The series is set partly during the Civil war era in Norway, in which period the Bagler faction frequently established themselves in the nearby Viken area.

The series' central theme is also preeminently Catholic: the tragedy of Olav, a deeply pious and upright man, who feels himself damned and cut off from God because of his unconfessed sin - having secretly killed his wife's lover.

And surely a God as merciful as Christianity conceives Him to be would forgive Olav for a sin committed for the most understandable and honorable of motives, and expiated many times over".

[1] The Master of Hestviken (titled Olav Audunssøn in T. Nunnally's 2020-2023 translations from University of Minnesota Press) series is of four volumes, which are listed in order below.

"The Master of Hestviken: The axe.--The snake pit.--In the wilderness.--The son avenger" by Undset, Sigrid, 1882–1949; [Translated from the Norwegian by Arthur G. Chater] New York A.A. Knopf, 1958.