Evening star., 1929-12-14
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the B0oklOuer

When one has enjoyed intensely the
"Kristin Lavrensdatter" trilogy of Sig
rid Undset and has enjoyed with less
enthusiasm, but still very much. the
first two volumes of THE Master of
Hestviken" tetralogy, it is a disappoint-
ment to find the third volume so thin in
substance and so lethargic in style. The
first two volumes, THE Axe" and THE
Snake Pit" follow the life of Olav
Audunsson through childhood. youth
and early maturity. Family feuds, MUIR
der, outlaWry. friendlessnesS, are his lot ::
but he finally marries Ingunn Stein
flnnsdatter, his childhoods companion
and love, and comes into possession of
his patrimony of Hestviken. But family
feuds have separated him too long from
both Ingunn and Hestviken, and when
he takes his bride to his house and lands
on the Oslo ford she is already the
mother of a base born" son. This boy,
Erik, accepted at Hestviken as a son,
becomes source of lifelong bitterness
to Olav. The memories of uneXpiated
crimes also torment him, and Ingunn,
always mental and physical weakling.
knows no health after her marriage. At
the end of The Snake Pit" she dies
after years of being bedridden. Olav
is left widower, with his wife's son,
his and Ingunns only living child,
Cecilia; and off in hut in the hills
his iilegitimate son, Bjorn, whose
mother Is the handsome, robust Tor
MID, once serving maid at HeStviken.
x X y X
The third volume of the tetralogy,
In the Wilderness" opens with Olav
living alone at HeStviken, with the chill
dren, Erik and Cecilia, and his serving
man and maids. A coarse, witlcSl
woman, Liv, is in charge of his house,
but he soon marries her to one of the
serving men and sends them away to a
hut OF their own. He has no taste for
further marriage and still mournS his
dead wife, though his life with her
brought him little happiness. He re-
fuses a marriage with a wealthy widow
proposed for him by relatives. but Sc
cures an elderly woman of good birth
Maerta BirgerSdatter, to be his house
keeper. She brings with her the little
Bothild, her granddaughter who be-
comes Cecilia'S foSter-SiSter. OlaV him.
sell spends many of the years which
follow the death of Ingunn in wander
ing. First he goes to England on a
trading voyage with two Oslo men OF
English descent. Gloom and broodine
unhappineSS follow him there, and he
contemplates entering monastery, but
knows that he Is not suited to the mo-
naStic life, not because of his hardships
but because of its monotonous routine
and petty regulations-"the brotherly
life; the hours of converse, when a
monk has to show humility and gentle
ness toward his fellows, whether he
likes them or not. whether he be minded
to speak or be silent; to have to go out
among strangers or to serve in the guest
house when the prior bade him, even il
he would rather be alone" So he re-
fI1riIl
at again seeing his home and his chill
dren. When news comes that Duke
Erik of Sweden has invaded Norway
Olav welcomes the thought of war, be-
cause in fighting he may find peace for
his tortured soul. He joins Sir Jon
Raud and his son, Ivar JonSson, who
are leading levies for the defense OF
their country, and plays a daring and
courageous part in the fighting which
follows. At the close of "In the Wilder
ness" OlaV returns, wounded, to Hest
vixen, where the old Maerta Birgers-
datter admits him. with the two girls,
Cecilia and Bothild, in a home where
little remains but the houses, for "the
Swedes had cut down and carried off all
they found"
The modern history Of Scotland has
been to a large extent a part of the
history of England, but Scotland had
an independent ancient history, which
is related in Holinshed's and Halls
Chronicles" and is used in Shake
speare'S Macbeth" A book of fairly
recent date which deals Interestingly
with the separate history of Scotland is
Their Majesties of Scotland" by E.
Thornton Cook. This account begins
with Lady Macbeth, known in history
as Gruoch, and ends with the Cardinal
Duke Of York, sometimes known as
Henry TX. The early period, that OF
Kenneth McAlpine, who in a measure
harmonized the scattered tribes of Scot
land and united them into one nation
and of his descendants, was a time of
bloodshed, daring deeds, romance and
tragedy. 1t began in the ninth century
Macbeth MacFinlay, "the red one, fair
yellow and tall" was the second hus-
band OF Gruoch, or Lady Macbeth
Historically, she had in that age OF
swift vengeance some reason for the
ruthless murder of King Duncan, to
which she drove her husband. Her kins-
men had been murdered by the grand
father OF King Duncan, the usurpine
Malcolm, and by him her first husband
Gillacomgan, and his band had been
burned alive. Her son, Lulach, born
shortly after, was always dubbed "The
Witless," Knowing this and remember
ing that the period was barbaric, we
can understand more easily her terri
BILE soliloquy, beginning:
Come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex
me here
And fill me from the crown to the
toe top full
or direct crueltyi
Make thick NV blood.
Stop up the access and passage to
remorSe."
Gruoch's successor was the piolls and
much-loved st. Margaret of Scotland,
who was born the sister of the Saxon,
Edgar Atheling, depoSed by William the
Conqueror. She was that rare thing in
those days, learned woman: and her
husband, equally rare, revered her learn
ing and had her books bound in gold
and set in gems. The later struggle of
Scotland for independence from Eng
land. under the Scotch heroes Balliol,
Bruce and Wallace, and the battles of
Bannockburn, Flodden and Culloden are
familiar history. Even more familiar
is the history of Mary Queen of Scots.
hrst married to Francis II of France
and later to Lord Darnley, who was
murdered, in all probability, through the
schemes of Mary and her lover. the Earl
OF Boutwell,. Mary's execution by Queen
Elizabeth OF England and the question
whether or not Elizabeth was justified
IN her act are always of great interest
to young students of history.
X X
Alexander" by Konrad Bercovici Is
not fiction, but seems like it. 1t is a
SURFING narrative of the adventures of
the restless genius called Alexander the
Great, son of the politician-general
Phillp OF Macedon and the red-haired
barbarian Queen OlympiaS. Alexander
Wnen mere youth led his devoted army
across the Hellespont, defeated the
oreao Perslans and took over their en-
pre-, ana then aSpired to the conquest
Of India. He was a worn ont vateron