Evening star., 1928-03-24
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By The BoOkioper

ldWTy, OF prleSJiy lnilueIlCe oHly W a
certain extent, of great manors and long
family lines, OF easy morals, Of swift
vengeance. 1t is this period which
Sigrid Undset, Norwegian novelist and
daughter of an archeologist. has
chosen to portray in her trilogy Kris
tin Lavransdatter," and again. in the
first volume, The Axe" of a second
trilogy. Parents had the right in me-
dieval Norway to betroth their young
children and such contracts were con-
sidered binding even If the children on
becoming grown preferred other mates.
Betrothal agreements often became the
cause of fighting and even prolonged
feuds between families. SO Olav Au-
dunSSon in "'rho Axe" was bctrothed at
the age Of by his father to the 6-year-
old lngunn StainiinnSdatter. Audun.
the father of Olav was a sick man at
the time and Steinfinn, the father OF
lngunn. was drunk when they "clenched
the bargain of their children's betrothal
with a hand-clasp. and Audun gave
Olav gold ring and helped him to set
1t on Ingunn's little hand and hold UP
the children's fingers so that all might
see the massive ring dangling there. -"
Years later there was trouble enough
over this betrothal and two men were
killed by Olav because OF 1t. but he held
to Ingunn because. as he said X have
never asked if l could wriggle out Of my
marriage. In all these years / have
counted myself bound and been con-
tent that it was so. and am still con-
tent. Such was my fathers will. l am
not one who forgets easily, you say
no. but l cannot forget this. either,
that we were betrothed to each other
by our fathers when We were so young
and as We grew up together we slept in
one bed and ate of one'diSh, and most
of what we owned was in common"
The law of medieval Norway punished
manslaughter by outlawry and the out
lawed man could return to his native
land only after the payment of weregild
to the King and blood-flne to the kins-
men of his victim. Olav, provoked by
gross insults, killed Einar. kinSman of
Ingunn. He at once sent word TO Ell
mars father that he was ready to pay
the fine for the slaughter. but Kolbein
refused to accept 1t and so for many
years Olav was an outlaw from Nor
way. an unatoned felon, and found
refuge in Denmark and Sweden. Final
ly. after long bitterness, when 1ngunn
had become a burden in the home of
her kinspeople and no great credit to
them. the blood money was accepted
and Olay was permitted to take his
bride south to his manor OF HeStViken.
The manors Of those days, all laid
out on the same plan. represented the
luxurious living OF the upper classes.
yet must have been uncomfortable and
places enough. eccording to
modern standards. FrettaStein. the
manor OF Steinflnn, was near Lake
Miosen. surrounded by hills. Miklebo,
the manor of Arnvid FinnsSon. was in
Elfardal. a rather rundown estate.
Berg. large and hospitable. the manor
of the Lady Magnhild, was isolated
from the other great farms of the par
ish, on the shore of large lake, shut
in by black forest. Hestviken, the
manor Of Olav Audunsson. in the south.
was on high bluff overlooking ford
Each had its great hall. with the hearth
In the center and the loft above: its
surrounded by separate
houses for women, guests and servants
its byre and cowshedS, paddock and
stables: its orchards. confields. rocky
pastures and encircling woods of birch
and FIR The life at the manorS changed
with the seasons During the long.
snowy Winters the great hall was the
center OF domestic life and. even with
a huge fire always on the hearth and
skins for covers at night, the family
must often have found IL cold place.
With the Spring much of the life was
carried on out of doors and in the out
houses about the courtyard. The boys
and young men OF the family often
spent much of the Summer with the
fiocks up on the mountain pastures,
where they lived in huts called "Saeters. .
Shelley's love for children. his own
and those of his friends. is placed by
Walter Edwin Peck, one OF his most
recent hiographers, in one side of the
scales To balance many faults in the
other side MIR. Peek says in Shelley:
His Life and Work: IF the saying. He
is not wholly bad who can love and be
loved by child be worthy of accept
ance, Shelley'S sins OF iickleness or
over many women and his
occasional Surrenders to desire may i'll
part be forgiven because of his genuine
affection for children" To be sure.
when he deserted his first wife. Harriet.
ne also deserted his daughter, Ianths.
and, practically, as well his son. Charles
BySshe. born shortly after the deSertion.
After Harriet's suicide he struggled un-
in chancery to gain pos
ses-'on of these children and his failure
tore his very being to pieces" He was
4 devoted father TO his two children
oy his second wife Mary Goodwin. the
little Clara and William. both of whom
died In childhood during the residence
of the ShelleyS in Italy After the fatal
shipwreck Oft the Italian coast near
Lerici. Shelley's ashes were buried IN
The grave of his son William in the
old part of the Protestant cemetery in
Rome, i'll accordance with q request of
MS own. Allegra, the daughter Of Lord
Byron and Claire. the half-Sister OF
Mary Shelley. was a beloved playmate
nt Shelley Visiting her once in the
of Bagnacavallo, where she
died at the age OF S. he followed her
all over the convent and gardens, run
ming and skipping like mad thing =
Leigh Hunts seven children became his
care when their parents, poor and Ill.
ioined the Shelleys and Byron in Italy.
Sheiley's own last child, Percy Florence,
born less than three years before the
poets death. was the object of ar
affection the more devoted because Of
The loss OF his other children.
"
"All first novels are autohiographies"
says an old proverb that aptly fits
Andre MauroiS, the French biographer
Of DiSraeli and Shelley, Preceding his
current highly popular "DiSraeli.' Matt
rois turned his hand for the FIRST time
la the field oi out -and-out fiction With
- Bernard QueSnay"~a novel that APP
peared IN this country last Spring. II
Is the story of young Frenchman
whose heart and interests lay in Paris
and the life oi letters. but whose family
and fortune bound him 90 the respon~
8ibllty OF running great textile mills
IN the provinces, To the humdrum oI u
thousand petty problems OF customers.