Peder Victorious : A Novel

Fortælling om norske nykommere i Amerika #3

by O.E. Rølvaag, Nora O. Solum (Translator)

Peder Seier er tredje bind i Rølvaags verk om de norske nybyggerne i Amerika. Nå vender han oppmerksomheten mot den andre generasjonen. Riket er grunnlagt, avlingen øker, besetninger øker, husene blir større og bekvemmere, det blir rene storbruk av jordloddene. Men parallelt med denne velstanden vokser det fram en motsetning mellom de eldre og de yngre. De eldre føler seg fremdeles sterkt knyttet til Norge og alt som norsk er. For de unge, derimot, er Norge bare en drøm – en fjern, uvirkelig verden. Sentralt i denne boka står den nye generasjons psykologiske utvikling: gutten som modnes til mann på et nytt sted, under helt andre forhold enn dem slekten har vokst fram i. Peder Seier er bredere i sitt anlegg enn de to foregående bøkene. Det er ikke lenger et grannelag vi er i lag med, men et helt «territory», menighetslivet, de religiøse brytninger, de sosiale forhold. Stadig blir leseren minnet om den sosiale utvikling som danner ramme og forutsetning for de menneskelige konflikter.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, Scandinavian Literature, Literature, Historical, The United States Of America

350 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1928

About the author

Ole Edvart Rølvaag was born in the family's cottage in a small fishing village on the island of Dønna, in the far southern district of Nordland county, Norway. Dønna, one of the largest islands on the northern coast of Norway, is situated about five miles from the Arctic Circle. He was born with the name Ole Edvart Pedersen, one of seven children of Peder Benjamin Jakobsen and Ellerine Pedersdatter Vaag. The settlement where he was born had no official name, but was referred to as Rølvaag, the name of a narrow bay on the northwestern point of the island where the fishermen kept their boats. At 14 years of age Rølvaag joined his father and brothers in the Lofoten fishing grounds. Rølvaag lived there until he was 20 years of age, and the impressions he received during the days of his childhood and his young manhood endured with him throughout his life.[2]

An uncle who had emigrated to America sent him a ticket in the summer of 1896, and he traveled to Union County, South Dakota to work as a farmhand. He settled in Elk Point, South Dakota, working as a farmhand until 1898. With the help of his pastor, Rølvaag enrolled in Augustana Academy in Canton, South Dakota where he graduated in 1901. He earned a bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota in 1905, and a master's degree from the same institution in 1910. He also had studied for some time at the University of Oslo.

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peder Victorious was a much different book than the first of Rolvaag's trilogy about Norwegian immigrants in the Dakota Territory. While Giants in the Earth was alive with the epic struggle to create a home in a new country, this book dealt more with what happens after the settlements are created and 'civilization' arrives at last in the form of organized religion, education, and politics.

Young Peder, the only family member born in the country, goes through his growing up years in these pages. He questions everything, rebels against everyone, wonders what he will do with his life. Just as millions of young men and women have done and will continue to do all over the world.

But this is not just Peder's story. Rolvaag spends a lot of time on conflicts in the church, triggered by a scandal involving a young woman and the hired hand on her stepmother's farm. The way this incident was handled illustrated the rigid Old World outlook of the local church, allowing pages and pages of theorizing within the story. I got more than a little tired of that, and thought how odd it was for something that the pioneers had hoped and prayed for (a real church with a real minister!) to end up dividing the people. They were no longer the close community they had been in those early pioneer days.

Politics created more rifts in the community, mainly when the topic was the splitting of the Dakota Territory into North and South before joining the Union. Should it happen, should it not happen; people argued about it for years. Peder at one point thinks he would like to go into politics, but he had also thought he would be a minister, so he was no more certain of his future than any teenager usually is.

For me the saddest aspect of this book was the education system of the day. Peder is attending a school where only English is allowed to be spoken, and the teacher not only ridicules the accents her immigrant children have, but says things like this: "Education is our only weapon against ignorance and against the inherited customs we have brought with us from the old country." A weapon against ignorance is one thing, but to be 'educated' away from your cultural roots is something else entirely and is shameful.

Here are Rolvaag's thoughts on this book (from the introduction): "I think I have put my finger on the tragedy of emigration, the true tragedy of the soul, more intensely in this book than in any of my others." He meant the separation of the younger generation from its roots, 'the child slipping into a world where its mother cannot go'. Beret, Peder's mother, does not understand English and is fiercely proud of being Norwegian. She cannot see that Peder is expected to be American now, cannot understand why he insists on mixing with the Irish settlers nearby, cannot accept that he is slipping away from her not only due to the natural laws of Life (and Love!) but because he is being pulled in many different directions by events in his private world.

This is a psychologically tragic book. There may not be the fierce battles against the elements that were so riveting in the first volume, but the inner battles raging here are just as intense....and so much more depressing. The third book is called Their Fathers' God . I am about to read it, and can only hope that Rolvaag can piece back together the individuals, the family, and the community that were torn apart here.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rølvaag carries the story and many of the characters from his classic Giants in the Earth forward to the next generation. Taking place in several years around 1885, the adolescence of Peder, son of Per Hansa and Beret, is interestingly related to bring out three major themes of the American immigrant experience in the northern Great Plains of that era.

The politics of statehood for Dakota is the simplest and sets the stage for the others. The loudmouthed opinionated partisan debates fire the imagination of Peder and prepare his mind for rational thinking and debate.

Secondly, the Americanization of the Norwegians, by giving up their language in favor of English - and by implication their old world culture itself - is enthusiastically welcomed by Peder but strongly resisted by his mother. This sets up a classic generational conflict.

The third theme is the most significant: the overreach of religion and its overbearing control of the people. I was pleasantly surprised at the courage of Rølvaag to tackle this theme when he wrote in 1929. He presents several grasping ministers and priests, each vying to build their flocks from the few people farming on the plains. He shows how a revivalist church can form quickly, and did over and over again in late nineteenth-century America. Rølvaag focusses this large topic precisely down on Peder and shows how his youthful, naturally moral, happy mind and self are severely disrupted by the intrusion of religion and the unnatural guilt that it brings. It's done quite dramatically, and I was really hating some characters and cheering on others as the story progressed.

The saga doesn't end with this book. One very large cliffhanger remains: What will those jilted ministers do now, will they exact some revenge? Will they succeed in destroying the reason, independence and happiness of the immigrant youth Peder? I'm afraid to read the next volume.

[Lori L (She Treads Softly) · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, read Giants in the Earth before Peder Victorious. Second, although Gudrun Hovde Gvale's introduction in my copy is certainly well worth reading, unless you want a synopsis of the whole story before you read the novel, don't read it until after you have finished the book. Alternately, if you just want to know what happens without read the book, by all means read it. There is also a biographical note on Rolvaag at the end of the novel.

Giants in the Earth is more accessible and perhaps more riveting than Peder Victorious, but for those who are interested, this novel of settlers on the South Dakota prairie brilliantly shows the conflicts that must have arose with the Americanization of the Norwegian settlers. As Peder matures throughout the story, the conflicts that surely sprang up between the original Norwegian settlers and their now American children are illustrated in Peder's life. The relationship between Peder, as well as his other siblings, and their mother is especially poignant. The normal separation of children from their parents is magnified as the children are also separating themselves from their parent's culture and their own heritage. While I would very highly recommend Peder Victorious, I know it is not a book for everyone and needs to be read after Giants in the Earth. http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peder Victorious is possibly even more riveting as a character study than was Giants in the Earth. The fact that Rølvaag could maintain my fascinated interest in a book so far out of my normal reading zone is a testimony to his greatness. I am grateful for these first two books, and I look forward to reading the third.

[T.J. Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Peder Victorious" is the second book in a trilogy by author O.E. Rolvaag about the experiences of Norwegian immigrants on the prairies of the Dakotas in the late 1800s. I have seen a couple of reviews of "Peder Victorious" that say that it is not as good as "Giants in the Earth." That may be true from a pure craft persepective, but I enjoyed the books equally. In fact, I enjoyed Peder as a main character more than Per Hansa. I think the "coming of age" aspect of the story is so well-done; Rolvaag catches the "high highs" and "low lows" of adolescence beautifully. Peder feels real. I was also fascinated by the story this book tells about the children of immigrants and how they feel about their country, their place in the community, speaking their native language vs. English, etc. And I just love Rolvaag's writing style - the omniscient narration that gives us a peek into many different characters' brains and motiviations. Peder's mother Beret is an especially interesting character. I was surprised that the introduction by Gudrun Hovde Gvale states, "Rolvaag's sober account does not leave one in doubt that his and our sympathies are with Beret..." as I felt the opposite. My sympathies were with Peder and her other children, and I felt mostly frustrated with her. I would love to discuss this book with people who have read it. How do you feel about Beret?

[Mariangel · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Giants in the Earth, when only 4 families inhabited their part of the prairie, a baby was born on Christmas day and christened Peder Victorious by his father. In the first half of this book, Peder goes from a trusting little boy, through losing his father and beginning to doubt God, to becoming a fully American boy, mingling with Irish neighbors without understanding his mother's dismay about it, ashamed about his mother's poor English, resenting her for her insistence on his speaking and praying in Norwegian, impatient with the fighting of the two Norwegian religious congregations.

The second half of the book switches to Beret, the mother who successfully managed the farm after Per's death, with the help of all 3 sons, but who is losing them and cannot understand how to bring them back. Peder, as her youngest, is her main concern. But all the society and even the minister enthusiastically work on the youth, in order to become a unified American people. Why is she the only who sees that they are losing their roots, that the prairie has not just taken their bodies, but now is fighting for their souls?

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Goodreads female reviewer who complained it's a lad's coming-of-age narrative that suddenly veers off into "booze and broads" didn't do it justice. What do you expect, at least judging from my "lived experience" (or wishful thinking, as a teen)? Granted it's the middle of a trilogy meant as full quartet (Rölvaag died before this happened), so it feels very similar to our own century's expectations for the middle of a seasons-stretched series, screened or read. It's an installment, a production line.

It's not bad. But if you're familiar with the gist of Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist," with a restless boy chafing against the forces of maternal suppression, clerical meddling, political squabbles, and dreary duty, while "life" appears to whir past somewhere exciting, sinful, and transgressive, it's all repeated.

Beret, Peder's depressing and repressed mother, four years after the end of Giants in the Earth, also critiqued by me recently, deals with widowhood on the lonesome prairie. Not much alters for her, as the chapters alternate, after setting up her son's formation (his siblings get barely walk-on roles). So the pace stays soporific too often. The details of division of the Dakotas into two admitted states, the bickering of Lutheran synods, and the predicted loss of the Norwegian tongue within two decades as children like Peder secularize, defect from custom, and court Irish Catholic lasses may bore audiences.

However, as part three awaits Peder and his bride's marriage, I guess being curious from the latter's side of the nuptial aisle, I'll invest my attention in Their Father's God. Whose title captures the mood. As with part one, the translation holds up nearing its centennial well enough, a credit to its author and American collaborators. But the plot's ponderous, and I sense gloom won't lift after a honeymoon.

[gaudeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second volume of a trilogy, this book does not disappoint. Like the first (Giants in the Earth), it follows the lives of the Holm family, Norwegians who have settled in the Dakotas. This one focuses on the youngest child in the family, Peder, and traces his growth to adulthood. As with the first, it also closely follows his mother, Beret, who increasingly resents the young people's reliance on English rather than the language of the old country. I look forward to reading the final book in the trilogy, Their Fathers' God.

[Rachelfm · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are such relevant, contemporary American struggles. No other novel of pioneers I've read published during this time period manages to delve so intimately into all facets of life: faith, mental illness, sexuality, loyalty, identity. I can't believe how much I love these books and how well they've aged.

[Margaret · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so disappointed in this book. His first book Giants in the Earth is a magnificent story of the Norwegian settlers in the Dakotas. This book is a sequel to the first and I could not believe that is was the same author. What a let down.

[Petra Kvapilová · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome!

[Val Sprenger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as engaging as the first by this author, but it was nice to see the ongoing story of this brave family.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The second novel in Rølvaag's prairie trilogy is not great, but I sure did enjoy reading it. Peder is an obvious symbol of the young American spirit on the precipice of the modern age: a native born son of immigrants suspended between the past and the future, the traditions of the Old World and the promise of the new, restrictive religious morals and progressive thought, homesteading and westward expansion, etc. The two key texts in this novel are the Bible and Whitman. The former is quoted by Peder’s mother, who represents the desire of immigrants to cling to their Old World customs, while the latter is an ode to the pioneer spirit embraced by Peder. Like Joyce’s Stephen Dadelus, he is caught in the nets of nationality, language, and religion.

In truth, this is not a classic on par with Giants in the Earth -- it’s a rather average coming-of-age immigrant narrative that covers ground already well explored in better novels by previous American authors (Cather, Garland, Lewis, Ferber, et al. -- but Rølvaag's prose has an earthy, plain-spoken beauty that unfolds with the dreamy languor of a long, warm summer in the great plains. If you enjoyed the characters and the pacing of Giants, then I would recommend giving this novel a shot. I have already planned to read the final novel of the trilogy and a couple more from Rølvaag that are kept in the basement storage facility of the Milwaukee Public Library -- which is the perfect way to encounter the works of this under-read midwestern chronicler of the Scandinavian immigrant experience.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peder Victorious may not possess the same dreamy quality as Giants in the Earth but it is a good sequel and I didn't mind reading about the struggles of the Lutheran church to establish itself in the Dakotas. Being a Lutheran myself, there are many parallels in their struggles to the struggles we face today.

I still do not like Beret at all. She is one of the most ignorant and frustrating people ever created in print. Her ignorance leads her to be stubborn and selfish and, too often, irrational. Thankfully, her debilitating negativity is tempered by every other character understanding that she has problems. They love her anyway which is as it should be in such a community.

Having said all that, I must grudgingly acknowledge I understand the concerns that plague her and make her life miserable. As I get older and watch my children adopt ideas and ways of life from current culture, ways with which I don't agree, ways I can't follow myself, Beret's struggle becomes universal. I've watched as the way of life I enjoyed as a child is slowly destroyed, in many cases by necessity with the advent of new "tech" and labor saving devices. I miss the world with which I was most familiar but I can never go back. We can only relentlessly grind forward. My children and grandchildren will not miss things I see disappearing. It was never really part of their world, but their turn will come with their own children. That cycle of cultural struggle and destruction is at the core of Peder Victorious.

[Donia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having lived for several years in areas of the Central Plains settled by Norwegians, I was drawn to read Rolvaag's books. As so many others have stated, Giants of the Earth was an easier read. I found Peder Victorious much slower and difficult to wade through but I did find that the "arguments" it posed and the community divisions it described mirrored what I experienced living in this region as an outsider. Though the story described life many decades prior to my experiences, I found it to be a wonderful description of life there even decades later. I just can't rate it higher as it was so dry for me. Perhaps after mulling it over I will change my mind. I do believe that it is an important contribution to the literature and history of our country.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this sequel, giving it 4 stars instead of 5 only because I liked the beginning and middle better than the end. He wrapped it up in a bow which was less than satisfying to ME. Since I grew up in the area and am half or more Norwegian descent, this book really resonated and brought a new element of understanding with his description of the immigrants struggle to maintain their cultural identity while being “Americanized”. My ancestors were Lutherans and it bodes well to remember that our current church squabbles have been around FOREVER as noted in his storyline with the town church. I recommend this book, especially to Rölvaag fans. It’s very good, and less bleak than Giants.

[John Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second in the GIANTS IN THE EARTH trilogy. The story concentrates on Peder Victorious, Per Hansa and Beret's youngest son, and Beret. We are given the back story to why Beret sent Per Hansa out in a snowstorm to find a minister and her strict religiosity. We also get a sense of Peder's first excitement about religion and then his disappointment in it. Finally, we follow him as he becomes attracted to three different young women, two from his Norwegian-American community and one from outside of it but a close friend. Rolvaag's books capture your imagination and we get a good sense of the lives of the second generation of Norwegian immigrants to this country.

[L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sequel to a book I'm not going to bother to read, this is the coming-of-age story of Peder Victorious Holm. a Norwegian immigrant living in the Dakotas. The first part is of young Peder torn between his mother's wish for him to remain Norwegian (a country he doesn't really remember) and becoming American. Then puberty hits and BAM! it's all booze and babes. The other half is of Beret Holm, a woman who frighteningly reminds me too much of my own mother. She's controlling, stubborn, racist, stuck in her ways, obsessed with her son and doesn't give a flip about her daughter.

Being Kinder To My Books In 2023

[Les · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Original Notes (1997):

Good, but not great. Certainly not as good as Giants in the Earth. The novel ran hot and cold for me. Some parts didn't hold my interest at all (too much religion?) and others did so much that I couldn't put it down. Interesting sections involving the loss of native language (Beret vs. children and the church)

My Current Thoughts:

I still plan to someday reread Giants in the Earth, but sadly this follow-up holds no interest to me.

[Dianne Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Giants in the Earth has stayed with me over the years. This sequel had a chapter, The Eyes That Did Not See, that was reminiscent, and I found it excellent. While much of the book was not as interesting to me, regarding the state and church politics, the second generation immigrant issues being mulled over felt relevant to me, and my heart felt the pains of this mother's struggle, as her children moved towards the inevitable.

[Lynne]

Much more poetic than Giants in the Earth...and a struggle is central in both. The first is the physical struggle to tame the land and organize people; the second is a spiritual struggle to become oneself, not a mirror image of immigrant parents & the struggle of parents to see their children becoming other than ethnic..

[Merlin V]

Love the descriptions of community meetings in this book. They are so familiar to current political dialogues. Rolvaag is a master at crafting an absolutely unique character with a minimum of words.
Peder Victorious also speaks, still, to our debates on race, diversity and nationality.

[Elaine W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I love the style, the characters. Rolvaag is shaping up to be one of my favorite writers. Just as good as Giants.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my dear Beret....!

[Bob Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read the final book of this trilogy, their fathers God, before I read Peter victorious. So, basically this was a fill in the gap book. Basically, Peter’s adolescence and young adult hood. The breaking away from a parent is difficult enough, but when added to a parent who comes from a different country and never is interested in learning the language or the culture the break is all that much more powerful. A sad but insightful tale of our ancestors and current immigrants in the strain immigration to a new country can put on those relationships.

All in all, a great trilogy starting with giants in the earth. So glad I took the time to read all three books and explore the navigation of Norwegian immigrants to this new land. Really, this can be extrapolated to most any immigrant to a new land.

Brought back many memories of my grandparents and things they said or did I can look at or think of in a new light.

[Sherry Elmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat reluctantly, last year I picked up Rolvaag's Giants in the Earth. To my surprise, I loved it. I gained a new appreciation of the pioneer experience, learned a lot, and fell in love with the characters. I was very glad to learn there was a sequel.

Peder Victorious is good, but not as good as Giants. The experience of Peder's generation, born in America, was much different than that of their forefathers'. The danger is much less as more people built bigger and stronger communities and civil society. The land becomes less of a towering presence than it had been to a handful of people living in sod huts. But there were still difficulties. The generations have a hard time understanding each other. Nothing new there, but the issues of language (Norwegian or English) and homeland make the divide more poignant.


This book fulfills category #4, a classic in translation, for the Back to the Classics 2016 challenge. http://karensbooksandchocolate.blogsp...

[Ted L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sequel to the landmark novel Giants in the earth continues the saga of Norwegian immigrants into the second generation. Pedal, the child born after the immigrants reach and settle in South Dakota. Pedal struggles to be American, not Norwegian while his mother fights back by insisting he speak Norwegian and resisting his friendships with the "undesirable" Irish catholic immigrants.

Although not as famous or moving as Giants in the Earth, Pedar Victorious is actually more readable and while dealing with heavy subject matter, it is a less dark story. Definitely a good novel to read as it tells a great story as well as providing a very realistic view of Norwegian immigrant life.

[KrisAnne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a total slog, but once I was in I felt obligated to finish it. I should remind myself to ignore that feeling when I have 20 other books sitting on the pile. Like Giants in the Earth, this one is maybe notable for the extent to which a woman is a complete and central character, forward-thinking in many ways but deeply entrenched the old country ways in others. The book also clearly defines the generational divide between the immigrant parents and the Americanized or American-born children. But I have a feeling there are lots of other books that define that divide much better.

[Jane Healy]

This sequel to Giants in the Earth is set near Sioux Falls around the turn of the last century. The American offspring of Norwegian settlers upset their elders with their American ways. Speaking English, courting those not Norwegian, taking part in school dramas, all bring Beret Holm to question herself and God. Peder, her youngest, grows to manhood torn between respecting his mother and being a determined American. The struggle between generations continues today, giving the story relevance. The novel is also interesting for its historical view of everyday life, religion, and politics.

[Marie Ash-Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Rolvaag did it again - sympathetic characters, great plot and the human condition. Well written and organized as are all of his books. If you are a first reader of his books, you should begin with GIANTS OF THE EARTH or at least read it, the greatest of his books. In my opinion, his works are among the greatest of the historical fiction of Scandinavian immigrant experience. I highly recommend it.