Spoilers ahead...do not read if you haven't read the book and/or if spoilers bother you.
One week late with this discussion post. I apologize profusely. We readers know first hand how sometimes real life gets in the way of our reading. I can only strive to do better for our next (and final discussion).
This will probably be a fairly lengthy post. I have many page flags poking out throughout The Mistress of Husaby.
I first would like to touch on when Erlend discovers that Kristin was pregnant when they married. I was not happy with his reaction. What did he expect her to do, with her already feeling full of shame? She was trying, in her youthful, unwise way, to not make things worse. And Erlend should have kept in mind her youth, and that it takes two to tango. Imagine how she felt, enduring almost the entire pregnancy alone. It speaks volumes to me that she is indeed more an adult than her older husband.
I stayed angry with Erlend for most of this second book. When Kristin tells him she is with child again, their second child, he says: "Methoughts when once you were mine--'twould be like drinking Yule-tide every day. But it looks as though most of the time would be long fasts."
Really? What did you think marriage was going to be like, Erlend? In the times before birth control, especially way back in history as this story is, when you had sex, you would most likely get pregnant. Women had very little choice on how many children they had, and each time they went into labor, it was like staring death in the face. But back to his flippant words above. So, since Kristin was so young and beautiful it was just going to be all fun and no duty? Sorry to say, Erlend...in your time marriage meant child after child and with that great responsibility. (Don't even get me started on him hitting Kristin...infuriating!)
After the second child Bjorgulf is born, once again Erlend is lamenting the responsibility and how sickly Kristin is. "Kristin lulled the child softly. The thin small tones of her voice irked him." Then a few minutes later..."He longed to leave her!" Granted, he is afraid of what she will go through with the next birth, but he is also overwhelmed by it all. He loves her, but he's also selfish in his thinking that having married her, "all evil would be wiped away from his life so wholly that he would forget it had ever been." But you can't expect another person to miraculously heal what you yourself have wrought. It speaks to Erlend's childish and reckless nature, which Kristin is learning more of every day.
Amidst the anger felt with this first book was also immense sadness. When Kristin realizes that Lavrans is not long for the world, it is such a heart wrenching scene between father and daughter. It hit home for me, as I was always close with my dad, but over the past 15 years or so, something has driven a wedge between us (you might guess what it is). I still speak to him on a regular basis, but it's not the same. He is 78 now and I feel such sadness that things are this way so close to the end of his life. I sobbed when I read the above scene, and I'm sobbing now.
I know death is something we all face when our parents become aged. My mom is my best friend. We have always been close and we have lived together for 13 years. She will be 75 in August so I find myself dreading the inevitable. I'm sorry if this seems off topic, but I promise I'm going somewhere with this. When Kristin goes to the chapel to pray over her stepson's grave (Orm...I was so devastated when he died), her thoughts go..."She thought upon her beloved dead--their looks and their voices and smiles and ways and bearing--now that they themselves were gone away to yonder other country, to think on their shapes was sore; 'twas like remembering one's home when one knew that it stood desolate, and the rotting timbers were sinking into the soil." More sobbing on my part. It is part of life that we must endure this, but it's just so unfair that life is so short and we must eventually say goodbye to the ones we love.
Now touching on Erlend and Kristin's marital strife again. Erlend likes to play the blame game. Implying that much of what transpired with his daughter was her fault, when she could never say anything to the girl without Erlend telling her to let Margret be. It was during this heated exchange, where much was said about present and past events, that Erlend struck Kristin again. He professes to apologize, but what does he expect...her not to be angry? More heated words and then Erlend leaves, his final thought being...
"Troll she was--and so fair, too--if only he could beat her until she grew good again..." WHAT?! So what does he do? Goes and sleeps with another woman. Typical. This will come back and bite him later, as we find out.
But a man committing adultery, it's never their fault. Erlend: "Since he had broken his troth to Kristin already--and she herself had brought it about, by her hateful and unjust ways towards him--"
Motherhood. I'm glad that Kristin finds some peace and contentment because of her children. All those boys! As a boy mom myself, I can relate (though I only have two). This one hit home for me too, having not very long ago dealt with the emptying nest.
"Over again and over again had joy in them quickened the beating of her heart, fear for them pierced it--they were her children, these great lads with their lean angular boys' bodies, as they had been when they were so small and plump they could scarce hurt themselves when they tumbled in their journeys between the bench and her knee. They were hers, even as they had been when, as she would lift one of them from the cradle up to her breast for milk, she had to hold up its head , because it nodded on the slender neck as a bluebell nods on its stalk. Wherever they might wander out in the world, whithersoever they might fare, forgetful of their mother, she felt as though for her their life must still be an action of her life, they must still be as one with herself as they had been when she alone in all the world knew of the new life which lay hidden within and drank of her blood and made her cheeks pale."
SOB! Another life event we must endure, those of us who have children. The inevitable flying from the nest, but they never truly leave us.
Erlend's arrest and Simon's goodness. Though Erlend did what he did for the good of Norway, he was also very careless, which we have learned is his nature in this second book. His dealings with Lady Sunniva got him more than he bargained for. She wasn't so stupid as he thought. Definitely a man who does not carefully consider before acting. Yet this is where we learn how truly Kristin loves him still, and he her. Marriage is complicated and it seemed even more so in their time. Simon, who we learn is just a downright good person, goes above and beyond to help save Erlend. When he confronts Sir Erling about what happened with Halfrid (bargaining chip, bribery?), it is out of character for him, and he regrets it, but it shows how much he truly cares for Kristin and even Erlend. Sir Erling angrily brings up what happened between Kristin and Erlend and how she broke her promise of marriage to another. Simon selflessly admits it was him who was wronged. It could not have been easy for him to admit this, but this is what changes Sir Erling's mind on helping Erlend when he sees what Simon is willing to do for his family.
And so, they go to the king and Sir Erling's son diabolically alludes to King Magnus's secret...and that's the end of it. Erland is free. Side note: King Magnus was king of Norway and Sweden from 1319 - 1364. There were actually rumors of homosexuality and other "erotic escapades" during his reign.
The Mistress of Husaby is my favorite of the three so far. Undset did an excellent job of depicting life in medieval Norway, touching masterfully on themes of marriage, motherhood, faith, adultery, kinship, and loyalty. I'm looking forward to reading the concluding third book.
What are your thoughts on book two, The Mistress of Husaby (or The Wife)? Share any and all thoughts in the comments.
Here is the
reading schedule if you need to reference it again. (Click link and scroll down)
I'll be back on August 31 with the discussion post on book three,
The Cross.
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