Good morning, friends! God Morgen!
Today for my final post to celebrate Norway Week, we are celebrating! It is Sigrid Undset’s BIRTHDAY!
This is also a special year, as it is not only the 140th anniversary of Sigrid Undset’s birth, it is also the 100th anniversary of the completed trilogy of Kristin Lavransdatter. I feel so happy to have found Sigrid’s writing and the story of her life in this auspicious year— we are both 40 (give or take a century for Sigrid) and Catholic converts. She was also a wife, mother, artist, lover of history (and surely homespun?) the sacred and good books. I share her passion for coffee, but thankfully not the cigarettes 😉 She was complicated, she was thoughtful, she was unique and not afraid to forge her own path. I am so thankful for the example of Sigrid Undset, and to be able to savor her amazing writing, despite the decades that are between us.
It is my absolute pleasure to share Sigrid’s work with you, and I have a giveaway winner to announce for the book “Happy Times in Norway” by Undset. The winner is–– Stephanie, Oneuponcatime on instagram! Thanks so much to all who entered! And Stephanie, I hope you enjoy the book!
If you’d like to learn more about Sigrid Undset, Plough Magazine has a fantastic article out now that you can read online— you can read the article by Cat Hodge HERE. It is so well done! With lots of insight into how Sigrid’s own complicated life led to the creation of her Nobel Prize winning masterpiece, Kristin Lavransdatter.
Happily, many of Undset’s other works are being brought back for publication, especially by Cluny Media— a small publishing house focusing on Catholic literary classics. To celebrate Sigrid’s birthday, Cluny Media has all of their Undset books on sale– as well as the biography “Sigrid Undset: A Study in Christian Realism” by A.H. Winses. You can visit all of their Undset selection HERE to find your next book!
And speaking of Sigrid Undset books— I am eagerly awaiting the new Sigrid Undset biography that is coming out this summer from Ignatius Press.
Thank you so much for joining me for this week long exploration of Norway, inspired in many ways by Sigrid Undset. I hope you have enjoyed these posts and Norwegian forays into books, crafts, recipes and history. I’d love to hear any of your suggestions of anything Norwegian to explore in future posts. If there is something that you find fascinating about Norway, please share! Or let me know what your favorite Sigrid Undset or other Norwegian book is.
Have a wonderful day and weekend. And most of all–
Take Joy!
ta glede!
~H
Sleightholm Folk Art 
Wow, I just read the plough article and found it most interesting. I had no idea Sigrid lived such a profoundly complicated life. This review does help explain where the details of Kristin Lavransdatter came from and how Sigrid was able to write so clearly and detailed in all three books of the trilogy. Thanks for providing this link and I sent it on to my friend who is now reading the trilogy.
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