TheinitialvolumeintheNobelPrize-winningauthor’stumultuous,epicstoryofmedievalNorway--thefirstnewEnglishtranslationinnearlyacenturyAsachild,OlavAudunss繪nisgivenbyhisdyingfathertoanoldfriend,SteinfinnToress繪n,whorashlypromisestoraisetheboyashisfostersonandeventuallymarryhimtohisowndaughter,Ingunn.Thetwochildren,verydifferentintemperament,becomebothbrotherandsisterandbetrothed.Intheturbulentthirteenth-centuryNorwayofSigridUndset’sepicmasterpiece,bloodlinesandloyaltiesoftensupersedelaw,andthecrownandthechurchvieforpowerandwealth.AgainstthisbackgroundandthecomplicatedrelationshipbetweenOlavandIngunn,aseriesoffatefuldecisionsleadstomurder,betrayal,exile,anddisgrace.InVows,thefirstbookinthepowerfulOlavAudunss繪ntetralogy,UndsetpresentsarichlyimaginedworldsplitbetweenpagancodesofretributionandtheconstraintsofChristianpiety--allofwhichthreatentodestroythelivesoftwoyoungpeopletornbetweendesiresoftheheartandthedictatesoffamilyandfortune.AsshedidwhenwritingherearlierandbestsellingepicKristinLavransdatter,SigridUndsetimmersedherselfinthelegal,religious,andhistoricaldocumentsofmedievalNorwaytocreateinOlavAudunss繪nremarkablyauthenticandcompellingportraitsofNorwegianlifeintheMiddleAges.InthisnewEnglishedition,renownedScandinaviantranslatorTiinaNunnallyagaincapturesUndset’sfluidprose,conveyinginanengaginglyricalstylethenaturalworld,complexculture,andfraughtemotionalterritoryofOlavandIngunn’sdramaticstory.
