. Having been roused to bloody combat with invaders from the North, in Winter, Olav enters his final season facing one battle which he can never win, as he strives for a grace that cannot be grasped, but only received with open hands from a merciful God. Brushing away the cobwebs of the slightly fusty, century-old British translation, Nunnally’s straightforward, unadorned telling makes for smooth reading, no small thing in an epic tetralogy that stretches to well over 1,000 pages. Inspired by the dire, fatalistic mores of the Norse sagas and Undset’s own devout Catholicism, her towering achievement is made less forbidding in Nunnally’s welcome new translation, which is very much in keeping with the novelist’s project of deromanticizing the past, resulting in a vivid, painstakingly researched historic re-creation, less akin to the lush swashbuckling of Dumas or Scott than to the harsh, immersive naturalism of Zola.
September 20, 2024
"The Son Avenger" ended the tetralogy about the journey of Olav Audunsson's soul.
"You must remember these words of St. Ambrose...'God knows all things, but He waits to hear your voice, not to chastise, but to forgive.'"
I loved how she talked about Simon of Cyrene; the way he likened himself to an oak tree with an "...inward hurt (that) had only cankered the pith in him, so that he had become hollow and withered and barren,"; as well as the image of the seeds (corn) in the field and the weeds and the final harvest...
I had formed opinions about Eirik based on Olav's perspective, but Undset spent a lot of time in this book writing from Eirik's point of view, which made me like a him a lot more.
"You must remember these words of St. Ambrose...'God knows all things, but He waits to hear your voice, not to chastise, but to forgive.'"
I loved how she talked about Simon of Cyrene; the way he likened himself to an oak tree with an "...inward hurt (that) had only cankered the pith in him, so that he had become hollow and withered and barren,"; as well as the image of the seeds (corn) in the field and the weeds and the final harvest...
I had formed opinions about Eirik based on Olav's perspective, but Undset spent a lot of time in this book writing from Eirik's point of view, which made me like a him a lot more.
July 2, 2024
Olav Audunsson has been my favorite read of the year so far. It is a work you inhabit rather than simply observe. Undset's deceptively simple tale of a man's life, marriage, deeds, offspring, and death becomes a four volume meditation on love, sin, guilt, mercy, and forgiveness - in their presence and their absence in both human expressions and divine. Read it, inhabit it, and you will be the richer for it.
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