Contents
Translator’s Note
Map of the Gudbrandsdal Region
Genealogy and Kinship
Part I. Olav Audunssøn Marries
Part II. Ingunn Steinfinnsdatter
Notes
List of Holy Days and Canonical Hours
Sigrid Undset (1882–1949) was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Literature in 1928, primarily for her epic novels set in Norway
during the Middle Ages (the trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter,
published in 1920–22, and the tetralogy Olav Audunssøn, which
followed in 1925–27). She was a prolific writer of contemporary
novels, essays, newspaper articles, autobiographical works, and
children’s stories. During World War II she lived in Brooklyn and
wrote passionately about Norway’s plight and the grim situation in
Europe. She returned to her home, Bjerkebæk, in Lillehammer,
Norway, and in 1947 she was awarded Norway’s highest honor, the
Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Olav for her “distinguished
literary work and for her service to her country.”
Tiina Nunnally is the award-winning translator of many works of
Scandinavian literature, including Sigrid Undset’s Marta Oulie
(Minnesota, 2014) and Kristin Lavransdatter, which was awarded the
PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club translation prize. She has translated
fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen, Swede Hollow by Ola Larsmo
(Minnesota, 2019), and The Complete and Original Norwegian
Folktales of Asbjørnsen and Moe (Minnesota, 2019). In 2013 she was
appointed Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit for her
efforts on behalf of Norwegian literature abroad.
"Sigrid Undset's gift was to take readers inside the hearts and
minds of people who lived and worked, struggled and connived in the
fjords, villages, farms, and estates of thirteenth-century Norway.
Tiina Nunnally's gift is to bring these characters to today's
readers in clear, lyrical prose. Here we have the story of Olav
Audunssøn and Ingunn Steinfinnsdatter, betrothed as children and
constantly challenged by people who turn their sweet and simple
love story into a fraught, twenty-year journey to that final kiss.
No one but Undset could have written Olav Audunssøn, and no one but
Nunnally could do it justice in translation. Read it—and spend time
in the thirteenth century as it really was."—Nicola Griffith,
author of Hild"Tiina Nunnally is that rarest phenomenon: a
translator whose translations sound entirely natural, idiomatic,
and true. This new translation of the first volume of Sigrid
Undset's Olav Audunssøn is a heroic undertaking, which Nunnally has
accomplished with her accustomed elegance and flair."—John
Banville, author of Mrs. Osmond"This tetralogy, less known and less
beloved than Kristin Lavransdatter, may be Sigrid Undset’s
masterwork. Arthur G. Chater’s translation is now nearly a century
old. Calculatedly archaic and smoothly florid, it retains the
charms of its time and place. This new version by Tiina Nunnally
performs Undset in a blunter and terser style which would not be
out of place in one of those Norse sagas whose grim ethos lives on
in the midbrains of the characters. It is a style entirely in
keeping with the bleakness of this story of an honorable man whose
loving self-sacrifice calcifies his heart."—William T. Vollmann,
author of The Lucky Star
"Undset brings the setting to life with rich descriptions of the
natural world, well-captured in Nunnally’s stunning translation.
Those interested in Norse history will appreciate this modern
classic of Norwegian literature."—Publishers Weekly"Vows is an
unexpected gift in a year that would welcome more of them."—Lit
Hub"Long out of print, the first volume [of Olav Audunssøn] now
appears in a captivating new translation by Tiina Nunnally . . .
This is an absorbing, psychologically rich tale that promises to
grow deeper and more memorable in each successive volume."—Wall
Street Journal"Undset matches the precision and force of her
characters’ inner lives—lacerated by indecision, sunk in sorrow or
transported by joy—with her evocation of a vanished age and
depictions of the life-affirming beauty of nature. This is a novel
you wish would never end—and it doesn’t, not yet: The following
volumes will be appearing over the next three years."—Star
Tribune"Thirteenth-century Norway is a blend of pagan and
Christian. Women have no rights, and the male head of an extended
family makes all decisions. It is a world we rarely are invited
into, and if you have patience, you will be rewarded."—Pioneer
Press "Tiina Nunnally’s new translation captures the dark
imperatives of a land where clan loyalties and ancient codes of
honor have become ensnarled in the struggle between rising powers:
the church and the royal court."—Alida Becker, The New York Times
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