When Naakkve is asked to translate for a Flemish knight passing through Norway on pilgrimage, he is thrilled when the knight invites Naakkve to join him as squire. Erlend meets with the knight and, suspecting that the knight’s intentions are less than honorable, refuses on his son’s behalf. Naakkve is horrified that he was nearly led astray by the knight, though he has promised to always remain with Bjørgulf. Kristin is haunted by a “certain dream” (850) in which she sees her sons being eaten by a strange bear-like beast. She fears for their future and criticizes Erlend for his past wrongs. Erlend takes offense at her inability to forgive him, so he packs his bags and travels alone to one of his properties, a now-ramshackle smallholding in the north named Haugen.

Erlend intends to settle in Haugen, Kristin realizes. Both he and Kristin are too stubborn to swallow their pride and go to one another. Without Erlend around, Kristin is irritable and short-tempered with the boys. When the three eldest boys visit their father without telling her, Kristin cannot gather any information from them about his wellbeing. Sira Solmund probes Kristin about her husband’s absence, asking whether they have chosen to end their marriage “without Church consent” (871). Kristin evades his questions. When she runs into Simon, he invites her to visit his farm to see her sister. Kristin declines. During a terrible storm, the local priests lead prayer processions to invoke God’s protection over the town bridge. Kristin sees Erlend among the men in the procession, but she is too proud and embarrassed to broach a conversation with her husband. She has also begun to desire another child, though this is difficult with Erlend away. While Kristin grows increasingly indifferent to Erlend, Simon feels uneasy about his role in their separation. He hides this guilt from his wife.

Simon is stabbed when he intervenes in a tavern brawl. The wound becomes infected, causing him to hallucinate. As he travels home, the wound worsens. Simon realizes that he will die. Kristin comes to tend to him as best she can, while Gaute is sent to fetch Ramborg (who is away visiting family). As he lies dying, Simon wants to share his true feelings with Kristin. Rather than declaring his love for her, however, he tells her to “seek reconciliation with [her] husband” (904). Kristin promises the dying Simon that she will do as he asks. Sira Eirik hears Simon’s confession, then offers the last rites. Kristin weeps when Simon dies. When Ramborg learns that her husband is dead, her labor begins, six weeks earlier than expected.

Ramborg gives birth to a son, whom she names Simon. Not long after her husband’s funeral, she announces that she will marry Jammælt Halvardssøn. Kristin is surprised by the speed with which her sister is willing to remarry. Ramborg tells Kristin that Simon was never able to truly love his wife, as he was always in love with Kristin. Keeping her promise to Simon, Kristin travels to Haugen to speak to Erlend. She finds him in a disheveled state. In spite of his impoverished lifestyle and “unbearable stench” (912), she still finds him handsome. Kristin asks her husband to return, but he is reluctant to do so. They spend the night together and have sex. She tells Erlend of a rumor she heard, involving Naakkve fathering a child, though the baby was stillborn. Erlend wishes that Kristin would stay with him, rather than return to her family farm. He believes that they could be happier if they withdrew, just the two of them, and they can leave the farm to their sons. Kristin cannot stay, though she feels “just as powerless against him as ever” (922). She must return to her two youngest sons, Lavrans and Munan. As she travels home, however, she knows that she is pregnant with Erlend’s child. She convinces herself that Erlend will come to her, as he must also know that she will soon have his child.

After returning from Haugen, Kristin is better disposed toward her sons. Christmas comes and goes, the priest Sira Eirik dies, and Erlend does not return. The baby inside Kristin grows. Kristin is still certain that Erlend will come, but she sends Gaute and Naakkve to Erlend to ensure that Erlend knows about the imminent birth of his son. They return with a message: He is waiting for Kristin to join him in Haugen, even if she is pregnant. When Kristin gives birth to a boy, Ulf offers to go to Erlend to tell him the news. The emotional Kristin angrily demands that he stay. She strikes Skule when he also offers to go. In the local community, rumors have spread about Kristin’s boy. Few people know that she visited Erlend, so people question the identity of her baby’s father. To spite Erlend, Kristin baptizes the newborn with Erlend’s name: Traditionally, only deceased fathers pass their names to their sons. The baby’s health begins to falter, and Kristin fears that the boy will not survive unless she forgives her husband, but she cannot bring herself to do so. Since the baptism, Kristin’s sons have kept a distance from her. The child dies after just three months.

Bishop Halvard, a notable nobleman, visits the town for confirmations in the church. Munan is to be confirmed, and Ulf is to be his sponsor. In this time, Ulf has grown estranged from his young wife. She visits the church, flanked by her kinsfolk. A fight breaks out when Ulf arrives; he hits a man with an axe. After the fight is subdued, Kristin talks to the bishop. She learns that rumors have circulated through the town, spread by Ulf’s estranged wife, that Ulf was the father of her dead son. Kristin firmly denies this. Bishop Halvard is sympathetic to her reasoning, scorning Sira Solmund for speaking so disparagingly about the daughter of Lavrans Bjørgulfsøn.

At home, Kristin speaks to her sons. They deny any knowledge of the local gossip, but they are willing to fight those who have sullied her name. They take up their weapons while criticizing their mother’s actions with regard to their father. The sons visit the bishop, who agrees to speak to Naakkve. The bishop is impressed by Naakkve, who explains the split between his mother and father and details her visit to Erlend at the time the baby was conceived. Outside, however, a fight breaks out. Bjørgulf hits a man, while Gaute hits Sira Solmund. A local man defends the sons, accusing Sira Solmund of using incendiary language about Kristin. The boys are sent home under guard. Lavrans announces that he will seek out Sir Sigurd of Sundbu, a respected kinsman.

In reality, Lavrans rides through the night to reach Erlend. He makes himself sick to bring the news to Erlend, who rushes home to defend his family. As he travels, he acknowledges the foolishness of his actions. He arrives at the farm, handing over the sick Lavrans to be cared for. Kristin speaks angrily to her husband, prompting one of the guards to chide her. The man grabs Kristin, and Erlend leaps into action against the man who would “dare to lay hands on [his] wife” (974). A fight ensues in which Erlend is stabbed by a spear. He is carried inside by his sons so Kristin can tend to his wounds, though they are evidently fatal. As he dies, Erlend asks for his wife’s forgiveness. He blames himself in front of his sons, accepting responsibility for the argument with Kristin. Gaute leads the boys in declaring their pride in their father and their love for him. Erlend refuses to confess his sins to Sira Solmund, who has insulted his wife. He dies without confession, as Naakkve weeps at his father’s bedside. Kristin tells Naakkve to join his brothers. She notices nothing around her as Erlend is already dead.