The Son Avenger: Volume IV of The Master of Hestviken (1927) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Characters edit see section history

• Olav Audunsson: The master of Hestviken, and the central character of the book.
• Aslak Gunnarsson: A young man whom Olav shelters temporarily while he is an outlaw.
• Bothild Asgersdatter: A young woman whom Olav has fostered after her father, his old friend, has died.
• Cecilia Olavsdatter: Ingunn and Olav's final child together, the only one of theirs to survive.
• Liv: A crofter at Rundmyr who is given to thieving; formerly Cecilia's nursemaid.
• Arnketil: A former servant at Hestviken, now Liv's husband at Rundmyr.
• Eirik Olavsson: Ingunn's bastard son, raised and acknowledged by Olav as his own.
• Jörund Kolbeinsson: A young man from near Hestviken; Eirik's friend from his childhood. Called Jörund Rypa.
• Tore: A house-carl at Hestviken.
• Sira Eyvind: The new parish priest after Sira Hallbjorn's death.
• Sir Ragnvald Torvaldsson: The knight that Eirik serves.
• Ragnvald Jonsson: The sheriff's brother, from Galaby.
• Signe Arnesdatter: Olav's kinswoman.
• Una Arnesdatter: Olav's kinswoman; lives at Rynjul
• Kolbein Jörundsson: Cecilia and Jörund's eldest son.
• Finn: A servant at Gunnarsby, who takes a message to Olav.
• Arne Torgilsson: Olav's kinsman; Signe and Una's father.
• Torgils Jörundsson: Cecilia and Jörund's second son.
• Berse: Olav's distant kin, estranged from him.
• Gunhild Bersesdatter: Berse's daughter, the woman Olav wishes to betroth Eirik to.
• Guttorm: Gunhild's uncle.
• Eldrid Bersesdatter: Gunhild's elder sister, who has married an old man and gained a bad name.
• Finn Arnvidsson: The son of Arnvid Finsson; a priest at Oslo.

Quotes edit see section history

• “Another thing he saw, though he knew not how it came about that he could see it: that souls have no age. Sin and grace fashion them and give them shape, but not as years and labour and sickness mark the bodily husk. Ingunn's ravaged body and his own weatherbeaten, war-scarred frame were but as hard-worn garments...”

• “Eirik acknowledged the truth of all that had been said by the holy fathers — the judgment of men, wordly prosperity, and all such things now seemed so small in his eyes that he could only wonder how anyone cared to strive so hard for them as they did — with pain and grief, with cunning, treachery, and violence. Had it not been for Gunhild and the love that was between them, had it not been that Cecilia and Jörund needed his support, he would gladly have let all else go, and today rather than tomorrow. But he was now beginning to see the meaning of being in the world and not of the world — he felt there was nothing more that could subdue his innermost freedom and peace of mind.”

• “Sleep was impossible — his mind was in a whirl: the long day's ride, and Jörund, and his struggle with the madman in the water, and the dead lad in the loft, the deserted cottage at Rundmyr, and Cecilia — the sudden distortion of her pale features into the very face of naked hate, the icy glint in her deep clear eyes. Fear for his sister made him shudder — never could Cecilia stray on those false paths that Eldrid had followed, but it dawned upon him that hate knows many roads, and they all lead to the same goal at last.”

• “Then the very rays from the source of light broke out and poured down over him. For an instant he stared with open eyes straight into the eye of the sun, tried even, wild with love and longing, to gaze yet deeper into God. He sank back in red fire, all about him was a living blaze, and he knew that now the prison tower that he had built around him was burning. But salved by the glance that surrounded him, he would walk out unharmed over the glowing embers of his burned house, into the Vision that is eternal bliss, and the fire that burned him was not so ardent as his longing.”

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Hestviken: The ancestral home of Olav's family.
• Rundmyr: A croft at Hestviken, given to Liv and Arnketil.
• Kverndal: The valley in which Hestviken lies.
• Maastrand: A herring fisher that Eirik goes to to get passage to Hestviken.
• Folden: The Oslo fjord.
• Gunnarsby: The home of the Rypungs, Jörund's family.
• Hestbaek: The home of Arne Torgilsson.
• Saltviken: A part of Olav's property that has grown wild, which Eirik makes a good farm of.
• Rynjul: The home of Una Arnesdatter.
• Draumtorp: The home of Gunnar, where Eirik buries Jörund's stolen goods.
• Eiken: The home of Berse and Gunhild.
• The Ness: A small, hidden-away farm where Eldrid Bersesdatter lives.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Privily: Confidentially or in secret.
• Bothy: A small communal cottage or bunkhouse.
• Osier: A kind of willow, or a long, pliable willow shoot suitable for basket making.
• Indolent: Habitually lazy, procrastinating, or resistant to physical labor.
• Diffidence: Timidity, shyness, or reticence.
• Shriven: To be confessed and be pardoned for one's sins.
• Unction: The sacrament of absolution of sins, performed by a priest for a person who is sick or at the point of death; sometimes called "extreme unction".
• Trow: To trust, believe, or think.
• Rood: A cross or a crucifix.
• Apostasy: A rejection of one's religious faith, belief or practice.
• Jerkin: A tight sleeveless and collarless jacket (often made of leather) worn by men in former times.
• Bast: Fiber collected from the phloem (the "inner bark" or the skin) surrounding the stem of certain plants.
• Chaperon: A wide hood with shoulder cape worn during the Middle Ages by men.
• Seter: A dwelling place used in in Norway in the summer, usually by young women or old maids, while attending livestock at a farm's pastures on mountain plateaus. Butter and other dairy products are usually made here.
• Scriptorium: A room in a monastery that is set aside for writing or copying manuscripts.
• Colonnade: A structure composed of a series of arches supported by columns.
• Garth: A small piece of enclosed land next to a house, often a garden.
• Pease: Peas.
• Nave: The main part of the church with a longitudinal body, located between the entrance and the sanctuary, where the faithful collect.
• Chasuble: A long sleeveless vestment worn by a priest when celebrating mass.
• Chillblain: A medical condition consisting of acral ulcers (that is, ulcers affecting the extremities) that occur when a predisposed individual is exposed to cold and humidity.
• Brindled: Having a grey or brown streak or a pattern or a patchy coloring.
• Stoup: A stoup is a basin for holy water, often found built into the wall at the entrance to churches.
• Venal: Corruptible; capable of being corrupted
• Meed: Merit or desert; worth; fitting reward.
• Perfidy: Betrayal of a trust; treachery.
• Jumple: Describe this term.
• Nonage: The period of time during which one is a minor; a time of immaturity.
• Sward: An expanse of land covered in grass; a lawn or meadow.

Errata edit see section history

On page 63, the word "froward" is mistakenly printed instead of "forward".

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by In the Wilderness.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Sigrid Undset (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Arthur G. Chater (Translator)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 839.82372

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Historical
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › Scandinavian