Njal's Saga — Brennu-Njáls saga

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Njáls saga (Brennu-Njáls saga — "The Saga of the Burning of Njál") is generally regarded as the greatest of the Icelandic Family Sagas (Íslendingasögur), and one of the great works of medieval European literature. Composed anonymously in Iceland in the late 13th century, it recounts events from about 960 to 1020 CE — a period recent enough that many of the characters' descendants would have been known to the saga-writer. The saga is remarkable for the moral and psychological subtlety of its portraiture. Njál, the wise lawyer without a beard, and Gunnar of Hlíðarendi, the noblest warrior of his generation, are among the most fully realised characters in medieval prose. Hallgerda, whose refusal of her hair to Gunnar in his final battle is the saga's most-remembered scene, is a psychological study of unforgiving pride that has few equals. The Burning of Njál himself, refusing to leave his house even when given the chance, choosing to die with his wife rather than survive his sons in shame, is one of the moral centres of the saga literature. The prolonged legal battle at the Althing that follows — sixty-two chapters of intricate procedural wrangling — is at once a masterpiece of realistic historical writing and a meditation on the failure of law in the face of blood-feud. The whole saga bears witness to the dawn of Christian conversion in Iceland (formally adopted at the Althing in 999/1000 CE, an episode included in the saga), and the tension between the old code of vengeance and the new code of forgiveness. Translation: George W. Dasent, "The Story of Burnt Njal, or Life in Iceland at the End of the Tenth Century," Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1861. Public domain.

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