Olav Audunssøn II
II. Providence
Sigrid Undset
Translated by Tiina Nunnally
The second volume in the Nobel Prize–winning writer’s epic of medieval Norway, finely capturing Undset’s fluid, natural style in a new English translation, the first in nearly a century
In Providence, the second of Olav Audunssøn’s four volumes, Olav settles in at his ancestral estate of Hestviken and soon brings Ingunn home as his wife. Both hope to put their troubles behind them as they start a new life together, but the crimes and shameful secrets of the past have a long reach and a tenacious hold.
"Shrouded in sorrow and Scandinavian gloom and a central part of a masterwork of modernist literature." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
As Norway moves into the fourteenth century, the kingdom continues to be racked by political turmoil and bloody family vendettas that serve as the backdrop for Sigrid Undset’s masterful story about Olav Audunssøn and Ingunn Steinfinnsdatter. Betrothed as children and raised as foster siblings, their unbridled love for each other sets in motion a series of dire events—with a legacy of betrayal, murder, and disgrace that will echo for generations. In Providence, the second of Olav Audunssøn’s four volumes, Olav settles in at his ancestral estate of Hestviken and soon brings Ingunn home as his wife. Both hope to put their troubles behind them as they start a new life together, but the crimes and shameful secrets of the past have a long reach and a tenacious hold. The consequences of sin, suspicion, and familial obligations may prove a greater threat to the pair’s happiness than even their long years of separation.
$17.95 paper ISBN 978-1-5179-1160-7
280 pages, 1 map, 5 1/2 x 8 1/4, October 2021
Sigrid Undset (1882–1949) was a prolific Norwegian writer and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928. From 1940 to 1945, she lived in the United States in exile during the German occupation of Norway. She is best known for her epic medieval trilogy Kristin Lavransdatter and the tetralogy Olav Audunssøn.
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NYT: From Turkey to China to Norway, These Novels Take You Back in Time
NYT: From Turkey to China to Norway, These Novels Take You Back in Time
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.
Historical Novel Society: Olav Audunssøn: Providence
Replete with family feuds, betrayal, clandestine love, and the consequences of a man’s infidelity to his own honor, the Audunssøn saga is recommended reading.