Njal's saga
Leifur Eiricksson, Robert Cook · 2001 · 377 pages
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some book links are affiliate links; you pay the same price and we may earn a small commission.
About this book
"Full of dreams, strange prophecies, sexual slander, violent power struggles and fragile peace settlements, Njal's Saga is a compelling chronicle of a fifty-year blood feud." "Written in the late thirteenth century, it is the most powerful and popular of the great Icelandic Family Sagas and teems with memorable and complex characters such as Gunnar of Hlidarendi, a great warrior with an aversion to killing, the Iago-like Mord Valgardsson, and the wise and prescient Njal himself. Alongside the heroism and prowess there is also blood spilt in acts of cowardice and cruelty. Despite its distance from us in time and place, Njal's Saga explores perennial human problems: from failed marriages to divided loyalties, from the law's inability to curb human passions to the terrible consequences when decent men and women are swept up in a tide of violence quite beyond their control."--BOOK JACKET.
Appears in these reading paths
The Vikings, beyond the myths
Norse mythology: an ordered reading list from myths to sagas
The history of Iceland: books to read, in order
Related reading guides
Reader reviews
Ratings and notes from readers — tagged with how deep into the subject they were.
Loading reviews…