Burial Rites: Chapter 12 Summary & Analysis

Chapter Twelve begins with a translated passage from one of the Icelandic Sagas, the Laxdoela Saga. In the saga, Gudrún is unhappily married to a close friend of Kjartan, the man she really loves. Kjartan, who is angry that his friend married Gudrún before he could, quarrels with Gudrún and her husband and humiliates them. In the scene from the saga in the novel, Gudrún goes into the badstofa where her brother Ospak is lazing about and encourages him to go seek revenge on Kjartan. Ospak does as Gudrún says and gets ready to fight Kjartan to the death.

The narrative then switches back to Agnes’s voice. She describes how she and Fridrik arrived at Natan’s farm together. Sigga answered the door and let them in, though Natan had told her not to. Sigga said that Natan left to treat Worm, who had fallen ill. Fridrik then began looking through the house for money. After failing to find any, Fridrik sat next to Sigga and called her his wife. Sigga, starting to sob, told him that Natan changed his mind and wouldn’t let them marry. Sigga told them that Natan said that if anyone married her, it would be him.

Fridrik, Sigga, and Agnes spent the next few days together preparing to leave. Sigga planned to go back to Stóra-Borg, where she was born, and Fridrik suggested a farm where Agnes might find work. As they were planning, the trio saw Natan arriving with Pétur. When Natan got to the house and saw Agnes, he told her to leave. Sigga begged for him to let her stay the rest of the winter, but Natan insisted that Agnes go. Agnes, though desperate for his love, said nothing. Fridrik broke the silence by telling Natan that Natan was not going to marry Sigga. Natan conceded that Agnes could stay, but said she couldn’t sleep in the badstofa. He told Fridrik to leave.

That night, Agnes slept in the cowshed again. She woke up in the night and heard footsteps. It was Fridrik, who had walked all the way there from his farm. Fridrik told Agnes he had come to finally take “what’s [his].” In the moonlight, Agnes saw that Fridrik was carrying a hammer and a knife. Agnes did not believe Fridrik would actually do anything, so she went back to sleep. When she woke again, she entered the house and found Sigga cowering with Thóranna. Sigga told Agnes to go look in the badstofa.

Shaking, Agnes went to the kitchen for a lamp, where she found Fridrik. Fridrik told her he did not know if Natan was dead or not. Agnes’s heart dropped. She found a lamp and then went to the badstofa. Agnes saw Pétur, whose head was crushed, and then Natan, who although not dead, was extremely mutilated. They heard Natan groan, and Fridrik told Agnes he had hit them both with the hammer. Natan then became conscious and said Agnes’s name. Next he saw Pétur, realized what was happening, and began to panic.

Agnes, furious with Fridrik, asked him what he was going to do now. Natan, who tried to get out of the bed, fell. Agnes realized that Natan was too badly hurt and would not survive the night. Natan tried to talk to Fridrik, but Fridrik turned away. Natan said Agnes’s name again, but then began choking on his own blood. Agnes told Fridrik to kill Natan so that he would not die slowly, but Fridrik refused. Agnes then stabbed Natan with a knife in the belly, and as Natan looked Agnes in the eyes, she thought she saw forgiveness.

Fridrik then told Agnes that she killed Natan. Fridrik began sobbing, then took the knife out of Natan’s stomach and walked out. Agnes told Fridrik he would be hanged for this, and Fridrik responded that she would be burnt alive. Agnes realized that her hands were covered in blood, and that’s when she thought of Natan’s large quantities of whale oil.