ספר קטן, יפה ואכזר, סיפור אהבה-שנאה בסוף עידן הוויקינגים של ימי הביניים (שנות ה 1000). מסופר על חייה של ויגדיס בתו של גונר, ראש הכפר וודין בנורבגיה. החיים לא קלים עליה, היא אישה חזקה ומרשימה שרגשות חזקים, בעיקר שנאה, מלווים אותה לאורך חייה. ההיסטוריה מעניינת, רוב הסיפור מתרחש בכפרים שעתידים להפוך לעיר אוסלו הנורבגית, המלך אולף הראשון הוא המלך הנוצרי הראשון באזור. השילוב של שפה מינימליסטית ויפיפיה מרתק. אנשים באמת כתבו כך? דיברו כך? הספר לפעמים כל כך קצר במילים, שרגעי שיא מגיעים ללא כל התרעה מוקדמת ותופסים אותך בגרון. הפרקים האחרונים כך כך טעונים רגשית, שבקושי אפשר להתקדם.
מיררתי בבכי.

ובסוף, גיליתי הפתעה!
הספר נגמר באופן די פתאומי, ובגלל שאני נוהגת לעלעל בתרגומים לרוסית, גיליתי שבתרגום של ד. קלעי משנת 1984 חסר פרק אחרון!

במקרה שמישהו כאן מתעניין, מסופר בו שויגדיס המשיכה להתגורר בבדידות בביתה בברג עוד 10 שנים, עד שחלתה ומתה. היא קברה את ליוט בכנסייה שאותה בנתה. איש באזור אוסלו לא שמע עוד על אולואר, אך מכיוון שהבטיח לוירדיס לחזור יום אחד ולא חזר, הניחו כי הוא מת. ילדיו של אילוגי - אולף ואינגברג, ירשו את אחוזת ודין לאחר מותה של ויגדיס. הם כיבדו את הכנסיה במתנות רבות ובנו אותה מחדש מאבן, במקום המבנה הישן מעץ, לכבוד מרגרט הקדושה. ומאז נקרא המקום ״עמק מרגרט״ ושוכן צפונית לאוסלו.


כמה ציטוטים נבחרים:
״כל אותה עת עלה וירד סביבה קול השירה, ועימו עלו וירדו בה נחלי חיל ורודה של אש וקרח, וכל גופה נזדעזע ונתחדד מחמת הפגישה. עתה דימתה כמו רק אתמול היה ערב פגישתם הראשונה, וכל שקרה יהיה ביניהם. כל מה שקרה מאז, כל מה שגדל וצמח במהלך הזמן, נגרף ממנה ונפל, כשם שמפולת סלעים גורפת עימה את העצים והשיחים שגדלו שנים על שנים על מדרון מסולע, עד שההר עומד ערום ועריה. היא חשה כאילו כל השנים רק ישבה והמתינה שהמישחק ביניהם ישוחק עד תומו. ״

״אז הבינה ויגדיס שראש אפור זה, ראש כה מסכן ועלוב, אין בו כדי לכפר על אסונה ואינו מניח לה להגיד של עם הרגע הזה נאבקה ויגעה כל אותן השנים שחלפו מאז מות אביה.״

״מעולם לא שולמה לי רעה גדולה כל כך תחת טובה.

Wäre mit mehr Seiten vielleicht besser gewesen. Warum sich die Autorin dazu entschieden hat, fast das ganze Leben von Vidgis auf nicht mal 200 Seiten zu quetschen, ist mir unklar.

Jeg er så heldig at jeg fant denne boken
fantastisk bok <33

This book was written by Nobel Prize-winning writer Sigrid Undset when she was in her late 20s. It's written in the style of Icelandic sagas and takes place in 11th century Norway and Iceland. I've never read Icelandic sagas before but Gunnar's Daughter was AMAZING. Many characters, including Vigdis Gunnarsdatter, the heroine, had been badly wronged, Undset depicts them in a detached, unsentimental manner, showing how people would respond to their awful circumstances within their historical/social context. Though fiction, though the setting takes place almost a thousand years ago, there is a reality and relevance to the story and the characters. Undset also shows how the ways social life is changing as the Norwegians and Icelanders are slowly transitioning from paganism to Christianity. And as you would expect, it's a bloody world with Viking raids, blood revenge, rape, and infanticide. For example:
"One time, as we lay under the Southern Isles, some vikings from Norway laid their ship alongside, and then Arngrim fell. Gunnar, your father, was their chief. When he led me out of the cabin I went to where Arngrim lay dead on the deck; I knelt down and washed my hair in the blood that flowed from him, remembering how Arngrim used to tie my hair about his neck at night. Never had I a more grateful washing."
AWESOME.

Vigdis è una giovane ragazza norvegese, che si innamora al primo sguardo di Ljot, arrivato insieme al suo tutore dalla lontana Islanda.
Anche Ljot è favorevolmente colpito da Vigdis e, pur di averla, non esita a compiere un gesto più che biasimevole. Ma i due sono un uomo e una donna del Medioevo, non c'è per lei giustizia, ma solo vergogna e l'unica arma a disposizione di Vigdis è soltanto una: la vendetta.
Intanto gli anni passano, entrambi i protagonisti di questa storia sono infelici, ma nessuno dei due ha dimenticato. È ovvio, quindi, che gli eventi siano destinati a precipitare...
Molto appassionante questo romanzo storico, sia per l'ambientazione Medioevale in terre lontane e gelide, sia per la tematica affrontata, sia per la caratterizzazione dei personaggi, tutti molto forti, decisi e passionali.

Synopsis:
Callously ravished by the man she hoped to love, an 11th Century Norwegian woman shapes her life around dreams of vengeance.

Review:
Gunnar’s Daughter is an early novel from the Sigrid Undset, author of the Nobel Prize-winning Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy, and it is no less of a powerful, shocking work not just for a book set in medieval Norway, but for a book written at the beginning of the 20th Century.

Read the rest here.

Fortaellingen om Viga-Ljot og Vigdis‬ = Gunnar's Daughter, Sigrid Undset

Gunnar's Daughter (1909) is a short novel written by Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset (1882-1949).

This was Undset's first historical novel, set at the beginning of the 11th century in Norway and Iceland.

The novel follows the tragic romance between the proud Vigdis Gunnarsdatter and the Icelandic Viga-Ljot.

The major themes are rape, revenge, social codes, marriage, and children bearing the consequences of their parents' actions.

The story is written using the motifs and laconic prose of the Icelandic sagas.


عنوانها: «بازی سرنوشت»؛ «زن رام نشدنی»؛ «دختر گانر»؛ نویسنده: سیگری (زیگرید اوندست) اونست (آندست)؛

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و دوم ماه نوامبر روز بیست و دوم ماه نوامبر سال 2000میلادی

عنوان: بازی سرنوشت؛ نویسنده: سیگری اونست؛ مترجم: مریم حسن زاده؛ تهران، مرجان کلک، 1378، در 239ص؛ شابک ایکس - 964925370؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان نروژی سده 20م

عنوان: زن رام‌نشدنی؛ نویسنده سیگری آندست؛ مترجم مریم حسن‌زاده؛ تهران، مرجان‌کلک، ‏‫1379؛ در 196ص؛ شابک ایکس - 964925370؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 09/02/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

Je comprends pourquoi cette femme a obtenu le prix Nobel de littérature…
J’ai été totalement captivée et immergée dans cet univers nordique.

« Comment aurais-je pu le haïr pendant tant d'années si... De tous les hommes, il était le seul auquel j'aurais voulu donner mon amour et ç'a été ma plus cruelle souf-france...»

What an amazing tale of love and hatred, and vengeance at price of happiness. An instant favourite.

Olav I reinou na Noruega entre 995 e 1000 e teve um papel importante na cristianização dos vikings.
É nesta época que decorre a acção de Vigdis, a Indomável; uma parte na Noruega e outra na Islândia. Num tempo em que a vingança era rainha e as ofensas se lavavam com sangue. A vida humana tinha pouco valor; os recém-nascidos eram abandonados (expostos), sempre que o seu nascimento causasse incómodos; ou por serem ilegítimos, ou deficientes, ou desnecessários. Um mundo agreste e violento onde até o amor era sofrido.
Ljot e Vigdis amavam-se mas um erro - associado à incapacidade de perdoar - destruiu-lhes qualquer hipótese de felicidade e transformou as suas vidas num calvário de dor e amargura; como na canção de Martini: Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment, Chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie...


=================================

"Ninguém e nada nos pode prejudicar, excepto o que tememos e amamos."
— n  Sigrid Undsetn



Sigrid Undset nasceu em Kalundborg, Dinamarca, no dia 20 de Maio de 1882 e morreu em Lillehammer, Noruega, no dia 10 de Junho de 1949.
Sigrid, devido à doença do pai, foi para a Noruega com dois anos de idade. Com a morte do pai a família ficou com problemas económicos o que impossibilitou a Sigrid seguir estudos universitários. Começou a trabalhar como secretária, datilógrafa e a escrever. Inicialmente, teve dificuldades em publicar os seus romances, os quais são inspirados no seu profundo conhecimento histórico, adquirido nas leituras e, devido ao seu carácter introvertido, na observação das pessoas e da natureza. Teve três filhos e cuidou de mais três do casamento anterior do marido; das seis crianças, duas eram deficientes. Em 1940, após a invasão da Noruega pelos nazis, refugiou-se nos Estados Unidos, onde escreveu e discursou incansavelmente contra o regime nazi, até que o filho mais velho foi morto pelos alemães. Regressou à Noruega, no fim da guerra, e abandonou a escrita.
Sigrid Undset foi laureada com o Prémio Nobel da Literatura em 1928 "principalmente pelas suas fortes descrições da vida nórdica durante a Idade Média."

This was a very good book. While this is written in a style very similar to that of the actual Icelandic Sagas, it manages to have more psychological depth and complexity to its characters. The story ends on a somewhat ambiguous note. It's in some ways a simple one, but it raises some interesting issues and is told in a way that forces the reader to decide how much they're willing to sympathize and identify with the various characters. It also contains themes and situations that are definitely still relevant to the modern day, though presented in a way that makes them seem natural in the Viking Age setting. The scale was somewhat different from the sagas, and overall I found I enjoyed it as much as them, though for very different reasons. The setting was a little bare, and though I know I could find books and other resources to learn about Viking Age Norway, I still wish there had been more details. All in all, this was a very enjoyable read and one that I think even people who aren't otherwise interested in the time period the novel is set in will enjoy. I definitely want to read more of Undset's work at some point in the future.

There is no doubt that this book is saddening and heartbreaking, but if you want a good story, whether short or long, you must go to Sigrid Undset. I read "Kristin Lavransdatter" a few years ago, which I loved and is my top ten favorite books of all time, so I was happy to see that Undset had written other books before her Nobel prize winning tome.

This book was short, but told the tale as it needed to be told in its entirety. I loved every minute, though it brought me near to tears a few times. You will like this book, if only for its Middle Age Viking setting alone. There is another series of books by Undset that I'm trying to get a hold of, probably another set of winners.