Njal's 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 (The 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 sage possess such an immense plasticity that makes their down-to-earth-ness almost tangible for the reader as if the book'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 there 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 well-edited, 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 Dala-Koll. 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 Snake-in-the-eye who was the son of Ragnar Shaggy-breeches. Thorstein the Red's mother was Unn the Deep-minded; she was the daughter of Ketil Flat-nose, 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.
I'm a hopeless reader. When I read a good book, I tend to read it over again – several times. As I write this review, I'm reading Njal's Saga for the second time in a row. The book is fantastic; it is the longest and probably the best of all the Old Icelandic family sagas. The thing is, I have read it before: three or four times in Norwegian and parts of it in the Old Icelandic language. These are the first times I read the saga in English.Composed in the thirteenth century by an anonymous Icelandic writer, Njal's Saga is the story of long-lasting tenth century family feud. The blood feud was going on for generations. In the first part of the book, the families of Njal and Gunnar stand against each other, even if Njal and Gunnar are friends. It is their wives, Bergthora and Hallgerd, who are goading their people to fight, and a fatal spiral of law suits, killings and avenges gets more and more bloody and serious, until Gunnar himself is killed in a fierce battle.During this initial struggle over power and honour, many of Njal's and Gunnar's family members are dragged into the conflict, and in the second part of the book Njal's sons stand against Sigfus's sons, kinsmen of Gunnar. The feud gets out of all proportions and climaxes with the burning of Njal and all his family inside their hall. Now it is up to Kari, Njal's son-in-law, to avenge the burning, and he does a thorough job, to say the least. Reconciliation is first reached after the remaining fifteen of the burners are killed in the Battle of Clontarf in Ireland in 1014.I like Robert Cook's English translation. The grammatical structure gives a feel of the Old Icelandic original, and for a Norwegian reader it is a relief to meet a usage that is not weighed down by too many lengthy words of Latinate origin that have entered the English language centuries after the narrated events.For first time readers (as for all readers) the maps, family trees, the index, and the introduction (in the Penguin Classics edition) are of great help. There are so many characters, places and genealogies referred to in Njal's Saga that it is almost impossible to see all the family relations the first time one read the book. And these relations are essential; they are the underlying motor driving all the action in this extremely well-composed saga.
What do You think about Njal's Saga (2002)?
This was shockingly good. I had heard about this a year ago and attempted to read it, but found it boring and quickly moved on to something else. A year later I return and find it to be one of the greatest works of literature I have ever read. *shrug*It's sort of silly at parts, like a norseman leaping over a river, landing on ice, sliding to a man and axing his head causing his molars to fly out, proceeding to slide across the ice block, past 12 armored men, and escape free. But it seriously is a complex work of fiction: death, betrayal, love, honesty, masculinity, etc. are all present on every page.I interpret the saga's main point as trying to prove determinism; or, more precisely, the cyclical and inevitable fits of violence between men. Men are like imps, being puppeted along by the universe in a turning wheel of death and life. In fact, witches of some sort at the end (spoiler) sit around a pile of carnage and sing verses. One of the lines are:We wind and windthe web of spears,there where the bannersof bold men go forth;we must not lethis life be lost-Valkyries decidewho dies or lives----Forgetting all the darkness, the saga is just simply beautiful: I found myself feeling that many scenes could have been parts of Shakespeare's plays. Which is funny, because I think I might have found where Shakespeare stole the end of Macbeth from:"They ran after those who were chasing the fugitives and told them of the fall of King Brian. Ulf Hraedo and Kerthjkalfad turned back at once and formed a circle around Brodir and his men and hemmed them in with branches; Brodir was the taken as prisoner."
—Shane
It was an interesting read. Definately deeper, more complex and more intriguing than the Volsunga Saga which I had read before. The good part was the rich and detailed presentation of the Norse way of life: their customs, their social structure, their beliefs, their everyday life and activities... and most of all, their legal procedures. All that was very interesting to learn about. Another good thing was the way the stories of the characters intertwined, the result being a web of complex long-term relations between people. The boring part was the repetitiveness of certain actions: many family feuds, many people killing each other and then offering reconciliation... and all that repeated again and again and again throughout the Saga. Also, too many names, and many of them variations of the same one. My brain exploded after a while XD... and I gave up trying to remember them all. However, all these things are to be expected of a Saga, and I had prepared myself accordingly, so... I can't really complain. :)In the end, I enjoyed most of it, and I believe it was worth the while! :)
—Annathelle26
I really enjoyed this one. There's some likeable characters -- even from my soft-hearted modern point of view -- who I really got to care about, which isn't always the case with sagas. I was kind of sad when they went out of the saga. The translation is good, clear and easy to read, and there's helpful footnotes, a good introduction, and other helpful supplementary material. As with all sagas, there's an awful lot of names, but it's still pretty easy to follow.I found some of it amusing in a somewhat macabre way -- especially at the beginning, with Hallgerd's bloodthirsty nature. In the end, the "eye for an eye" mentality of the characters becomes amusing because of the excess of it, to me. Gunnar and Njal are refreshing in their refusal to feud with each other.A lot of the saga is based on the points of the law, as well as the killing, which is interesting. Someone compared it to a John Grisham book for the Norse, which... well, I can see their point. ETA: I can confirm from doing my own translations that the Penguin edition has a very good translation: reasonably accurate, and idiomatic while keeping a good flavour of the original style.
—Nikki
