One of the things that makes Sigrid Undset most attractive to modern readers (and indeed, her contemporary readership) is her realism. Her earlier novels end in tragedy. One particularly thinks of Marta Oulie, Vigdis and Jenny. From Kristin onwards, her heroines - and Paul Selmer - end on notes of hope, though not separated from sacrifices that had to be made. Her literary works are filled with crises of conscious that can be offputting to some, but that strike a chord with m

Mgr. Robert Hugh Benson, convert, priest and novelist Sigrid Undset's stridency in writing on subjects pertaining to religion and the Catholic faith was a characteristic shared by many Catholic commentators throughout the period of post- Reformation Catholicism until the advent of the Second Vatican Council. Particularly in those places where the state religion was Protestant and Catholics were in a minority, lay Catholic intellectuals and leading cultural lights who had embr

These are the first lines of the introduction to my thesis (sparing you of the footnotes!): Statue of Sigrid Undset by Hanne Varming in her place of birth (Kalundborg, Denmark) Norwegian author Sigrid Undset (1882-1949), winner of the 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature, was a novelist known for her profound insights into the human condition, patterns of behaviour and their consequences, the yearning for fulfilment, transcendence, happiness and peace. She is something of a nation

After several years of hard work, my doctoral thesis has finally been received and approved by the University of Notre Dame, Sydney, Australia. I offer my heartfelt thanks to the readers of this blog who have contributed their thoughts on the various posts and their support for this project. The next phase of my work on Sigrid Undset is to turn my thesis into a book and to see if I can publish the many articles I translated. Given that Bishop Hansen of Oslo has announced his