Njal's Saga

by Magnus Magnusson (Translator)

Other authorsHermann Palsson (Translator)
Paperback, 1964

Status

Available

Call number

813

Collection

Publication

Penguin Classics (1964), Paperback, 384 pages

Description

Considered to be one of the finest of the Icelandic sagas, "Njal's Saga" (or "The Story of Burnt Njal") was written sometime in the thirteenth century by an unknown author and is the longest and most developed of the sagas. The source material for the saga was historical but probably drawn largely from oral tradition. The story relates events that took place between 960 and 1020, involving blood feuds in the Icelandic Commonwealth. It features memorable characters like the noble warrior Gunnar of Hlidarendi, the lawyer Njall orgeirsson, and the mildly villainous Mord Valgardsson, whose motivations and passions are familiar to people of every age and locale. The saga is divided into three parts, which describe the friendship between Gunnar and Njal, the tragic consequences of revenge, and finally the retribution of Flosi and Kari. Themes of loyalty, marriage, family honor and vengeance permeate this beautifully written and timeless epic."… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Rhinoa
Arguably the most famous of the Icelandic sagas, this history tells of Njal, his sons, friends and surrounding people. It is from the 13th centuary and covers many topics including feuds, impotence, marriage, law etc. Two of the main characters are Gunnar and Njal. Njal is a well known wise man who
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is an expert in the laws who many turn to for advice. Gunnar is his close friend, but unfortunately their wives do not get on. Gunnar's wife begins a blood feud with Njal's wife where they keep killing people to try to get their husbands to fall out. It's a bit eye for an eyeand very petty.

There are villians and heros and eventually both Gunnar and Njal are killed. Gunnar is killed in battle and Njal is burnt to death in his house with his wife. His sons take their revenge and go after the burners and the feuding continues. Parts of it are an excellent view inside Icelandic life at the time mentioning local food etc. It was also interesting to read about the laws at the Althing.

It's not all blood, guts limbs and heads being chopped off. It has a sense of humor and a charm to the story, although it did loose me a little after Njal was killed. I loved reading the tale after not long having visited Iceland, it made me want to go back even more. I hope to read more of the sagas in the future.
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LibraryThing member dylkit
A legal saga with gratuitious violence, revenge,strong characters and what I would call magical realism. It makes me want to visit the site of Njal's farm in Iceland - a country I am fascinated by but only get to pass through .

And our cat is now called 'Ragnar Hairy - Breeks'
LibraryThing member MaowangVater
Here’s a family saga that makes the Hatfields and the McCoys seem like amateurs, genealogical narratives that make those in the Bible seem brief, and grisly descriptions of hand to hand combat that are the equal of the Iliad. In the introduction to this edition of the English translation by
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Bayerschmidt and Hollander, Þorsteinn Gylfason notes, “An Icelandic scholar of the eighteenth century said that all the sagas of the Icelanders could be summed up in four words, 'Farmers came to blows.'"

But between these dismemberments are the stories of resentment and craftiness that precede the gore, and more fascinating to me, the legal suits and maneuverings in the Althing, the medieval Icelandic assembly, to award compensation to the families of the slain in exchange for a pledge of peace. Then after all parties were satisfied, the plotting of the next round of the vendetta starts just as soon as all have returned home. Equally fascinating to me is that in the middle of all this feuding and strife—in the year 1000 by our current calendar—everyone converts to Christianity, and then continues on exactly as they did as worshipers of the old Norse gods.
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LibraryThing member DinadansFriend
This is the best Saga! Got colour, (but perhaps that's due to the footnotes). Characterization, and gives an insight into the curious world of Icelandic law, both civil and criminal during the period. No civilized library should not have a translation of this work. In English, I believe that
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Magnusson and Palsson justly deserve the fame of their translation. Buy it, read it and lend it. (I've only lost three copies by this method. I read it three times (so far)
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LibraryThing member eyja
Of all the sagas, this one has the most political drama and there are parts that I really enjoy in it. Definitely recommend it.
LibraryThing member Nickelini
I really wanted to like this book. I'd enjoyed Beowulf, and thought that this might be something along the same lines, but cooler and more obscure. Unfortunately, it read as a long series of violent episodes. The first time I tried to read it, I could only get to page 66. I tried again a year later
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and made it to page 120. I just.could.not.do.it. There was just nothing of interest to break up all the violence. Wish I'd liked it.
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LibraryThing member theageofsilt
I reread this following a trip to Iceland. It is a difficult book to understand in the way the Bible can be difficult -- there's little explanation of motivation and character is developed almost entirely through the action. It is a work that it is sometimes boring and sometimes thrilling. It is
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set in Iceland around 1000 AD and was written a few hundred years after the events it depicts. It is an interesting insight into a society that tries to deal with the essential violence of human nature. Payment of compensation for a murder or complicated legal proceedings sometimes prevent a cycle of killing and revenge killings. With so much homicide, it's a wonder that Iceland wasn't entirely depopulated.
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LibraryThing member stravinsky
"...Kol was counting out the silver...Kari rushed at him with his sword drawn and slashed at Kol's neck. Kol kept on counting, and his head said 'Ten' as it flew from his shoulders."

"[Flosi] walked all the way to Rome, where he was accorded the great honour of receiving absolution at the hands of
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the Pope himself; he paid a large sum of money for it."

The writing is so spare and to-the-point that it verges on comedy sometimes. I find the directness novel. No flowery language or wasted words. I guess that's the oral-tradition factor.

A lot of HONOR and stoic dudes that are surprisingly fragile (in terms of masculinity, but also limbs and heads seem to get hacked off with ease).

A multigenerational blood-feud that ends with two survivors of opposite factions becoming buds...as it should be, really.

And there I end my review of the saga of the Burning of Njal.
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LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
This is one of those books that I think need to re-read. There are too many characters, and their relationships change, from enemies into family by marriage. I also struggled with the culture. This is a story that is told for an audience who know the characters. They don't need an explanation for
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common knowledge. However, to show how a rich a homesteader is, a list of luxury items, and number of servants are listed.

Its not an easy book, and the Penguin Edition was nicely annotated, however I found the family trees at the end to be mostly useless.
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Language

Original publication date

1350 (circa original manuscript)

Physical description

384 p.; 7.7 inches

ISBN

0140441034 / 9780140441031

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