36 pages • 1 hour read
Hannah KentBurial Rites
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
As Chapter 7 opens, an old letter from a Reverend Johann Tomasson states that Fridrik is a smart and learned boy, but has a poor character and is disobedient. In a more recent letter, Blondal writes to Toti asking about his progress with Agnes, and Toti visits Blondal to discuss the case in person. At Blondal’s house he has an odd encounter with a servant named Karitas, but Blondal quickly pulls Toti away. Toti reports that Agnes seems to have adjusted well and is helping around the house, but spiritually she is having more trouble. Toti believes the best to get through to her is to talk to her as a friend, and he has encouraged her to speak of her past with him. He believes her spiritual awakening is more private. Blondal describes what happened the night of the murders, to which Fridrik has confessed. Toti asks if Agnes was involved, to which Blondal replies that she was there and had incentive to kill Natan. She wanted to marry him, and killed him because Natan preferred the younger Sigga. Toti tries to find out if this is what Fridrik has claimed, but it seems to be Blondal’s opinion of the crime. Toti states he doesn’t believe it, and Blondal becomes angry, saying Agnes is a loose woman and adept at deception. Toti vows to continue working towards Agnes’s redemption. Apparently Fridrik has already repented with the help of Reverend Johann Tomasson, and Toti asks Blondal to consider a petition for clemency for Agnes. Blondal is unsympathetic, saying it is his role to see justice done, and refuses to discuss his selection of Natan’s brother as the executioner.
As Toti leaves, Karitas calls after him and reveals that she used to work for Natan. She saw Natan take away a job he had promised to Agnes because he intended to replace her with Sigga. She says Natan was a liar and a manipulator, but Blondal owed Natan a debt because he once cured Blondal’s sick wife. Karitas urges Toti to ask Agnes about Natan. As the Jonsson family prepares for the harvest festival, Agnes helps Margret in the kitchen, and thinks about Steina, who she feels sorry for. In her memories, Agnes reveals that she had a child named Indridi, who died when he was only a few years old. After her son died, she left her employers, who gave her the two eggs she eventually gave to Steina and Lauga. As Steina and Lauga are sent to harvest berries for the celebration, Jon tells them not to get too close to Agnes, because she must meet her god. Guests start to arrive for the harvest, including Roslin, who is upset that Agnes is still there. Roslin is pregnant, and Agnes can tell that the baby is a girl based on what she’s learned from Poet-Rosa. Roslin accuses her of being a witch, and Margret keeps her busy in the kitchen to keep her out of sight. This is where Toti finds her, and he tells her about his conversations with Blondal and Karitas. Agnes confesses that she asked for Toti not only because of their chance meeting, but because of a dream she had when she was sixteen. He held her hand and comforted her in the dream before she died, and when she saw him at the bridge she recognized him. She believes that he is necessary to her as she faces death.
Toti asks Agnes to tell her about Natan. She met him on her travels, after being rejected by Magnus, the man she was told was her father, and who gave her money to go away. She went to Geitaskard, where she met her younger brother Jonas. Although they were happy to see each other, she learned that their mother abandoned Jonas as well; as a result he was filled with anger and running with a gang. One night, he robbed Agnes of the money she got from Magnus and ran away. She later met Natan at Harvest day in Geitaskard, and his reputation preceded him as a philanderer potentially involved in dark arts. He chose to sit next to her, told her he had been watching her all day and didn’t know what to make of her. Although Agnes knows that Toti wonders about the nature of her relationship with Natan, she herself is unsure about it and barely remembers what life was like without him. She remembers that she felt the flames of desire more passionately than she ever had before when Natan took her hand.
Chapter 8 Summary
As Chapter 8 begins, Margret is getting sicker as the weather gets colder. She is no longer able to make it up the mountain to herd the sheep, and everyone else takes over her responsibilities. She and Agnes become closer as Margret talks to her about her fears of death. They are interrupted by the news that Roslin is in labor. Agnes helps her through the birth and can tell that the baby is in breech position. Using her knowledge of midwifery and the help of local herbs, Agnes is able to deliver the baby alive. Agnes is a hero for the moment, and the Jonssons increasingly seem to view her as one of the family. Even Jon is warming up to her. The sole exception is Lauga, who seems to hate her more than ever. Margret wonders if Lauga is jealous of Agnes’s growing role in the family, and avoids thinking about the coming execution. As winter sets in, Agnes’s mood takes a turn for the worse, and she wonders if the food will run out and if the family will turn on her. As Agnes works on preserving food for the winter, she flashes back to helping Natan in his apothecary. Steina is fascinated by Agnes’s knowledge, but Agnes is overwhelmed by her memories and Steina’s questions and runs outside, where she and Margret talk until Margret becomes tired and has trouble breathing. Inside, Steina and Lauga argue, with Lauga insisting that Agnes will try to poison them. Lauga is angry that the family is treated differently by their neighbors and friends because of Agnes’s presence, and resents that Steina treats Agnes like a sister. Lauga wishes for Agnes to be gone soon, and Steina is horrified.
Even in the dead of winter, Toti’s visits continue, and Agnes continues the story of her relationship with Natan. She didn’t see him for a while after the harvest festival, but one day he appeared and asked her to be one of his housekeepers. Petur was with him, and Agnes distrusted him immediately. Before she can continue, Lauga bursts into the room and says she knows about Natan’s dreams. Apparently the Natan used to dream of being stabbed by an evil spirit and then finding himself in a graveyard. She learned about this from Roslin, and now the entire family is involved in Agnes’s and Toti’s conversation. Agnes reveals that Petur was a cruel man, known for slitting the throats to sheep. Although a friend warned her to beware of Natan, Agnes wanted both the position as housekeeper and Natan himself. The family discusses Agnes’s past into the night, and Toti accepts an offer to stay, since it’s too late for him to make the journey home safely. He wonders if it was a good idea for their discussions to become public. Agnes wonders if what she told people will affect their opinion of her. It’s hard for her to describe the early part of her relationship with Natan, but it was full of passion. They traveled together, had intense discussions, and made love for the first time. They kept things secret, as Agnes was worried what people would think of her relationship with an older man. For the first time, Agnes felt like she was someone important and admired. She loved Natan because he made her feel good about herself, and she soon moved in with him. However, she was unaware at the time that Sigga was also involved with him.
Chapter 9 Summary
As Chapter 9 opens, Toti is stranded at the farm by heavy snow and Agnes continues to tell him about her life at Illugastadir. She traveled there carrying her meager possessions, and was greeted at Natan’s house by a teenage girl whom she initially thought was his daughter. It was actually Sigga, who greeted Agnes warmly and introduced herself as Natan’s housekeeper. Agnes had believed that she would be the mistress of the croft, rather than a servant and was shocked to find that Sigga apparently outranked her. The next day she asked Natan about this, and he told her that Sigga was simple-minded and wasn’t his housekeeper. He showed Agnes around his workshop and showed her how he mixed his medicines. At the farm, Toti’s conversation with Agnes is interrupted by the arrival of Reverend Bjarnason, who takes inventory of the family and assesses their reading skills and knowledge of the religious texts. Toti notes that Agnes has been recorded as Agnes Jonsdottir, that is, as part of the family. Agnes thinks about her name in the registry, and thinks that this is probably who she could have been if she wasn’t foolish enough to fall for Natan. However, she remembers that she was happy with him. Natan would lay with her at night, they would laugh at Sigga’s naiveté together, and then Natan would sneak off to be with Sigga. At first, Agnes and Sigga worked well together. Natan was frequently in his workshop. Agnes was free to read as much as she wanted, and Natan would bring the two of them gifts every time he returned from a trip.
However, all that began to change when Fridrik arrived in the village. Agnes found him unsettling from the start, and noted the way both he and Natan seemed to get into dark moods. Fridrik was young, the son of a local farmer, and it seemed like he had something to prove. Natan would check his belongings every time Fridrik left, because Fridrik was known to be a thief. Despite this, Natan treated Fridrik like a friend, hosting him and a young servant woman named Thorunn at his house. However, Natan also seemed to be threatened by Fridrik’s presence, responding angrily when Agnes pointed out that Fridrik was more physically imposing than him. The relationship between the two men seemed to consist of equal parts friendship and rivalry. Sigga quickly developed an interest in Fridrik, despite Agnes’s efforts to warn her off. One day, when Natan was away and a ewe began to give birth, Sigga send for Fridrik. Fridrik stayed for a week, with Agnes keeping an eye on him. Sigga was head-over-heels for Fridrik, and Natan was angry when he returned. He didn’t trust Fridrik, and when Agnes said that they needed more help around the house, Natan decided to hire another man, but was determined that it would not be Fridrik.
Chapter 7-Chapter 9 Analysis
In these chapters, Toti begins to come into his own as a spiritual advisor to Agnes. His youth and lack of experience allows him to ignore the church’s traditions and focus on what she actually needs—the chance to truly express herself. He realizes that the only way he can actually help Agnes reach redemption is by treating her with respect and dignity. His meeting with Blondal clearly shows Blondal’s disregard for the actual facts of the case which sets Toti on a new path and makes him more determined to learn the truth about Agnes’s relationship with Natan. The character of Karitas, introduced in this chapter, is the first character to have first-hand knowledge of Natan and cast him in an unfavorable light. As we learn more about Agnes and her lost child, it becomes clear why she was so vulnerable to Natan’s manipulations.
The issue of mortality comes into focus in these chapters. Agnes is haunted by thoughts of her upcoming execution, and it seems that Natan was haunted by mysterious dreams of a ghastly death. Margret, whose health is deteriorating, seems to be approaching death with grace, but her growing friendship with Agnes suggests she needs to find comfort from someone who understands. Agnes is becoming a member of the family, accepted by everyone but the deeply suspicious Lauga, and even by some of the neighbors. Lauga’s role as the dominant sister—despite younger than Steina—is threatened by Steina’s admiration of Agnes, and this explains Lauga’s ongoing hostility.
The twisted relationship between Natan, Agnes, and Sigga becomes clearer, as it shows the passion Agnes and Natan initially had for each other, while the truth of Natan’s relationship with Sigga was kept vague until Agnes arrived. It is clear that Natan plays Agnes and Sigga against each other, telling each what they want to hear. However, despite this, Agnes and Sigga get along. It is only the addition of Fridrik that unbalances the dynamic, as Natan seems threatened by the younger man’s presence. Natan’s competition with Fridrik only escalates the young man’s unpredictable behavior, and leads to the beginning of tension between Agnes and Natan.
