Sigrid Undset (1882-1949) is one of our most read authors. Sigrid Undset was born in Kalundborg in Denmark in 1882 and came to Norway when she was two years old.

In 1919 Sigrid Undset moved to Lillehammer where she lived with her three children. She created a distinctive home in two old log houses which had been moved from old farms in Gudbrandsdalen. The houses were surrounded by a beautiful garden. Sigrid Undset called her home Bjerkebæk.

Sigrid Undset’s literary works were rich and comprehensive, ranging from contemporary fiction to powerful novels set in the Middle Ages, short stories and articles. Her first novel entitled Fru Marta Oulie, a short, realistic novel on adultery, was published in 1907. It was the beginning of a long series of contemporary social and psychological novels and stories. Her breakthrough came with her 1911 novel about an artist, Jenny.

Her novels which were set in the Middle Ages, Kristin Lavransdatter (1920-1922) and Olav Audunssøn (1925-1927), were written at Bjerkebæk. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for these in 1928.

Sigrid Undset converted to Catholicism in 1924. This is reflected in a number of essays and contemporary novels which she wrote in the 1930s and 1940s.

In 1940 Sigrid Undset left Norway as a result of her heavy criticism of the Nazis. She lived in the USA throughout the War and fought tirelessly for Norway and the Allies in her articles and lectures.
After the War she returned to Bjerkebæk which had been subjected to vandalism by the Germans. During the last few years of her life she suffered from poor health and a diminished capacity to work. Sigrid Undset died in 1949.