View source for Sigrid Undset

{{Short description|Norwegian novelist (1882–1949)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Sigrid Undset
| honorific_suffix = [[Third Order of Saint Dominic|TOSD]]
| image = Sigrid Undset 1928.jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| birth_date = {{birth date|1882|5|20|df=y}}<ref name=kalundborg1882>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Kirkebog |location=Vor Frue Sogn ([[Kalundborg]]) |series=1880–1892 |chapter=Fødte Kvindekøn |page=166 |year=1882 |quote=Doktor philosof Ingvald Martin Undset og Hustru Anna Marie Charlotte Nicoline, født Gyth, 26 Aar 1/2  |language=da}}</ref>
| birth_place = [[Kalundborg]], Denmark<ref name=kalundborg1882/>
| death_date = {{death date and age|1949|6|10|1882|5|20|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Lillehammer]], Norway
| occupation = Writer
| nationality = Norwegian, Danish
| spouse = {{marriage |[[Anders Castus Svarstad]] |1912|1927|reason=dissolved }}
| children = 3
| relatives = {{ubl
               |Ingvald Martin Undset (father)<ref name=kalundborg1882/>
               |Anna Marie Charlotte Nicoline née Gyth (mother)<ref name=kalundborg1882/>
               }}
| awards = {{awd|[[Nobel Prize in Literature]]|1928}}
}}

'''Sigrid Undset''' ({{IPA|no|ˈsɪ̂ɡːɾiː ˈʉ̂nːseːt}}; 20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a [[Danish people|Danish]]-born [[Norwegian people|Norwegian]] novelist. She was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize for Literature]] in [[1928 Nobel Prize in Literature|1928]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nbl.snl.no/Sigrid_Undset|title=Sigrid Undset|first=Liv|last=Bliksrud|date=28 September 2014|website=Nbl.snl.no|access-date=11 November 2017}}</ref>

Born in Denmark and raised in Norway, Undset had her first books of historical fiction published in 1907. She fled Norway for the United States in 1940 because of her opposition to [[Nazi Germany]] and the [[Operation Weserübung|German invasion]] and [[German occupation of Norway|occupation]] of Norway, but returned after the [[end of World War II in Europe]] in 1945.

Her best-known work is ''[[Kristin Lavransdatter]]'', a trilogy about life in Norway in the [[Middle Ages]], portrayed through the experiences of a woman from birth until death. Its three volumes were published between 1920 and 1922.

==Early life==
[[File:Sigrid Undset young.jpg|left|thumb|Undset as a young girl]]

Sigrid Undset was born on 20 May 1882 in the small town of [[Kalundborg]], Denmark, at the childhood home of her mother, Charlotte Undset (1855–1939, née Anna Maria Charlotte Gyth). Her father was the Norwegian archaeologist Ingvald Martin Undset (1853–1893). Sigrid Undset was the eldest of three daughters. She and her family moved to Norway when she was two.<ref name=litteratursiden>{{cite web|url=https://litteratursiden.dk/forfattere/sigrid-undset|publisher=Litteratursiden|title=Forfatter Sigrid Undset|date=30 June 2024|access-date=9 April 2025|language=da}}</ref>

She grew up in the Norwegian capital, [[Oslo]] (or Kristiania, as it was known until 1925), where the family moved in July 1884. When she was only 11 years old, her father died at the age of 40 after a long illness.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nbl.snl.no/Ingvald_Undset|title=Ingvald Undset|first=Bergljot|last=Solberg|date=28 September 2014|website=Nbl.snl.no|access-date=11 November 2017}}</ref>

The family's economic situation meant that Undset had to give up hope of a university education and after a one-year secretarial course she obtained work at the age of 16 as a secretary with an engineering company in Kristiania, a post she went on to hold for 10 years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gonorway.no/norway/articles/undset/47/index.html|title=Sigrid Undset|last=Anderson|first=Gidske|website=Go Norway|access-date=21 March 2018|archive-date=28 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228184742/http://www.gonorway.no/norway/articles/undset/47/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.norwegianamerican.com/heritage/an-extraordinary-woman-the-life-of-nobel-laureate-sigrid-undset/|title=An extraordinary woman: The life of Nobel Laureate Sigrid Undset|last=Pedersen|first=Mo|date=25 July 2017|website=The Norwegian American|access-date=21 March 2018|archive-date=22 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322020706/http://www.norwegianamerican.com/heritage/an-extraordinary-woman-the-life-of-nobel-laureate-sigrid-undset/|url-status=dead}}</ref> She later said that she detested the work.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sigrun Slapgard|title=Dikterdronningen|page=63|language=no|publisher=Gyldendal|year=2007|location=Oslo|isbn=978-82-05-33289-8}}</ref>

She joined the [[Norwegian Authors' Union]] in 1907 and from 1933 through 1935 headed its Literary Council, eventually serving as the union's chairwoman from 1935 until 1940.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nordicwomensliterature.net/writers/undset-sigrid/|title=Undset, Sigrid|website=Nordic Women's Literature|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-02-10}}</ref>

==Writer==
While employed at office work, Undset wrote and studied.<ref name=":0" /> She was 16 years old when she made her first attempt at writing a novel set in the Nordic [[Middle Ages]]. The manuscript, a historical novel set in [[medieval Denmark]], was ready by the time she was 22. It was turned down by the publishing house.

Nonetheless, two years later, she completed another manuscript, much less voluminous than the first at only 80 pages. She had put aside the Middle Ages and had instead produced a realistic description of a woman with a middle-class background in contemporary Kristiania. This book was also refused by the publishers at first but it was subsequently accepted.<ref name=":0" /> The title was ''Fru Marta Oulie'', and the opening sentence (the words of the book's main character) scandalised readers: "I have been unfaithful to my husband".

Thus, at the age of 25, Undset made her literary debut with a short [[realism (arts)|realistic]] novel on [[adultery]], set against a contemporary background. It created a stir, and she found herself ranked as a promising young author in Norway. During the years up to 1919, Undset published a number of novels set in contemporary Kristiania. Her contemporary novels of the period 1907–1918 are about the city and its inhabitants. They are stories of working people, of trivial family destinies, of the relationship between parents and children. Her main subjects are women and their love. Or, as she herself put it—in her typically curt and [[irony|ironic]] manner—"the [[immoral]] kind" (of love).

This realistic period culminated in the novels ''[[Jenny (novel)|Jenny]]'' (1911) and ''[[Vaaren]]'' (Spring) (1914). The first is about a woman painter who, as a result of romantic crises, believes that she is wasting her life, and, in the end, commits suicide. The other tells of a woman who succeeds in saving both herself and her love from a serious matrimonial crisis, finally creating a secure family. These books placed Undset apart from the incipient [[women's emancipation]] movement in Europe.<ref name=litteratursiden />

Undset's books sold well from the start, and, after the publication of her third book, she left her office job and prepared to live on her income as a writer. Having been granted a writer's scholarship, she set out on a lengthy journey in Europe. After short stops in Denmark and Germany, she continued to Italy, arriving in Rome in December 1909, where she remained for nine months. Undset's parents had had a close relationship with Rome, and, during her stay there, she followed in their footsteps. The encounter with Southern Europe meant a great deal to her; she made friends within the circle of Scandinavian artists and writers in Rome.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mnc.net/norway/SigUnd.htm |publisher=Metropolitan News Company| title=Biography of Sigrid Undset }}</ref>

==Marriage and children==
In Rome, Undset met [[Anders Castus Svarstad]], a Norwegian painter, whom she married almost three years later. She was 30; Svarstad was thirteen years older, married, and had a wife and three children in Norway. It was nearly three years before Svarstad got his divorce from his first wife.

Undset and Svarstad were married in 1912 and went to stay in London for six months. From London, they returned to Rome, where their first child was born in January 1913.<ref name=Kristeligdagblad>{{cite news|url=https://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/kultur/k%C3%A6rlighedens-fryd-og-fortvivlelse|publisher=Kristelig Dagblad|author=Kirsten Boas|title=Kærlighedens fryd og fortvivlelse|date=22 September 2007|access-date=9 April 2025|language=da}}</ref> A boy, he was named after his father. In the years up to 1919, she had another child, and the household also took in Svarstad's three children from his first marriage. These were difficult years: her second child, a girl, was [[mentally handicapped]],<ref name=Kristeligdagblad /> as was one of Svarstad's sons by his first wife.

She continued writing, finishing her last realistic novels and collections of [[short stories]]. She also entered the public debate on topical themes: [[women's emancipation]] and other ethical and moral issues. She had considerable [[polemical]] gifts, and was critical of emancipation as it was developing, and of the moral and ethical decline she felt was threatening in the wake of the [[First World War]].

[[File:Sigrid Undset at Bjerkebæk.jpg|thumb|right|Undset at work at Bjerkebæk]]
[[File:Bjerkebæk Lillehammer.jpg|thumb|right|Bjerkebæk, Undset's home, now part of [[Maihaugen]] museum]]

In 1919, she moved to [[Lillehammer]], a small town in the [[Gudbrand Valley]] in southeast Norway, taking her two children with her, while her husband stayed in Italy.<ref name=Kristeligdagblad /> She was then expecting her third child. The intention was that she should take a rest at Lillehammer and move back to Kristiania as soon as Svarstad had their new house in order. However, the marriage broke down and a divorce followed.<ref name=Kristeligdagblad /> In August 1919, she gave birth to her third child, at Lillehammer. She decided to make Lillehammer her home, and within two years, Bjerkebæk, a large house of traditional Norwegian timber architecture, was completed, along with a large fenced garden with views of the town and the villages around. Here she was able to retreat and concentrate on her writing.<ref name="bjerkebæk">{{cite web|url=http://snl.no/Bjerkeb%C3%A6k|title=Bjerkebæk|date=28 September 2014|website=Snl.no|access-date=11 November 2017|via=Store norske leksikon}}</ref>

==''Kristin Lavransdatter'' trilogy and ''The Master of Hestviken'' tetralogy==
After the birth of her third child, and with a secure roof over her head, Undset started a major project: ''[[Kristin Lavransdatter]]''. She was at home in the subject matter, having written a short novel at an earlier stage about a period in Norwegian history closer to the Pre-Christian era. She had also published a Norwegian retelling of the [[Arthurian legends]]. She had studied [[Old Norse]] manuscripts and Medieval [[chronicle]]s and visited and examined Medieval churches and [[monasteries]], both at home and abroad. She was now an authority on the period she was portraying and a very different person from the 22-year-old who had written her first novel about the Middle Ages.

It was only after the end of her marriage that Undset wrote her masterpiece. In the years between 1920 and 1927, she first published the three-volume ''[[Kristin Lavransdatter|Kristin]]'', and then the 4-volume ''Olav'' (Audunssøn), swiftly [[translated]] into English as ''[[The Master of Hestviken]]''. Simultaneously with this creative process, she was engaged in trying to find meaning in her own life, finding the answer in God.

Undset experimented with [[modernist]] tropes such as [[Stream of consciousness (narrative mode)|stream of consciousness]] in her novel, although the original English translation by Charles Archer excised many of these passages. In 1997, the first volume of [[Tiina Nunnally]]'s new translation of the work won the [[PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction]] in the category of translation. The names of each volume were translated by Archer as ''The Bridal Wreath'', ''The Mistress of Husaby'', and ''The Cross'', and by Nunnally as ''The Wreath'', ''The Wife'', and ''The Cross''. Subsequent translation of the Hestviken tetralogy by Nunnally are retitled ''Olav Audunssøn (1):Vows'' (''The Axe'')'', …(2) Providence'', (''The Snake Pit''), ''…(3) Crossroads'' (''In The Wilderness''), and ''…(4) Winter'' (''The Son Avenger''). 

==Catholicism==
Both Undset's parents were [[atheists]] and, although, in accord with the norm of the day, she and her two younger sisters were baptised and with their mother regularly attended the local [[Lutheran]] church, the milieu in which they were raised was a thoroughly secular one.<ref name=catholicviking>{{cite web|url=https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/art/sigrid-undset-catholic-viking.html|title=Sigrid Undset: Catholic Viking|website=Catholic Education Resource Center|author=Stephen Sparrow|date=14 May 2003 |access-date=24 October 2023}}</ref> Undset spent much of her life as an agnostic, but marriage and the outbreak of the First World War were to change her attitudes. During those difficult years she experienced a crisis of faith, almost imperceptible at first, then increasingly strong. The crisis led her from clear agnostic [[Religious skepticism|skepticism]], by way of painful uneasiness about the ethical decline of the age, towards Christianity.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sigrun Slapgard|title=Dikterdronningen|page=352|language=no|publisher=Gyldendal|year=2007|location=Oslo|isbn=978-82-05-33289-8}}</ref>

In all her writing, one senses an observant eye for the mystery of life and for that which cannot be explained by reason or the human intellect. At the back of her sober, almost brutal realism, there is always an inkling of something unanswerable. At any rate, this crisis radically changed her views and ideology. Whereas she had once believed that man created God, she eventually came to believe that God created man.

Beginning around 1917, Undset developed a passionate interest in the writings of Monsignor [[Robert Hugh Benson]], many of whose writings she would later translate into Norwegian.<ref> Geir Hasnes, ''Sigrid Undset and the Saints'', "The Northern Muse: Celebrating Sigrid Undset", November/December 2021, [[St Austin Review]], pages 4-7.</ref>

However, she did not turn to the [[Established church|established]] Lutheran [[Church of Norway]], where she had been nominally reared. This is because, according to Geir Hasnes, Undset had always considered the Lutheran Church "anemic" and "detested the fact that every minister seemed to preach his personal version of [[Lutheranism]]."<ref> Geir Hasnes, ''Sigrid Undset and the Saints'', "The Northern Muse: Celebrating Sigrid Undset", November/December 2021, [[St Austin Review]], pages 4-7.</ref>

She was received into the [[Catholic Church in Norway|Catholic Church]] in November 1924, after thorough instruction from the Catholic priest in her local parish. She was 42 years old.<ref name=Gyldendal /> She subsequently became a [[Third Order of Saint Dominic|lay Dominican]].

It is noteworthy that ''[[The Master of Hestviken]]'', written immediately after Undset's conversion, takes place in a historical period when Norway was Catholic, that it has very religious themes of the main character's relations with God and his deep feeling of sin, and that the Medieval Catholic Church is presented in a favorable light, with virtually all clergy and monks in the series being positive characters.

In Norway, Undset's [[religious conversion|conversion]] to Catholicism was not only considered sensational; it was scandalous. It was also noted abroad, where her name was becoming known through the international success of ''Kristin Lavransdatter''. At the time, there were very few practicing Catholics in Norway, which was an almost exclusively Lutheran country. [[Anti-Catholicism]] was widespread not only among the Lutheran clergy, but through large sections of the population.<ref name=oftestad>{{cite book|title=Norway and the Jesuit Order: A History of Anti-Catholicism|first=Bernt T. |last=Oftestad |pages=209–222 |year=2013|publisher=Brill Rodopi |isbn=9789401209632}}</ref> Likewise, there was just as much anti-Catholic scorn among the Norwegian [[intelligentsia]],{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} many of whom were adherents of socialism and [[Communist Party of Norway|communism]].{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} The attacks against her faith and character were quite vicious at times, with the result that Undset's literary gifts were aroused in response. 

For many years, she participated in the public debate, going out of her way to introduce the ongoing [[Catholic literary revival]] into [[Norwegian literature]]. In response, she was swiftly dubbed "The Mistress of Bjerkebæk" and "The Catholic Lady".<ref name=litteratursiden />

Undset's essays about [[Elizabethan era]] English Catholic martyrs [[Margaret Clitherow]] and [[Robert Southwell (Jesuit)|Robert Southwell]] were collected and published in ''Stages on the Road''. Furthermore, Undset's ''Saga of Saints'' told the whole of [[Norwegian history]] through the lives of Norwegian Saints and Venerables.

In May 1928, Undset travelled to England and visited [[G. K. Chesterton]] and [[Hilaire Belloc]], both of whose writings she would soon translate into Norwegian. According to legend, Undset once walked into the office of the manager of the monolithic Aschehoug publishing company. Undset then threw a copy of Chesterton's ''[[The Everlasting Man]]'' on the manager's desk and exclaimed, "This is the best book ever written! It has to be translated into Norwegian!" Whether or not the story is merely apocryphal, Undset's own translation of ''The Everlasting Man'' was published in 1931.<ref> Geir Hasnes, ''Sigrid Undset and the Saints'', "The Northern Muse: Celebrating Sigrid Undset", November/December 2021, [[St Austin Review]], pages 4-7.</ref>

==Later life==
At the end of this creative eruption, Undset entered calmer waters. After 1929, she completed a series of novels set in contemporary [[Oslo]], with a strong Catholic element. She selected her themes from the small Catholic community in Norway. But here also, the main theme is love. She also published a number of weighty historical works which put the history of Norway into a sober perspective. In addition, she translated several [[Icelandic sagas]] into Modern Norwegian and published a number of literary essays, mainly on English literature, of which a long essay on the [[Brontë]] sisters, and one on [[D. H. Lawrence]], are especially worth mentioning.

In 1934, she published ''Eleven Years Old'', an autobiographical work. With a minimum of camouflage, it tells the story of her own childhood in Kristiania, of her home, rich in intellectual values and love, and of her sick father.

At the end of the 1930s, she commenced work on a new historical novel set in 18th century Scandinavia. Only the first volume, ''Madame Dorthea'', was published, in 1939. The [[Second World War]] broke out that same year and proceeded to break her, both as a writer and as a woman. She never completed her new novel. When [[Joseph Stalin]]'s invasion of Finland touched off the [[Winter War]], Undset supported the Finnish war effort by donating her Nobel Prize on 25 January 1940.<ref>[http://www.mil.fi/perustietoa/talvisota_eng/timer-60.html The Winter War 1939—1940] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502040038/http://www.mil.fi/perustietoa/talvisota_eng/timer-60.html |date=2 May 2009 }} The Finnish Defence Forces, 1999.</ref>

==Exile==
When Germany invaded Norway in April 1940, Undset was forced to flee. She had strongly criticised both [[Nazi ideology]] and [[Adolf Hitler]] since the early 1930s, and, from an early date, her books were banned as part of [[censorship in Nazi Germany]]. She accordingly knew her name was on a list of those to be rounded up in the first wave of arrests and had no wish to become a target of the [[Gestapo]]. She accordingly fled to neutral Sweden.<ref name=Gyldendal>{{cite web|url=https://www.gyldendal.dk/artikler/sigrid-undset-forfatterartikel|publisher=Gyldendal|title=Sigrid Undset – den oversete Nobelprisvinder|author=Nikoline Rosenbjerg Kjeldsen|date=4 January 2024|access-date=9 April 2025|language=da}}</ref> 

Her eldest son, [[Norwegian Army]] [[Second Lieutenant]] Anders Svarstad, was [[killed in action]] at the age of 27, on 27 April 1940,<ref name="Voksø33">{{cite book |last=Voksø |first=Per |author-link=Per Voksø |title=Krigens Dagbok – Norge 1940–1945 |publisher=Forlaget Det Beste |location=Oslo |year=1994 |isbn=82-7010-245-8 |page=33 |language=no}}</ref> while defending Segalstad Bridge in [[Gausdal]] from German troops.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ording |first1=Arne |last2=Johnson |first2=Gudrun |last3=Garder |first3=Johan |title=Våre falne 1939–1945 |publisher=[[Politics of Norway|Norwegian government]] |location=Oslo |year=1951 |volume=4 |pages=272–273 |url=http://da2.uib.no/cgi-win/WebBok.exe?slag=lesside&bokid=vaarefalne4&sideid=273&storleik= |language=no}}</ref>

Undset's sick daughter had died shortly before the outbreak of the war. Bjerkebæk was requisitioned by the [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|Wehrmacht]], and used as officers' quarters throughout the [[Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany|Occupation of Norway]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://limagris.com/sigrid-undset-la-vikinga-catolica-que-gano-el-premio-nobel-de-literatura/|publisher=Lima Gris|title=Sigrid Undset, la vikinga católica que ganó el Premio Nobel de Literatura|author=Hans Herrera Núñez|date=17 October 2023|access-date=9 April 2025|language=es}}</ref> Undset's library had already been secretly divided between her closest local friends. The books were hidden at great risk throughout the Nazi occupation and were returned to her after the Liberation of Norway.<ref> Geir Hasnes, ''Sigrid Undset and the Saints'', "The Northern Muse: Celebrating Sigrid Undset", November/December 2021, [[St Austin Review]], pages 4-7.</ref>

In 1940, Undset and her younger son left [[Sweden during World War II|neutral Sweden]] then crossed the [[Soviet Union]] via the [[Trans-Siberian Railroad]] before arriving as a [[political refugee]] in the [[United States]].<ref name=Gyldendal /> There, she untiringly pleaded occupied Norway's cause and the plight of European Jews in writings, speeches and interviews. She lived in [[Brooklyn Heights, New York]]. She was active in [[St. Ansgar's Scandinavian Catholic League]] and wrote several articles for its bulletin.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://findingaids.uflib.ufl.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/357746|publisher=[[University of Florida]]|title=St. Ansgar's Scandinavian Catholic League of New York, no. 41: Feb. 1943. Presentation inscription from Sigrid Undset to MKR. Contains articles by Undset|access-date=9 April 2025}}</ref> She also traveled to [[Florida]], where she became a close friend of novelist [[Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lithub.com/excavating-the-life-of-marjorie-kinnan-rawlings-author-of-an-american-classic/|publisher=Lithub|title=Excavating the Life of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Author of an American Classic|author=Ann McCutchan|date=30 April 2021|access-date=9 April 2025}}</ref>

Following the [[Gestapo]]'s arrest and [[summary execution]] of Danish Lutheran pastor and playwright [[Kaj Munk]] on 4 January 1944, the Danish resistance newspaper ''[[De frie Danske]]'' printed protests from many famous Scandinavian intellectuals, including Undset.<ref>{{cite news |title=KAJ MUNK IN MEMORIAM |url=http://www.illegalpresse.dk/papers#/paper?paper=68&page=685 |newspaper=[[De frie Danske]] |date=January 1944 |page=6 |quote=Munk var en overordentlig modig Mand og er nu mere end nogensinde før i Spidsen for Danmarks Frihedskamp. Hans indsats i Kampen for Friheden har skænket ham udødelighed. Han er blevet et af de store Navne i Danmarks Historie |access-date=18 November 2014 |language=da}}</ref>

==Return to Norway and death==
Undset returned to Norway after the liberation in 1945.<ref name=catholicviking /> She lived another four years but never published another word. Neither she nor her son Hans thrived after returning to Bjerkebæk.<ref>Oddvar Rakeng: ''Bjerkebæk'' (s. 26)</ref> In May 1948 she had a psychological breakdown, while on visit to her birth town [[Kalundborg]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Sigrun Slapgard|title=Dikterdronningen|page=525-526|language=no|publisher=Gyldendal|year=2007|location=Oslo|isbn=978-82-05-33289-8}}</ref> In June 1949 she was admitted to Lillehammer hospital with kidney inflammation.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sigrun Slapgard|title=Dikterdronningen|page=532-533|language=no|publisher=Gyldendal|year=2007|location=Oslo|isbn=978-82-05-33289-8}}</ref> Undset died shortly after at 67 in [[Lillehammer]], Norway, where she had lived from 1919 through 1940. She was buried in the village of [[Mesnali]], 15 kilometers east of Lillehammer, where also her daughter and the son who died in battle are remembered.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.gd.no/eget-onske-og-lokal-prest-avgjorende-da-sigrid-undset-ble-gravlagt-i-mesnali/o/5-18-1553229|publisher=gd.no|title=Eget ønske og lokal prest avgjørende da Sigrid Undset ble gravlagt i Mesnali|date=16 May 2022|access-date=9 April 2025|language=no|author=Hallvard Grotli}}</ref> The grave is recognizable by three black crosses.

==Honors==
* Undset won the Nobel prize for literature in 1928, for which she was nominated by [[Helga Eng]], member of the [[Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/archive/show.php?id=8335|title=Nomination Database|website=Nobelprize.org|access-date=11 November 2017}}</ref>
* A mountain on the moon, east of crater Lambert at Mare Imbrium, was called Mons Undset, however, it was erroneously mentioned as ''Mons Undest'' on Lunar Topographic Orthophotomap 40B4. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) refused to include Mons Undset in the alphabetic gazetteer of officially named lunar formations. This mountain is nowadays known as Lambert γ (Lambert gamma).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.astronomy.com/observing/solved-undset-moon-mountain-missing-name/|publisher=Astronomy Magazine|author=Stephen James O'Meara|title=The mystery of a pyramid-like mountain on the Moon missing its name|date=21 May 2024|access-date=9 April 2025}}</ref>
* A crater on the planet [[Venus]] was named after Undset.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/6224|publisher=[[International Astronomical Union]]|date=1 October 2006|access-date=14 January 2025|title=VENUS – Undset}}</ref>
* Undset was depicted on a Norwegian 500 kroner note and a two-kroner postage stamp from 1982. Neighboring Sweden put her on a stamp in 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.norges-bank.no/tema/Sedler-og-mynter/utgaatte-sedler-mynter/sedler-utgave-vii/500-kroneseddel/beskrivelse-500/|publisher=Norges Bank|title=500-kroneseddel - motivene|date=5 April 2017 |access-date=9 April 2025|language=no}}</ref>
* Bjerkebæk, Undset's home in Lillehammer, is now part of the [[Maihaugen]] museum. The farmhouse was [[listed building|listed]] in 1983.<ref name="bjerkebæk"/> Efforts to restore and furnish the houses as they were during the time of her occupancy were begun in 1997. The museum was restored and more buildings were opened to the public in May 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maihaugen.no/en/Bjerkebak/|title=''Sigrid Undset's home Bjerkebæk'' (Maihaugen)|website=Maihaugen.no|access-date=11 November 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150730142219/http://www.maihaugen.no/en/Bjerkebak/|archive-date=30 July 2015}}</ref><ref name="bjerkebæk"/>
* Undset is depicted on the tail fin of a [[Norwegian Air Shuttle]] Boeing [[Boeing 737 Next Generation|737-800]], with the registration LN-NGY.{{cn|date=November 2025}}

==Works==
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooksby=yes|viaf=73860916}}

===Novels===
* ''Marta Oulie'' (1907)
* ''The Happy Age'' (1908)
* ''[[Gunnar's Daughter]]'' is a brief novel set in the Saga Age. This was Undset's first historical novel, published in 1909.
**''Gunnar's Daughter'', {{ISBN|0-14-118020-X}}
* ''[[Jenny (novel)|Jenny]]'' was written in 1911. It is a story of a Norwegian painter who travels to Rome for inspiration. Things do not turn out as she had expected.
**''Jenny'', {{ISBN|1-58642-050-X}}
* ''The Unknown Sigrid Undset'', a collection of Undset's early existentialist works, including [[Tiina Nunnally]]'s new translation of ''Jenny'' was assembled by Tim Page for Steerforth Press and published in 2001.
* ''[[Kristin Lavransdatter]]'' is a trilogy of three volumes. These are listed in order as well. Written during 1920–22. In 1995 the first volume was the basis for a commercial film, ''[[Kristin_Lavransdatter (film)|Kristin Lavransdatter]],'' directed by [[Liv Ullmann]].
**''Kristin Lavransdatter: The Wreath''. {{ISBN|0-14-118041-2}}
**''Kristin Lavransdatter: The Wife'', {{ISBN|0-14-118128-1}}
**''Kristin Lavransdatter: The Cross'', {{ISBN|0-14-118235-0}}
* ''[[The Master of Hestviken]]'' series is a tetralogy of four volumes, published 1925–27, which are listed in order below. Depending on the edition, each volume may be printed by itself, or two volumes may be combined into one book. The latter tends to result from older printings and whether the original Norwegian or later English translation. Recent completed re-titling/releases by Tiina Nunnally, from the University of Minnesota Press, are shown below.
**''The Axe: The Master of Hestviken'', {{ISBN|0-679-75273-0}}, re-titled in T. Nunnally's revised English translation as ''Olav Audunssøn (I): Vows,'' {{ISBN|978-1517910488}}
**''The Snake Pit: The Master of Hestviken'', {{ISBN|0-679-75554-3|}}, re-titled in T. Nunnally's revised English translation as ''Olav Audunssøn (II): Providence'', {{ISBN|978-1517911607}}
**''In the Wilderness: The Master of Hestviken'', {{ISBN|0-679-75553-5}}, re-titled in T. Nunnally's revised English translation as ''Olav Audunssøn (III): Crossroads'', {{ISBN|978-1517913342}}
**''The Son Avenger: The Master of Hestviken'', {{ISBN|0-679-75552-7}}, re-titled in T. Nunnally's revised English translation as ''Olav Audunssøn (IV): Winter'', {{ISBN|978-1517915414}}
* ''Ida Elisabeth'' (1932)
**''[https://www.ignatius.com/Ida-Elisabeth-P1229.aspx Ida Elisabeth]'' (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2011), {{ISBN|1-58617-424-X}}
* ''[[Stages on the Road]]'' is a collection of saints' lives, with a foreword by Elizabeth Scalia, and published in 2012.
* ''[[The Wild Orchid (book)|The Wild Orchid]]'' is a novel set in twentieth century Norway and published in 1931.  The title is in reference to the garden of the main character's mother.
* ''The Burning Bush'' is a continuation of the novel The Wild Orchid and published in 1932.  It examines the conflicts arising in the main character's life after his conversion to Catholicism.
* ''Ida Elizabeth'' 1933. Cassell and Co.
* ''The Longest Years'', 1935
* ''The Faithful Wife'', 1937
* ''Images in a Mirror'', 1938
* ''Madame Dorthea'', 1939 (First volume of uncompleted novel)
* ''Catherine of Siena'' (1951). Sigrid Undset's Catherine of Siena is acclaimed as one of the best biographies of this well known fourteenth-century saint. Undset based this factual work on primary sources, her own experiences living in Italy, and her profound understanding of the human heart. [[Catherine of Siena]] was a favorite of Undset, who, like Catherine, was a Third Order Dominican. This novel was republished by Ignatius Press in 2009.
**''[https://www.ignatius.com/Catherine-of-Siena-P221.aspx Catherine of Siena]'' (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2009), {{ISBN|978-1-58617-408-8}}

===Other works===
* ''Men, Women and Places'', a collection of critical essays, including 'Blasphemy', 'D. H. Lawrence', 'The Strongest Power', and 'Glastonbury'. Tr. Arthur G Chater, Cassel & Co., London. 1939.
* ''[[Happy Times in Norway]]'', a memoir of her children's life in that country before the Nazi occupation, features a particularly moving and powerful preface about the simplicity and hardiness of Norway and its people, with a vow that it will return thus after the evil of Nazism is "swept clean." New York; Alfred A. Knopf. 1942. {{ISBN|978-0-313-21267-3}}
*''[https://www.amazon.com/True-Untrue-Other-Norse-Tales/dp/1447449606/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&asin=144744924X&revisionId=&format=4&depth=1#detailBullets_feature_div True and Untrue and Other Norse Tales]'' 1945, by Alfred A Knopf. Reissued 2012 by Pook Press; {{ISBN|978-1447449607}} (hardcover) (based on the original stories collected by [[Moe and Asbjornsen]]).
* ''Saga of Saints'', {{ISBN|0-8369-0959-3}}; {{ISBN|978-0-8369-0959-3}}. The coming of Christianity.--St. Sunniva and the Seljemen.--St. Olav, Norway's king to all eternity.--St. Hallvard.--St. Magnus, earl of the Orkney islands.--St. Eystein, archbishop of Nidaros.--St. Thorfinn, bishop of Hamar.--[https://barnabiteholiness.blogspot.com/p/charles-h-schilling.html Father Karl Schilling, Barnabite]. Chapter of this book also published as "A Priest From Norway, The Venerable Karl M. Schilling, CRSP" by the [https://web.archive.org/web/20100923202727/http://catholic-church.org/barnabites/ Barnabite Fathers] through the [http://www.fatimashrine.com North American Voice of Fatima], Youngstown NY, July 1976.

==Cultural impact==
Sigrid Undset and the plot of ''Kristin Lavransdatter'' are important elements in the 2006 Academy Award-winning animated short film, ''[[The Danish Poet]]''.

==See also==
* [[List of female Nobel laureates]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Other sources==
* ''Inside the gate: Sigrid Undset's Life at Bjerkebæk'' by [[Nan Bentzen Skille]], translated by [[Tiina Nunnally]]. {{ISBN|978-82-03-19447-4}}
* {{cite book |chapter=En ny realisme. Historie og samtid |title=Norges Litteraturhistorie |volume=4 |first=Per |last=Amdam |language=no |editor=Beyer, Edvard |editor-link=Edvard Beyer |pages=412–439 |year=1975 |publisher=Cappelen |location=Oslo}}
* {{cite book |title=Sigrid Undset. Liv og meninger |first=Borgnild |last=Krane |language=no |year=1970}}
* Bayerschmidt, Carl F. 1970. ''Sigrid Undset''. (Twayne's world authors series 107.) New York: Twayne Publishers.
* ''Nan Bentzen Skille: 2018 Inside the Gate. Sigrid Undset's Life at Bjerkebæk'' – biography translated by [[Tiina Nunnally]] University of Minnesota Press, {{ISBN|978-1-5179-0496-8}}
* Undset, Sigrid, and Deal W. Hudson. ''Sigrid Undset on saints and sinners: new translations and studies; papers presented at a conference sponsored by the Wethersfield Institute, New York City, April 24, 1993.'' Ignatius Press, 1993.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
;Digital collections
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/sigrid-undset}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=35742 | name=Sigrid Undset}}
* [https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL23696A/Sigrid_Undset Sigrid Undset's books at Open Library]
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Sigrid Undset}}
* {{OL author|OL23696A}}
* {{Librivox author}}

;Bibliographies
* [http://www.nb.no/baser/undset/english.html Sigrid Undset Bibliography 1907–2007]
* [http://noblib.internet-box.ch/NLEW.php?authorid=28 List of Works]

;Other biographical information
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090130145557/http://aschehoug.no/forfattere/alfabetisk/vis?contentItemId=2099369 Inside the gate.Sigrid Undset's life at Bjerkebæk]
* Times Literary Supplement 24. August 2018. " Look to Norway " [3]https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/private/sigrid-undset-norway-war/
* {{Nobelprize}}
* {{Books and Writers |id=undset |name=Sigrid Undset}}
* [http://vestraat.net/TNG/getperson.php?personID=I37182&tree=IEA Family genealogy]
* [http://www.reisenett.no/norway/facts/culture_science/sigrid_undset.html#top Short online biography by Gidske Anderson]
* {{PM20}}

{{Nobel Prize in Literature Laureates 1926-1950}}
{{1928 Nobel Prize winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Undset, Sigrid}}
[[Category:1882 births]]
[[Category:1949 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Norwegian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Norwegian translators]]
[[Category:20th-century Norwegian women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Christian novelists]]
[[Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism]]
[[Category:Lay Dominicans]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Literature]]
[[Category:Norwegian historical novelists]]
[[Category:Norwegian Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Norwegian people of Danish descent]]
[[Category:Norwegian Roman Catholic writers]]
[[Category:Norwegian women novelists]]
[[Category:People from Brooklyn Heights]]
[[Category:People from Kalundborg]]
[[Category:People from Lillehammer]]
[[Category:Women historical novelists]]
[[Category:Women Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages]]