Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Bridal Wreath / The Wreath | 1920 | Sigrid Undset | Buy |
| 2 | The Wreath | 1920 | Sigrid Undset | N/A |
| 3 | The Wife | 1921 | Sigrid Undset | N/A |
| 4 | The Wife / The Mistress of Husaby | 1921 | Sigrid Undset | Buy |
| 5 | Kristin Lavransdatter, III: The Cross | 1922 | Sigrid Undset | N/A |
| 6 | The Cross | 1922 | Sigrid Undset | Buy |
Kristin Lavransdatter follows one woman across three decades of life in medieval Norway. The first volume, The Bridal Wreath, covers Kristin’s girlhood and her defiant choice to marry Erlend Nikulausson against her father’s wishes. The second, The Wife (also titled The Mistress of Husaby), traces the difficult years of their marriage as Kristin manages an estate and raises seven sons. The final volume, The Cross, deals with loss, penance, and Kristin’s reckoning with her past choices.
The trilogy was originally published in Norwegian between 1920 and 1922. Several English translations exist, which accounts for the alternate titles listed above. Tiina Nunnally’s 1997 translation for Penguin is widely regarded as the most readable modern version. Undset received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928, largely on the strength of this work.