The final novel, The Cross, starts with the return to Jorundgard. At the end of the novel, Kristin is forced to move back to her parents’ farm, Jorundgard. Simon arranges for his freedom, but the kingdom claims Erlend’s property as payment. Erlend commits a series of political mistakes and is thrown in prison. After her parents pass away, her only surviving sister, Ramborg, marries Simon Darre. She has six more sons with Erlend, and becomes the head of the estate, while working through lingering problems with Erlend’s former lover. She goes on a pilgrimage to Trondheim to thank God for Niklaus’s health, and leaves her golden wreath at the shrine.

Kristin tries to absolve herself of her sins by delivering a confession to a priest. She gives birth to a healthy son, naming him Nikulaus. Her perspective of Erlend also changes as the excitement of their early romance fades. She worries about the fate of her unborn child since it was conceived through sin. The second novel, The Wife, begins as Kristin moves in with Erlend at Husaby. At her wedding, she wears a golden wreath, symbolizing her lost innocence.

Kristin becomes pregnant before their wedding day, hiding it from Erlend and the rest of her family. Lavrans discovers her affair but, failing to stop her, he reluctantly allows her to marry Erlend. Kristin and Erlend begin a secret affair. Erlend is a social outcast due to a past adulterous relationship, which led to his excommunication from the Catholic Church. She falls in love with a man from the Husaby estate in Trondelag, Erlend Nikulausson, but is tragically wedded to Simon Darre, the son of a nearby estate owner. She has several frightening experiences as a child, particularly an experience with attempted sexual assault, that led some people in Sel to shame her. Kristin is portrayed as strong-headed but sensitive, often rebelling in subtle ways against her family. She is the daughter of Lavrans, a wealthy and well-liked farmer, and Ragnfrid, who suffers from severe depression after losing three sons in infancy.

The first novel in the trilogy, The Wreath, introduces Kristin Lavransdatter. The trilogy is generally considered Undset’s magnum opus. She comes into conflict with her family and eventual husband but learns to find refuge and consolation in Catholicism. Kristin, the daughter of a wealthy farmer, comes of age in the town of Sel nestled in the Gubrand Valley. They follow the eponymous protagonist, Kristin Lavransdatter, a woman living in 1300s Norway. The novels chronicle Scandinavian life during the Middle Ages. Published between 19, the trilogy consists of The Wreath, The Wife, and The Cross, in order. Kristin Lavransdatter is a trilogy of historical novels by Norwegian author and Nobel award-winner Sigrid Undset.

Kristin undset