Second paragraph of third chapter:
| Det var slik at han tok seg mer nær av dette ille varsel enn hustruen kunne vite. Han hadde skrytt så meget av sin festemø, helt siden hans frender hadde hentet ham jaord på Jørundgaard. Det var det siste han hadde villet, at noen skulle tro, han regnet henne eller hennes frender for ringere enn sine egne folk. Nei, alle skulle vite at han holdt det for en heder og en opreisning, da Lavrans Bjørgulfsøn festet ham sin datter. Nå ville folk si han hadde vel ikke regnet møen for stort mer enn et bondebarn, når han hadde turdet krenke hennes far slik at han sov med datteren, før hun var blitt ham gitt til ekte. I sitt bryllup hadde Erlend trengt heftig inn på sin kones foreldre, til sommeren måtte de endelig komme til Husaby og se hvordan han hadde det. Både hadde han gjerne villet vise dem, at det var ikke til små kår han førte deres datter inn. Men han hadde også gledet seg til at fare omkring og syne seg i følge med disse vakre og staselige svigerforeldre; han skjønte at Lavrans og Ragnfrid kunde hevde seg mellom de fremste, hvor de så kom hen. Og han hadde trodd, siden den gangen han var på Jørundgaard, da kirken brente, at Lavrans tross alt ikke likte ham så ilde. Nå var det lite rimelig at gjensynet mellom ham og hans konefrender skulle bli til hygge for noen av parterne. | As it turned out, he took this act of fate more to heart than his wife could know. He had boasted so much of his betrothed, ever since his kinsmen had won Lavrans’s assent at Jørundgaard. This was the last thing Erlend had wanted—for anyone to believe that he considered her or her kinsmen to be lesser than his own people. No, everyone must know that he held it to be an honor and a distinction when Lavrans Bjørgulfsøn betrothed him to his daughter. Now people would say that Erlend had not considered the maiden much more than a peasant child, since he had dared to offend her father in such a manner, by sleeping with the daughter before she had been given to him in marriage. At his wedding, Erlend had urged his wife’s parents to come to Husaby in the summer to see how things were on his estate. He wanted to show them that it was not to paltry circumstances that he had brought their daughter. But he had also looked forward to traveling around and being seen in the company of these gracious and dignified in-laws; he realized that Lavrans and Ragnfrid could hold their own among the most esteemed of people, wherever they might go. And ever since the time when he was at Jørundgaard and the church burned down, Erlend had thought that Lavrans was rather fond of him, in spite of everything. Now it was unlikely that the reunion between Erlend and his wife’s kinsmen would be pleasant for either party. |
Having very much enjoyed the first volume of Kirstin Lavransdatter, and with the sunk cost of having bought all three in one volume anyway, I came to the second volume with reasonable expectations; which were met. Kirstin has married the rather irresponsible Erlend, already pregnant with the first of their seven sons together, and manages the demands of motherhood and dealing with Erlend’s somewhat irresponsible approach to life and to managing the family’s finances and other commitments, all against the backdrop of the chilly Norwegian climate.
The book then takes a sharp twist when Erlend is arrested on (entirely reasonable) suspicion of plotting a coup d’état to overthrow King Magnus. Kirstin is thrown onto her own wits and needs support from both her father Lavrans and her ex-lover Simon to ensure her own safety and try to prevent Erlend’s execution. The vividly described landscape turns into a well-sketched set of characters interacting because their very lives depend on it.
Glad that I persevered with this. One more volume to go.
You can get Kristin Lavransdatter II: The Wife here.
This was my top unread book by a woman. Next in that pile is Little Thieves by Margaret Owen.
