The Glory of the Lord
- One day, a new visitor arrives in the settlement. But there's something special about this guy. He's a minister, you see, and the settlement has been starving for some sort of religious presence ever since they first arrived. Tönseten is the first guy he runs into, and the man makes a clumsy attempt to make the minister stay in the area.
- The minister isn't impressed with how much Tönseten swears, so he sits down and says a prayer asking for God's forgiveness for the man.
- The minister decides to stick around for a bit and stays in Tönseten's spare sod house.
- Now that the minister is there, Tönseten has a heavy conscience. He feels awful about the fact that he's been performing christenings and marriages in the absence of a proper minister. He's worried he'll go to hell for posing as a priest. He needs a clean conscience in case he dies.
- Before he can speak to the minister the next day, the minister asks him to inform everyone in the settlement that he (the minister) will be performing a church service that day in whichever house is the biggest.
- Before the service, Tönseten confesses everything to the minister. But the minister just laughs it off and says it's fine. He'll put everything right in no time.
- When the time comes to hold the church service, though, the minister is self-conscious. He feels like he can't put words together properly, although the whole congregation is impressed with him nonetheless.
- After the service, it's time for all the Catholic confirmations and christenings. When it comes time to christen Beret and Hansa's son, Peter Victorious, Beret jumps up and shoves her way through the crowd. She believes that it's a curse to christen their son with such a cocky name. She shouts that this is all the work of the devil, but people eventually pull her away and calm her down.
- After the service, the whole settlement talks about Beret's mental breakdown. They all feel it's sad and feel sorry for Per Hansa for having to bear it.
- The minister invites himself over for supper with Beret and Per Hansa so he can chat with Beret about her ideas on religion.
- Beret gets up and walks out on their conversation early in the going. That leaves the minister to talk things over with Per Hansa, who feels guilty about his wife's mental health. He feels that he has been the cause of her decline by forcing her to move to the prairies. But the minister tells him that a man can't give up on his dreams just to keep his wife happy.
- Per Hansa says that he feels guilty about giving his son a cocky name like Peter Victorious. But the minister assures him that it's a perfectly good name. Hansa feels cheered by the man's words. He tells the minister all about how Beret had a mental breakdown after the locusts started arriving several years back.
- Ole comes into the house and pulls Per Hansa toward the door. It sounds like Store-Hans is out crying on the nearby Native American grave because he's worried that his mom is dangerous now. He wants to know whether Beret has killed the new baby yet. But Per Hansa scolds him for having such wicked thoughts and brings him back to the house for supper.
- The minister comes back that night to have dinner with the Hansa family. His presence calms Beret down. He is a good man and he speaks kindly to all the children. Most importantly for Beret, he is clearly a deeply religious man.
- The next morning, the minister offers to give Beret a Holy Communion ceremony inside her sod house. He thinks this'll cheer her up, but she's stressed by it because she thinks he house is too unclean for anything so holy. The minister won't take a rejection, though, so it's settled. The Communion service will be held there.
- Through the summer and fall, more and more settlers arrive in the Norwegians' area. Then one day, the railway arrives in the area. For many people, this means the arrival of civilization itself. Now the settlement is connected to the rest of America by a clear supply route, which means the settlement will no doubt survive and thrive in the future. In anticipation, people build all kinds of new houses and barns.
- During the ceremony, though, the minister seems to lose his ability to speak clearly. He pours sweat into his shirt and barely knows where he is. For a second, it sounds like he's having a heart attack. But he eventually gets through the service. He's devastated by his performance, feeling as though he's let down everyone in the community. Little does he know that the settlers all think he spoke as well as anyone they've ever heard.
- When the ceremony is over, the minister drinks a bowl of milk and rushes off in his cart. No one can convince him to stick around and socialize because he's too self-conscious about his performance.
- In contrast to Per Hansa's life, Hans Olsa's life goes well during this season. His herd of cattle has steadily grown over the years and he is preparing a nice new house. He feels truly blessed for all of his good fortune… which is how you just know that something bad is going to happen to him.
- After the communion service at Per Hansa's house, Hans Olsa asks his wife Sörine whether they should offer to adopt the Hansas' new baby boy. It seems like the Hansas are just too overwhelmed with Beret's mental problems to worry about a baby right now. Sörine badly wants to adopt the baby, but she suspects Per Hansa is too attached to him to give him up.
- The coming day, Beret sits by herself and thinks about how her baby will grow up to be a minister. Then her family will be cleansed of its horrible sinfulness.
- But here's the creepy thing—she likes to think about how her mother will react to these plans, even though her mother is back in Norway. Beret has begun to hallucinate that her mother is around the house.
- While she's sitting alone one day, she overhears her husband talking about her with someone. They are talking about her poor mental health and what they're going to do with her. It's Per Hansa talking to Hans Olsa about the possible adoption of the new baby, Peter Victorious. Hans Olsa is convinced that Beret is not of a good enough mind to tend to a baby. He's afraid for the baby's safety.
- Per Hansa admits that even though he's been with Beret for many years, he still doesn't know her that well. He talks about how sorry he feels for dragging her out into the open prairies. His words touch Beret deeply. She walks away and hears her baby crying. She lies in bed with him and hugs him close. She immediately falls into a deep sleep beside him.
- When she wakes up, she sees Per Hansa standing in the doorway and looking completely wretched. She assumes he's sick, though the truth is that he's been worn down by her declining mental health.
- She jumps out of bed to make him a cup of steaming milk and tells him to lie down. When Beret leaves the room, Per Hansa faces the wall and cries silently. It looks like he has just as many bad feelings to let out as Beret does. Once his fit has passed, he gets back up to head to work.
- Before leaving, he picks up his baby boy Peter Victorious and tosses him in the air a few times, cheering himself up.