The Wreath: Kristin Lavransdatter #1

Lavrans attend the local town council meeting to plan how to handle the winter with such a bad harvest and returns drunk. He tells Kristin that Simon has found another woman to marry and is planning his wedding, and he also reveals that Erlend and his uncle have paid him a visit to ask again for Kristin’s hand in marriage, which he again refused. Lavrans tells Kristin that he does not like Erlend and that Erlend has acted wickedly and irresponsibly in the past; he tells Kristin that he will never agree to a marriage with Erlend as long as he is alive.

Kristin is despondent and leaves while Lavrans and his wife continue to discuss the matter. Ragnfrid tells Lavrans that she is worried that if they don’t consent to the marriage that Kristin might run off and marry Erlend anyway. Lavrans reveals that he knew Ragnfrid loved another man before they were married. They share an intimate moment of honesty together, and Ragnfrid assures Lavrans that he has been a wonderful husband in spite of the various sorrows and problems that they have endured over the years.

Fru Aashild, alone at home in the waning days of autumn, spies four armed men galloping towards her home, and she barricades herself inside. When the men arrive, she discovers that it is actually Erlend and three companions. Aashild sets out food and drink for the men while Erlend attempts to persuade her to help him in his quest to wed Kristin. Quite unhappy with the way things have gone, Aashild agrees to help Erlend only as much as is necessary and only for the sake of Kristin and the restoration of her reputation and honor.

Aashild rides to Jørundgaard to meet with Kristin and brings her to the town of Haugen. There, Kristin is reunited with Erlend, but an unexpected guest arrives: Eline, Erlend’s first mistress and the mother of this children. Eline has arrived to inform Erlend that her husband has finally died and that she is now free to wed anyone she desires. She asks Erlend to keep his promise to marry her; he refuses, and they leave the room to discuss matters further. Erlend comes back shortly and informs Kristin and his aunt that Eline is pregnant though the child is not his. When Eline returns sometime later alone, and she sits down to speak with Kristin.

Eline asks whether Kristin thinks that Erlend will treat her any better than he has treated her and begs Kristin to treat her children well when she becomes their stepmother. After this, Eline proposes a toast from the drinking flagon that she has brought. Before Kristin has a chance to drink, however, Erlend returns and discovers that Eline has attempted to offer Kristin poisoned wine. Enraged, Eline attempts to stab Erlend, who deflects the blow. Eline then chooses to turn the blade on herself, dying in Erlend’s arms. Aware of how things will look to anybody who wasn’t there to witness the events, Erlend and Kristin devise a plan to hide Eline’s death until it can be staged elsewhere.

Having returned home, Kristin spends each day in misery as the unspoken tension between her and her father grows. The winter is harsh, and everyone realizes that soon Ulvhild is going to die. Many nights, Kristin and her father sit up with Ulvhild to comfort her. The day comes when Ulvhild finally dies, and they bury her in the ground at the Church before the altar of St. Thomas. Weeks later, despondent, Kristin wanders to the Church to pray and encounters her father already there praying. Realizing at last the depths of Kristin’s misery, Lavrans relents: “[H]e was so worn out with anguish that he could no longer hold on to his opposition” (244). Kristin realizes that she has won the battle.