This is a beautiful story and so well written. It will be a favorite for a long time. ( )

J’ai découvert Sigrid Undset avec [Kristin Lavransdatter], que l’on considère généralement comme son chef-d’œuvre. Et effectivement, mes lectures suivantes n’ont jamais été aussi intenses, et c’est le cas ici avec cette œuvre de jeunesse, qui selon certains préfigure d’ailleurs Kristin Lavransdatter. J’ai cependant pris beaucoup de plaisir à la lire. D’abord parce que je suis revenue sur les terres de Norvège à l’époque lointaine de la christianisation, ensuite parce que Vigdis a un tempérament tout aussi bien trempé que celui de Kristin. Ce sont aussi les mêmes forces qui façonnent leurs destins : l’amour, certes, mais aussi et peut-être surtout l’honneur et la fierté (le terme « farouche » du titre, jamais utilisé dans le texte, n’est pas usurpé!). Mais les parallèles s’arrêtent là, et Vigdis n’est pas une ébauche de Kristin, c’est bien un roman à lui tout seul. J’ai peut-être trouvé au début le style de Sigrid Undset un peu froid et distancié, mais soit qu’il se réchauffe soit que je m’y suis habituée, cette sensation s’est très vite estompée et j’ai suivi Vigdis sur les chemins de sa vie avec un immense plaisir de lectrice.
Un très bon moment de lecture, tant pour ceux qui connaissent déjà Sigrid Undset et veulent explorer son œuvre au-delà de ses grands succès que pour ceux qui ne la connaissent pas et que la longueur de [Kristin Lavransdatter] pourrait intimider.

Although much shorter than Kristin Lavransdatter, only 213 pages, the two books are quite similar. Both reveal the harsh lives of women in Norway and the pain caused by bearing children out of wedlock. Neither woman is destined to love easily or appropriately. Gunnar's Daughter is less historically concerned than Kristin Lavransdatter and is set roughly three hundred years earlier (11th century). Undset's heroines live bitter and unhappy lives; very stoic and unbending. This last being, perhaps, the most characteristic feature of her stories. Although bleak, the stories are not melancholy in the least. Rather, one has the impression of real life as it was lived. Kristin and Vigdis are too strong of character to allow the reader to pity them. They accept, and that, perhaps, is the moral that Undset wishes to impart upon the reader.
Review written June 5, 1994 ( )

A fantastic little novel, the absolute best of Undset condensed in a two sitting read. Written in the style of prose edda, this is a compelling historical melodrama that I enjoyed every second of. An excellent primer before attempting Lavransdatta or Hestviken ( )

[1/19] Well, this really does improve once one has even a slight familiarity with heroic epic. Amazing work. The introductory essay in this edition is great, too.

[10/15 review] When one of the opening lines is "From his sixteenth year he went a-viking," you know it's probably going to be good.

Now that I've read Kristen (3 times), the Hestviken tetralogy, and now Gunnar's Daughter, I'm amazed as ever by Sigrid Undset's ability to evoke a historical moment. Though recognizable, Vigdis' is a different world from Kristen's much more Christianized Norway just a couple of centuries later. Even the brief, fascinating cameo by King Olav in this book is markedly different from Kristen's beloved Saint Olav.

Even having virtually no familiarity with Norse saga, I could appreciate the sparse beauty and relentless unfolding of Undset's storytelling. And, as always, her heroines are complex and know how to give as good as they get.

This far surpassed my relatively modest expectations, and Undset's status as my personal paragon of historical novel writing is only confirmed. ( )