A new translation of Olav Audunssøn
a win for English-speaking fans of Sigrid Undset, medieval Norway, and complicated characters
Yesterday, news broke that the Norway’s Bishop Fredrik Hansen is taking the first steps toward opening the cause for canonization of Nobel Prize-winning author Sigrid Undset. The best way to get to know Undset, for English speakers, will undoubtedly be through her novels. Although Undset has several remarkable “modern novels” her Medieval works were uniquely special to her, labors of love.
So with that, I give you an introduction to
Olav Audunssøn
An Introduction to the Text
A professor’s favorite work by Sigrid Undset was Olav Audunssøn.
The rationale: Kristin was written during Undset’s conversion; Olav is written after.
We had this conversation during class, the title of which I cannot remember, that reviewed the theological underpinnings of the Institute for Psychological Science’s anthropological view of man and approach to clinical therapy. The professor: Michael Pakaluk.
This was the most I knew at the time.
The Master of Hestviken is a tetralogy about medieval Norway written by Sigrid Undset. It was originally published in Norwegian as two volumes, Olav Audunssøn i Hestviken and Olav Audunssøn og Hans Børn, from 1925 to 1927. It is set in Medieval Norway, a generation before Kristin Lavransdatter.
The novel, like all of Undset’s novels, takes us deep into the heart of a main character with glimpses into the souls of those with whom he interacts. Olav and Ingunn have been in love, betrothed, they believe, since childhood.
In the first volume, Vows, the story takes shape as we see how totally bonded in spirit these two are. Upon the awakening of their desire for each other, they fly into each other’s arms and begin a sexual relationship. They fight for their right to marry. A separation ensues, the consequences of which will be felt for the rest of their lives once they are permitted to marry.
And there it ends until the next volume, Providence.
An Introduction to the Translation
It was translated into English first by Arthur G. Chater and published from 1928 to 1930. And now we have Olav Audunssøn translated by Tiina Nunnally from the University of Minnesota Press) In a series of four volumes.
The errors of the original English translation are not so great, and the note from Nunnally reflects less ire at the choices made 100 years ago in the work. Like Kristin, the Chater translation uses the same archaic prose not found in Undset’s Norwegian. The syntax was not so crumbled together to sound lofty as we saw in Kristin, but the dialogue felt wooden and forced. So Nunnally has set to work with a clear, clean, and earthy translation.
Comparing goods
With two short excerpts, let’s compare.
“Olav had inherited from his father a large battle axe. it was a horned axe with steel welded to the edge and inlaid gold paint on the blade. The half was wrapped with bands of gilded copper. The axe had a name; it was called Ættarfylgja, or Guardian of Kin” (Nunnally Translation, Providence page 23)
“Olav had inherited from his father a great battle-axe—with pointed barbs, steel edge, and inlays of gold on the cheeks; the shaft had bands of gilt copper. It had a name and was called Kinfetch (Chater translation, The Axe, page 20)”
For the modern ear, the Nunnally translation gives us a better visual and understanding of what is being described. This particular passage also has a footnote, giving the reader background information on the place, religion, and times in which the book is set.
“May the devil take you!” Eirik leaped to his feet in fury. “What sort of fathers are the two of you, men like you and Jörund! Whenever the world goes against you, you insult your own wives with disrespectful claims” (Nunnally Translation, Winter, page 264)
“Shame on you!” Eirik sprang up in his wrath. “What is this strain that is in such men as you and Jörund? When the world goes against you, you cry shame upon your own wives with infamous words–” (Chater translation, The Son Avenger, page 936)
This excerpt gives us a sample of the directness and poignency that comes with the modern translation, some of which is lost with the archaic approach. This is not to say there isn’t beauty to the language “you cry shame upon your own wives with infamous words” has a poetic rhythm to it, but something of the power was lost in the old translation.
A key theme: biographical considerations
If we consider Undset’s biography as a backdrop for the novel, some of her nuances float to the surface. Undset lived in Lutheran Norway, among atheist artists and intellectuals. She loved a married man, Anders Castus Svarstad, and married him upon his divorce, raised his children, including one with cognitive impairments, had children of her own, and another of whom was mentally handicapped and divorced in 1919.
Here she begins the undertaking of Kristin, first published in 1923.
Undset was received into the Catholic Church in November 1924.
Olav followed soon after, first published in 1925.
While Kristin explores the trials of faith with a willful personality that seems bound to resist, raised in a richly faithful and devout environment, Olav presents a reflective, idealistic character raised within a nominal faith, surrounded by those who practice religion when they must, but ultimately religion has little bearing on their decisions and deliberations. Pagan law, the law of the sword, still rules the hearts of those around him; sexual law exists only insofar as we consider inheritance rites.
We see in Undset’s modern novels, like The Wild Orchid, this same dynamic, transported in time, but with a wildly different outcome.
No, Olav will play with the interaction of these two species, one that constantly reflects in a society without reflection.
Undset likewise explored the sense of home and the theme of belonging. Olav was left to the Steinfinn household, far away from his own kin. They are fundamentally wired differently from him. But, in Ingunn, his childhood playmate, he feels at home. They are bound together, not only by their love and sexual relations, but by the interpersonal bonds of belonging when no one else has loved them or attended to them.
But, as a good author, the characters take on lives of their own. So, however inspired, informed, or first imagined by certain dynamics, Undset never binds her characters by her own experience. Once familiar with her canon, the breadth of personalities so thoroughly formed becomes apparent.
The takeaway
I first began reviewing this work volume by volume, but as I began the second volume, it was so readable, so exciting, that I kept plunging ahead before taking the time to write one by one.
Each volume has a unique feel to it. Publishing them separately allows the reader to take a breath before beginning something that has a very different mood and mode to it.
The first volume moves swiftly, with action, romance, excitement and longing. All that happens is terrible; you turn the page to know what will happen next. By the end of the volume, you’re sorry for these two foolish souls.
We are left in a place of tension. Olav’s conscience has been awakened, but he lives within a world that would not choose the hard road of faith. He has chosen to go against the still, small voice inside him.
Despite the heartache of being with him, he will choose Ingunn and all the ties that make her heart the home for his heart.
In the second volume, rightly called Providence, Olav will reap what he has sewn. The life between him and Ingunn unfolds based on their personalities and the circumstances that led up to their union. This is where the volume dragged for me in the Chater translation. The family stories do slow down the story, but Olav is learning his familial history, along with the reader.
In the third volume, Nunnally notes the mystical quality of this work. Reading Chater the first time, I was confused. The spiritual elements come through clearly in Nunnally’s hand; my second reading helped as well. This is a volume full of spiritual meat, reflection, and Undset’s understanding of how this God loves us, perhaps how this God displayed his love for her as she took her long path around to find him.
The fourth volume, Winter, brings us to the end of Olav’s life. His children are adults, and we see how their lives will settle as well. It is full of conclusions, but will not appease the reader too easily. One may be left wrestling with what this ending means; it does not come wrapped neatly in a bow. Undset has a way of giving you the key to an entire puzzle of a relationship or the work in one sentence. For me, the clarity of Nunnally’s writing helped me feel at peace with this ending.
I will be rereading this in the Nunnally translation. But as she writes in her notes at the beginning of the first volume, the changes were not as drastic as Kristin, so if you desire to explore the Chater, Cluny Media has republished the work in four lovely volumes. Both new editions come with attractive covers, solid pages that feel good to the touch and just enough weight to remind you’re reading a tetralogy, but not so heavy your arms get tired.
And the temperaments?
Well, I cannot help myself.
Olav is melancholic, maybe melancholic-phlegmatic. His unconfessed sin crystallizes his heart. Someone like Olav “does not easily forget,” as Ingunn told him before they wed.
Ingunn is sanguine, so sanguine it makes me crazy.
Eirik is also sanguine, and in him, Undset shows how the path of maturity can play out for one such as him.
Also on my reading list
Completed:
Magnifica Humanitas by Pope Leo XIV, Vatican. va
Finished it, excellent. Just enjoy being written to by a Pope. No hot takes, don’t worry if this is some indication of what side he’s on or you’re on or they’re on, just read and reflect. It’s a refreshing thought. More to come on this.
Woven Words is an anthology of short poems featuring the work of Stanislaus County youth poets.
The first poem makes all the rest pale in comparison. I’m very proud to see projects like this take shape. Youth anthologies might just light the fire for a lifelong relationship with writing and art.
Salvation is from the Jews by Roy H. Schoeman. Ignatius Press.
It’s very good, but I kept forgetting I was reading it, so I skimmed the final chapters and called it done.
Make Believe by Mac Barnett. Love, love, love. Review to follow soon!
So Big by Edna Ferber. More on this later!
XXX
Still on the shelf:
A Room with a View by E. M. Forrester
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Trans. Maude. Everyman’s Library
Paused to read Undset and some book club books. To be continued…