Kristin Lavransdatter

“Never had she imagined that the world was so huge or so vast.”

Kristin’s first experience of leaving the valley is a pivotal moment in her life. For the first time, she understands that there is a world beyond her farm and beyond her father. The boundaries of Kristin’s experience are widened, opening ahead of her as she begins to imagine the possibilities that might lead her away from this place, rather than the circumstances that might send her back to Jørundgaard.

“No one and nothing can harm us, child, except what we fear and love.”

Lavrans’s advice to his daughter foreshadows the relationship with Erlend that will dominate so much of her life. Kristin’s marriage to Erlend is complicated, veering between fear and love and many emotions in between. Since she both fears and loves Erlend, however, he has a power to hurt her like no one else.

“She began looking for evidence that other people, like herself, were not without sin.”

Kristin’s shame and guilt imbue her with a fresh cynicism. Increasingly, she recognizes that she is not unique in the world. She is not the only sinner and most other people are hiding their guilt from the world. This recognition of the interior lives of others is an important moment in Kristin’s conception of her own sin, helping her to realize that she is not alone in failing to live up to God’s expectations.