La Saga De Njal
1270
Composed around 1270 but describing events between 930 and 1020, Njáls saga follows the intertwined fates of two Icelandic families across nearly a century. At its heart is Njal, a wise and peace-loving man married to the fierce Bergthora, and his close friend Gunnar of Hlíðarendi, whose fatal moment of hesitation in battle sets in motion a chain of retaliations that will consume both households. The saga chronicles their descendants through generations of escalating violence, the Christianization of Iceland in the year 1000, and the infamous Battle of Clontarf in Ireland. But this is far more than a tale of revenge. It is a profound meditation on honor as a destroying force, on the impossibility of escaping one's obligations, and on the terrible mathematics of blood feud. The anonymous author constructs characters of startling psychological depth, women who shape events as surely as swords, and a narrative that refuses easy moral judgments. Often called simply "Njála" by Icelanders, it is generally acknowledged as the supreme achievement of the saga tradition.
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“She was endowed with great beauty for all those attributes that were outside her control, but it was said that in all characteristics for which she herself was responsible, she was utterly wicked””
— Unknown
“Those we murder with our mouths often live longest””
— Unknown
“Few people are spoken of in the way they would choose””
— Unknown
“When Thorhall heard this he was so shocked that he could not speak a word. He sprang out of bed, snatched with both hands the spear that Skarp-Hedin had given him, and drove it deep into his own leg. The flesh and core of the boil clung to the blade as he gouged it out of his leg, and a torrent of blood and matter gushed across the floor like a stream. Then he strode from the booth without a limp, walking so fast that the messenger could not keep pace with him.””
— Unknown
“He will give you a friendly greeting in return and ask if you are a northerner. You reply that you are from Eyjafjord. He will then ask you whether there are a lot of good men up there, to which you reply, "a lot of perverts, that's about all””
— Unknown
“He snatched the cloak away and tossed a pair of blue trousers at Flosi, saying he would have greater need of them than a cloak. Why should I need them more? said Flosi. Skarp-Hedin replied, you certainly will if you are, as I have heard, the mistress of the Svinafell Troll, who uses you as a woman every ninth night””
— Unknown
“Let me have two locks of your hair, and help my mother plait them into a bow-string for me. "Does anything depend on it asked Hallgerd". "My life depends on it replied Gunnar.””
— Unknown
“Cold is the counsel of women.””
— Unknown
“Bad things will be your only reward for this.’ ‘Things will go as they must,’ said Gunnar.””
— Unknown
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Unknown. La Saga De Njal. Lex, lex-books.com/book/la-saga-de-njal-36190695-06b5-4fc9-b86f-71d27a80c7c2.Unknown (1270). La Saga De Njal. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/la-saga-de-njal-36190695-06b5-4fc9-b86f-71d27a80c7c2Unknown. La Saga De Njal. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/la-saga-de-njal-36190695-06b5-4fc9-b86f-71d27a80c7c2.













