Secure ნიალის საგა Executed By Anonymous Readable In Paperback
Saga is by far the longest of the sagas of the Icelanders, and it appears to be the general agreement that it is also the best among them, an assessment that I am not going to deviate from.
In principle, Njal's Saga is just like the other sagas sitelinkThe Sagas of Icelanders it has their freshness and immediacy that are striking for texts that are hundreds of years old, it has their sparse, laconic style, their reliance on action and dialogue, their absence of psychology and their emphasis on geographical and genealogical placement of their characters.
In short, it has everything the other sagas have only more so,
This is not just a matter of length what I found most striking about Njal's Saga is how very vivid it is.
It's language is not any more florid than of the other sagas, but just as reduced and simple, and yet it somehow manages to paint a much more colourful picture of the events it relates it rather feels like the widescreen Technicolor version of a saga.
It probably does have something to do with its length, and that it dwells just that tiny but decisive bit longer on what a character is dressed in or what exactly he does in a fight, but I don't think that quite suffices to explains why people and events in this saga possess such an immense plasticity that makes their downtoearthness almost tangible for the reader as if the ნიალის საგა's pages were just a thin, icy mist behind which we catch glimpses of the untamed, violent Norsemen feasting, sailing and fighting each other.
Njal's Saga is also somewhat clearer structured than most other sagas it consists of two quite distinct parts, the first being about Gunnar, the various strifes he got involved in and his final downfall, and the second the story of his friend Njal, his death and the vengeance for it.
The first part takes place before the arrival of Christianity in Iceland, the second after its Christianization, in the first part most conflicts are solved peacefully, in the second most end in violence one can't help but wonder whether there might not be be some implied reflection on Christianity on part of the anonymous author implied in that.
Another thing that places Njal's Saga apart is the uncommon emphasis it puts on the law not only is it stated several times that it is the law that keeps a society together and that it will come apart if the law fails as is demonstrated by events in the saga, not only are there an uncommon lot of trials in this saga, but they are also described in unusual and, it has to be said, occasionally tiresome detail, to the point where Njal's Saga reads almost like the Medieval Icelandic version of courtroom drama.
There are some issues with this saga for the modern reader, chiefly its repetitiveness basically, events here consist of a seemingly endless succession of slayings, trials, and vengeance which causes more slayings, more trials and more vengeance.
There is not much difference in the way those events unfold either, so things can get somewhat tedious if one tries to read too much of the saga in one go, and therefore judicious rationing is strongly recommended.
And with the length of the saga, it becomes even more difficult to keep track of all the persons and their relations to each thankfully, the Penguin Classics edition I was reading is not only excellently translated as far as I can judge that, of course but also very welledited, with a helpful introduction and footnotes.
This is definitely the saga one should read if one wants to read only one of them, although it is hard to imagine anyone wanting to stop after this one, they're as addictive as crisps at least unless they tried to read the whole thing at once just like crisps one can easily overstuff oneself, but significantly more nutritious.
And while I don't usually don't do quote, I just have to put in this one, showing how just names mentioned in passing already are stories in a nutshell:
"A man name Hoskuld lived there, the son of DalaKoll.
His mother was Thogerd, te daughter of Thorstein the Red, who was the son of Olaf the White, the son of Ingiald, the son of Helgi.
Ingiald's mother was Thorn, the daughter of Sigurd Snakeintheeye who was the son of Ragnar Shaggybreeches, Thorstein the Red's mother was Unn the Deepminded she was the daughter of Ketil Flatnose, the son of Bjorn Buna.
"
I doubt that ever before or after genealogy has been more fun, And maybe that is the reason why Njal's Saga impresses itself so vividly on the reader's mind: with all the fighting, the deaths and the maimings there is an astonishing amount of limbs getting cut off in the course of the saga, with all the underlying fatalism, there also is an air of joyousness blowing through these tales, a boundless glorying in life and its pleasures and no matter how rough those might appear to the modern reader some of that exuberance jumps over like an electric spark across the centuries and makes this saga so much fun to read.
"Only for a short while does the hand delight in its blow, "
I originally read Njals Saga back in the mids, when I was in my earlys.
It absolutely blew me away at the time, Ive just listened
to it again on audiobook although I couldnt find that edition on GR, so Ive left this review with the edition of the book that I first read.
The translations were a bit different, I originally read thetranslation by Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson, The audiobook version is based on theth century translation by Sir George Webbe Dasent, although it has the word “updated” in brackets beside the details of the translation.
The saga is a medieval epic based on historical events in Iceland in the lateth and earlyth centuries, and which relates the story of a decadeslong blood feud.
Other historical events are also covered, such as the arrival of Christianity in Iceland, and what appears to be a description of the Battle of Clontarf near Dublin in.
The action ranges across Scandinavia and the British Isles, but its the feuding in Iceland that is at the core of the book.
Theres an enormous range of characters,
It's a fascinating insight into the way people lived in early medieval Iceland, One aspect is that there was no central law enforcement, There were laws, and the men of Iceland sought to prevent total anarchy by a system of financial compensations, banishments and other “atonements” decided at gatherings of the annual Parliament, the Althing.
Mostly though, these decisions could only be enforced through goodwill or through the physical prowess of the aggrieved party.
At one point in the tale there is a detailed and rather repetitive description of a lawsuit brought before the Althing, and just like in modern courts, clever lawyers are able to use technicalities and breaches of procedure to have cases struck down.
The medieval Icelanders seem to have been a remarkably litigious lot, constantly seeking financial “atonements” from others for harm done to them.
A major feature of the story is the way patchedup quarrels flare up again, because one party is dissatisfied and wants revenge through bloodshed.
The women play a big part in this, In the early part of the book the title character, Njal Ϸorgeirsson, is close friends with a man called Gunnar of Hlíðarendi.
Their wives quarrel and arrange a series of killings, with Gunnars wife in particular breaking agreements that Njal and Gunnar have made to end the feud.
To begin with the women order their slaves and servants to murder their counterparts in the other household, but later this involves kinsmen.
Right through the book it is easy for women to goad their male relatives into taking blood vengeance, by accusing their menfolk of cowardice and lack of honour if they dont.
Not that women are the only manipulative agents there are also men who promote discord through tactics like spreading false rumours.
Violence is a constant undercurrent and can break out at any moment, Near the end, one of the major characters arrives at the hall of Earl Sigurd of Orkney on Christmas Day, “at drinking time” and overhears one of his enemies telling a false story of the feud.
Now thats what I call poor table manners!
I loved listening to this again, and one great advantage of the audiobook was learning how the Icelandic names were actually pronounced!.