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Njal's Saga (Penguin Classics)

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Although most of us have heard of the Greek epics and, in particular, the Iliad and Odyssey (the two most renowned epics in the western world today), we have a great deal less familiarity with the literary tradition of the old Norse folk who inhabited the lands about the Baltic and North Atlantic in early medieval times. We've heard about the vikings, of course, coastal pirates and fighters who sprang from these folk, and about their wide-ranging adventures across dangerous and often unexplored seas. Yet we are not nearly so familiar with the Norse literary tradition which is, in some ways, as compelling and profound as the literature of the ancient Greeks which we so revere today.

The Norse saga tradition reflects stories handed down orally for generations which were finally committed to written form in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Among these works, Njal's Saga may well be the best. Like all sagas it is a prose epic (as opposed to the poetic form of the Odyssey and its kind), but with a unique rhythm and perspective which only the Norse folk had to offer. It's a somewhat bleak tale of several generations of Icelandic families whose men and women lived and feuded on the remote island of Iceland, itself only settled by expatriate Norwegian farmers and land holders from about 860 AD onward.

Here, in Njal's Saga, is a tale of hard men in a harsh land who push and pull at one another until the only recourse, in their grim pioneering culture, remains the blood-feud. And once unleashed, the blood-flow is literally unstoppable as noble heroes cut one another down until one of the most respected of all the Icelanders, the eponymous protagonist of this tale, is himself burned alive, along with most of his kinsmen, in one of the retaliatory raids which arise from the ongoing feuds. This despite the realization by the burners that what they are about to do will have grim and far reaching consequences. Yet they cannot pull back, for honor's sake, and must suffer the consequences they know they are unleashing by their actions when, at last, a vast well-spring of revenge and justice arises to overwhelm them in the aftermath of their grim deed.

In the end it is the wronged viking Kari who single-mindedly pursues and hunts each of the individual burners down, to the far corners of the earth, affording them no peace as he seeks re-payment for the loss of his wife and young son until even he is spent. This, like most sagas, is a tale of many strands and several generations and so it partakes of the literary conventions of its type -- conventions which make it a little harder on the modern reader than some would like. There are extensive character genealogies (of little interest to most of us today) and very limited descriptive text (something else some of us may miss).

There is also a decided lack of subjective points of view or of interior monologue. Indeed we never get inside any of the characters' heads and, as in Hemingway at his sharpest, must 'see' the characters for what they are based on what they do and say alone. The entire conceit of the sagas is that they are oral tales, reflecting only what people saw and remembered of the events recounted, and so they are written thus. But at their best, they are a keen, if slightly aged and clouded, lense through which we may observe the doings of real people who are driven, much as we are today, by the same needs for fame and fortune which infect the human soul in every generation. Insofar as these tales, and Njal's Saga in particular, are windows into these matters they are universal in their unraveling of human motivations. And they are great adventure besides.

Njal's Saga, especially, has it all including feuds and viking adventure and, in the end, a redeeming sense of human frailty as the need for reconciliation and forgivenness replaces the unyielding cry for justice under the eyes of heaven.

If you like the saga form, there are several good tales in this vein, that aim to reproduce the saga in a way that also works as a modern novel. I particularly like ERIC BRIGHTEYES by H. Rider Haggard; STYRBIORN THE STRONG by E. R. Eddison; THE GOLDEN WARRIOR by Hope Muntz (probably the best of the lot); and THE GREENLANDERS by Jane Smiley (a very fine offering as well). I've also done one of my own: THE KING OF VINLAND'S SAGA; but I will refrain from commenting on it since it is for the reader, not the writer, to judge.

SWM
author of The King of Vinland's Saga

I recently became interested in Norse mythology, and after acquiring a number of books on the subject my interest spilled over into Norse, particularly Icelandic, sagas. I bought the hefty Penguin "The Sagas of Icelanders", and since all the reviewers for it lamented the exclusion (understandably, for space reasons) of Njal's Saga, I bought that separately, and I've just finished reading it.

I bought this translation, Cook's. There seemed to be two main choices, this or Magnus Magnusson's, and I noticed a few reviewers quite bluntly trashing Cook's translation, promoting Magnus's instead. I decided to start with Cook's anyway, figuring that, even if it was inferior to Magnusson's, I wouldn't know what I was missing, since I hadn't yet read Magusson's. Admittedly, I still haven't read Magnusson's translation, but I enjoyed Cook's translation very much and did not by any means think of it as lacking.

In fact, in Cook's notes on the translation presented in the book, he explains his motivation and justification for translating the saga the way he did, in a way that seems to anticipate the disfavor of his translation by loyal Magnusson fans:

"[This translation] differs from previous translations of Njal's Saga...in attempting to duplicate the sentence structure and spare vocabulary of the Icelandic text."

After giving a few examples of the stylistic eccentricities in which the saga was originally written and demonstrating how he attempted to reproduce them in his translation--even contrasting an excerpt of Magnusson's translation with his own--he goes on to say:

"It is hoped that the reader of this translation will accept--and even learn to enjoy--these and other efforts at fidelity, though they may seem strange at first. The intent has been to create a translation with the stylistic "feel" of the Icelandic original."

Clearly, Cook did not set out to create a dry, inferior translation; rather he set out to create a more stylistically faithful translation, even if it meant sacrificing some of the flare and drama to which we as modern readers are accustomed.

Regarding the story itself...what can one say? There is something immensely powerful about reading a piece of literature that was written over seven centuries ago and discovering that its author and the people about whom he wrote had many of the same thoughts, feelings, and problems that we do today. When a character responds emotionally to a situation, or feels frustrated because of a moral dilemma, we can still, despite the vast chasm of time separating us, so easily relate to him or her. Even the author's humor and wit are delightfully close to home. Stories such as Njal's Saga remind us that people from long ago and far away are just that: people. Just like us. In a popular culture that has a tendency to glorify the ephemeral, trendy Here and Now, it's a fact that's easy to forget.

Njal's saga ranks with the all time great works of world literature, but you will not see why reading this translation. If you can dig up the earlier Penguin translation by Magnus Magnusson, read that version, which though published in 1960 is written in a much tighter and contemporary style and is more accurate to boot. Get it out of the library. Or hunt down a used copy. It captures the saga wit and just makes better sense of the complex action.

Njal's Saga is perhaps the single most important and best-known of the entire body of Icelandic saga literature. By turns a legal thriller, domestic drama, and violent revenge tragedy, Njal's Saga is far more complex and entertaining than most of the modern fiction that I've ever read.

Njal's Saga covers one of the most violent and tumultuous periods in European history in general and Norse history in particular. During Njal's long life the first Christian missionaries came to the island and, in 1000, the island voted to convert. Such a brief summation does no justice to the intense machinations involved and the often violent reactions of Icelanders and Christians alike.

But of even greater importance to Njal's story are the many feuds in which he became embroiled and which finally claimed his life. The overall arc of the stories is far too complex to be related here, but every victory that Njal achieves comes at a heavy cost of both money and blood. Throughout, the feuding, fighting, and legal episodes at the Althing are carefully recorded and uniformly exciting.

A word on the translation: Cook's translation of the saga has drawn a considerable amount of flak from fans of the more "contemporary" Magnusson translation, but such attacks are largely unfounded. Cook's aim in translating the saga was to accurately recreate the original Icelandic's terse, forthright, and completely unembellished style. Having read a number of other saga translations, I'd say this is a noble and, in this case, successful aim. This translation is exciting without catering to modern convention, something that speaks well for the power of the story regardless of translator.

My only word of warning about this book: don't put it down. If you're like me, you won't have a problem with this, but for casual readers the details of plot and the many, many characters will probably slip away should one take a casual approach to the Saga. That said, this book should draw you in and never once let go once you've begun.

Highly recommended.

Njall's Saga is generally regarded as the greatest of the Icelandic sagas. It tells the story of feuding women who sow seeds of nearly total destruction in two families. It is a story of tragedy and heroism, of bravery and death, and above all of loss.

The story follows the families of Njal and that of his good friend Gunnar through feuds which both friends seek to keep under control, through the death of Gunnar and later Njal and through the quests for vengeance on the part of the sons and brothers of those killed.

As in other sagas, the supernatural world of dreams and sorcery hovers on the edge of the story, subtle but pervasive, giving a cosmic sense to the struggles.

I would highly recommend this work to anyone today. It is one of the greatest works of European literature ever written and the translation is good.

Njal's Saga is an Icelandic saga by an unknown author, supposedly written around 1280 A.D. The story tells of an unending spiral of feuds and vengeance, leading eventually to the burning of a farmstead at Bergotha in Iceland, which killed the head of the household, Njal, his wife, and a number of his sons. There are several main characters. In the first half, a man named Gunnar, who is a great warrior and often champions underdogs in legal disputes, not infrequently by challenging the other party in the dispute to a duel, causing them to concede or settle rather than face him. Gunnar fought a notable fight against attackers who greatly outnumbered him, which is mentioned in a number of other sources and was apparently a true and famous event. The burning of Njal in his farm is also a historically documented event.

Eventually Gunnar is killed by a coalition of his enemies, and his death is then avenged by the sons of Njal (Gunnar and Njal were close friends), which leads to another escalating round of killings, that concludes with the burning of Njal and his farm.

The final section of the saga concerns the efforts of Kari, Njal's son-in-law and the only survivor of the attack on and burning of Njal's farm, to avenge the burning by tracking down and killing many of the members of the burning-party.

The saga is a powerful, building story, even by modern standards. It also provides much detail about legal proceedings in Iceland, particularly cases brought over killings, contains brief mentions of legendary Viking leader Ragnar Logbrod and several of this sons, and also contains a number of very detailed, vivid descriptions of combat as fought during the Viking period.

Njal's saga is a story of relationships. Imagine Iceland about 1000 A.D. Winter is long. Your relationships with other people, friends, enemies, wives, in-laws, sons and daughters, foster sons and daughters govern your and everyone else's lives. Like the Greek trgedies, the fates that seek out the saga's inhabitants are announced beforehand. Njal knows that he, his wife and sons will die as a result of a specific action. The Icelanders invariably continue to remember past insults, kill neighbors, or be killed despite clear premonition. The saga, also like other good drama, builds in small but clear steps. Gunnar Hamundarson, the predecessor in death of Njal and a strong warrior, is besieged in his house and facing death. He has driven off most of his attackers, though,with bow and arrow until an enemy slices through his bow string. He turns to his wife and asks her to cut her hair to make him a new bow string. "Does anything depend on it, asked Hallgerd [his wife]. my life depends on it," replied Gunnar....In that case, said Hallgerd, I shall now remind you of the slap you once gave me..."

Also included is a sometime fascinating, sometimes overlong, description of Icelandic legal processes, which clearly greatly influenced or were similar to English (by way of the Normans) and so to us...

Great book.

Njal's Saga is as good as the best that people say about it, and better. A major classic of world literature, and easily readable.

I originally read the Magnus Magnusson translation, and it made a big impression on me at the time. As I remember, the Lee Hollander translation was also good. I don't have either to hand, but I do feel they were better than Cook's. You make up your own mind. On the web, I can only find George Webbe Dassent's 19th-century translation into Scots. Compare him however, with Cook:

Several men plot the death of the hero Gunnar:

COOK: Mord said that they would not take Gunnar by surprise unless they seized a farmer named Thorkel from the neighbouring farm, and forced him to come along with them and go up to Gunnar's farm, alone, to take the dog Sam.

DASSENT: Mord said that they could not come on Gunnar unawares, unless they seized the farmer who dwelt at the next homestead, whose name was Thorkell, and made him go against his will with them to lay hands on the hound Sam, and unless he went before them to the homestead to do this.

The conspirators launch the attack:

COOK: Thorgrim the Norwegian went to the hall while the others sat down on the ground. Gunnar saw a red tunic at the window and made a thrust with his halberd and hit Thorgrim in the waist. The Norwegian lost his grip on his shield, his feet slipped and he fell off the roof and then walked to where Gizur and the others were sitting on the ground.
Gizur looked at him and spoke: "Well, is Gunnar at home?"
Thorgrim answered, "Find that out for yourselves, but I've found out one thing - that his halberd's at home."
Then he fell down dead.

DASSENT: Thorgrim the Easterling went and began to climb up on the hall; Gunnar sees that a red kirtle passed before the windowslit, and thrusts out the bill, and smote him on the middle. Thorgrim's feet slipped from under him, and he dropped his shield, and down he toppled from the roof.
Then he goes to Gizur and his band as they sat on the ground.
Gizur looked at him and said--
"Well, is Gunnar at home?"
"Find that out for yourselves," said Thorgrim; "but this I am sure of, that his bill is at home," and with that he fell down dead.

Compare also this: later, as the attack progresses, Gunnar asks his wife to cut off a lock of her renowned long fair hair and twist it into a bowstring, as his life depends on it.

COOK: "Then I'll recall," she said, "the slap you gave me, and I don't care whether you hold out a for long or a short time."
"Everyone has some mark of distinction," said Gunnar, "and I won't ask you again."

DASSENT: "Well!" she says, "now I will call to thy mind that slap on the face which thou gavest me; and I care never a whit whether thou holdest out a long while or a short."
"Every one has something to boast of," says Gunnar, "and I will ask thee no more for this."

As I remember, Magnusson rendered this as, "Everyone seeks their own reason for fame. You won't be asked again." But my memory could fail me. This is one of the most famous lines of the saga.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in feuds, medieval societies, and Iceland. Try it out and you are sure to enjoy. Not only is the story engaging and exciting, but this great translation renders the saga beautifully in English. My wife and I read this saga before our trip to Iceland, and it made the experience mean so much more. Highly Reccomended!

This is one of the larger Icelandic sagas, and one of the best. It bears to keep in mind that being almost a thousand years old, if not older, the story doesn't read like the most thrilling of works, even with this excellent translation. The eponymous hero of the saga, Njal, is a type of hero not often seen in medieval literature, the sage. Njal is pacifistic in an Iceland rife with violence and chaos, giving the reader pause at the possible effect of Christian influences on the undertones within the story. Thankfully, the tale does not draw so decided a line for us. The story is truly epic in size, and has several fascinating - if not conflicting - lessons to tell. If you can be patient and work your way through this saga, you will feel rewarded and fulfilled by the end.