Sigrid Undset (Author of Kristin Lavransdatter)

Sigrid Undset鈥檚 Followers (818)

Sigrid Undset

Born

in Kalundborg, Denmark

May 20, 1882

Died

June 10, 1949

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Sigrid 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. Sigrid 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 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 The Master of Hestviken (1925鈥�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鈥檚 legacy rests not only on her historical novels but also on her fearless exploration of conscience, duty, and the human condition. Her characters鈥攅specially her women鈥攁re 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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Sigrid Undset鈥檚 books

Average rating: 4.19 · 41,502 ratings · 5,066 reviews · 215 distinct works 鈥� Similar authors

	Kristin Lavransdatter 4.31 avg rating — 13,609 ratings — published 1920 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wreath (Kristin Lavransdatter, #1) by Sigrid Undset, Tiina Nunnally (Translator) 4.05 avg rating — 9,170 ratings — published 1920 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wife (Kristin Lavransdatter, #2) by Sigrid Undset, Tiina Nunnally (Editor), Sherrill Harbison (Introduction) 4.16 avg rating — 4,749 ratings — published 1921 — 117 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Cross (Kristin Lavransdatter, #3) 4.33 avg rating — 3,815 ratings — published 1922 — 124 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gunnar's Daughter by Sigrid Undset, Sherrill Harbison (Editor), Arthur G. Chater (Translator) 4.17 avg rating — 1,823 ratings — published 1909 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Catherine of Siena 4.37 avg rating — 1,220 ratings — published 1951 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jenny by Sigrid Undset, Tiina Nunnally (Translator) 3.88 avg rating — 1,339 ratings — published 1911 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Olav Audunss酶n: I. Vows (Volume 1) by Sigrid Undset, Tiina Nunnally (Translator) 4.28 avg rating — 1,165 ratings — published 1925 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Snake Pit (The Master of Hestviken, #2) 4.30 avg rating — 707 ratings — published 1925 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Son Avenger (The Master of Hestviken, #4) 4.53 avg rating — 516 ratings — published 1926 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Sigrid Undset…

Series by Sigrid Undset

Kristin Lavransdatter (3 books)
by

Sigrid Undset,

Tiina Nunnally (Translator),

Sherrill Harbison (Introduction)

4.21 avg rating — 31,445 ratings

The Master of Hestviken (4 books)
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Sigrid Undset

4.32 avg rating — 3,248 ratings

Paul Selmer (2 books)
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Sigrid Undset

4.00 avg rating — 257 ratings

Elleve 氓r og Tolv 氓r (2 books)
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Sigrid Undset

3.88 avg rating — 33 ratings

Quotes by Sigrid Undset (?)

“And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans--and all that lives and move upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused--and to save us from our foolishness, from all our sins, He came down to earth and gave us Himself.”
― Sigrid Undset

tags: christmas

354 likes

“No one and nothing can harm us, child, except what we fear and love.”
― Sigrid Undset, The Wreath

78 likes

“Many a man is given what is intended for another, but no man is given another's fate.”
― Sigrid Undset, The Wife

47 likes

See all Sigrid Undset's quotes »

Polls

July 2020 New School Classic Read Poll

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, 1945, 351 pages

92 votes, 28.3%

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, 1961, 355 pages

58 votes, 17.8%

I, Claudius by Robert Graves, 1934, 468 pages

54 votes, 16.6%

Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter, 1984, 295 pages

52 votes, 16.0%

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien, 1967, 200 pages

32 votes, 9.8%

The Wreath by Sigrid Undset, 1920, 305 pages

22 votes, 6.8%

The Street by Ann Petry, 1946, 448 pages

15 votes, 4.6%

325 total votes

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Sigrid Undset鈥檚 Followers (818)

Sigrid Undset

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