Njal's Saga

by AnonYMous

  Chapter 45

  1. red elf: Skarphedin is making fun of Sigmund’s dyed clothing, playing on the more common dark (or malicious) elves.

  2. you’ll be on your back : The literal meaning of the Icelandic is ‘you’ll fall into your mother’s kin’. Compare Charles the wrestler in As You Like It, I. ii: ‘Come, where is this young gallant that is so desirous to lie with his mother earth?’

  3. He was compensated for long ago: What Gunnar means is that Sigmund got what was coming to him for having defamed Njal and his sons.

  4. No one was ever … without right to compensation: Anyone who repeated the slander would immediately be outside the law (i.e. an outlaw), and thus could be slain by anyone without fear of reprisal.

  Chapter 46

  1. There was a man … a great chieftain: This impressive genealogy, which agrees with that in The Book of Settlements, looks back to Norway (Gizur’s maternal grandfather Bodvar was a ‘hersir’ or local leader in Norway as was his ancestor Bjorn Buna) and forwards beyond the time frame of the saga: Isleif Gizurarson was the first bishop of Iceland, 1056–80. Thord Beard (Thord Skeggi), Gizur’s great-grandfather, was a settler in the south-west of Iceland.

  2. A man named Geir … from Mosfell : Ketilbjorn the Old, a settler himself, was a son-in-law of the settler Thord Beard. Geir the Godi and Gizur the White were thus related: both are grandsons of Ketilbjorn the Old.

  Chapter 47

  1. a man named Otkel … were brothers: Otkel’s grandfather Hallkel was the brother of Ketilbjorn, the grandfather of Gizur the White and Geir the Godi; this relationship with Otkel explains why Gizur and Geir support him, and eventually turn against Gunnar.

  2. Lambi Sigurdarson: Lambi has not been mentioned before, but he is the son of Sigurd Sigfusson who was mentioned in Ch. 34; he is therefore Thrain Sigfusson’s nephew.

  3. The men of Mosfell: This refers primarily to Otkel and his brothers Hallkel and Hallbjorn the White and his son Thorgeir, as well as Otkel’s friend Skammkel, although Mosfell was in fact the farm of Otkel’s powerful kinsman, Gizur the White.

  Chapter 49

  1. I know some things … that neither of you knows: Mord has apparently learned about the food served at Hlidarendi to Gunnar’s guests from Sida (see previous chapter).

  2. your grandfather Hallkel, who was a great hero: See the duel referred to at the beginning of Ch. 47. By referring to this Hallkel, who was the brother of Ketilbjorn the Old, Skammkel is reminding Otkel of his kinship with Gizur and Geir.

  Chapter 50

  1. what you must have already decided … best for all: The advice given by Gizur and Geir is not specified, but presumably it was to give Gunnar self-judgement. In any case, it is not reported truly by Skammkel, and the reader is in the same position as those who heard Skammkel’s report, of not knowing what Gizur and Geir really advised.

  2. Summons Days for the Althing: Summonses had to be made at least four weeks before the meeting of the Althing in late June.

  Chapter 51

  1. there’s more to judge now: In the interval since Gunnar offered to judge the case himself (in Ch. 49) he has had to endure the indignity of a legal summons.

  Chapter 52

  1. Runolf, the son of Ulf Aur-Godi: Although he is presented here as if for the first time, Runolf was mentioned in Ch. 34 as a guest at the wedding of Gunnar and Hallgerd.

  Chapter 53

  1. You must report this … against the dead: Kolskegg assumes that Gunnar will kill Otkel.

  Chapter 56

  1. There was a man named Skafti … in all matters: Skafti Thoroddson was lawspeaker from 1004 to 1030 and is usually treated with great respect, but not in this saga, where he is treated with mockery. A key to his unpopularity may lie in Ari Thorgilsson’s statement (in The Book of the Icelanders, Ch. 8):‘In his day many chieftains and great men were outlawed or exiled for manslaughter or assault as a result of his power and authority.’

  2. There are some slayings … found guilty: Even if Otkel is, as Gunnar charges, guilty of outlawry, the other men whom Gunnar killed were not, and in those cases he is guilty.

  3. there is a charge of full outlawry … as I say: Njal seems to have in reserve a complaint he can bring against Geir; he shows similar resourcefulness in Ch. 64.

  Chapter 59

  1. that was the name given to the boy: This child, Hoskuld Thrainsson, the son of Thrain Sigfusson, will play a crucial role in the saga. He is not known outside of Njal’s Saga. The only other character whose birth is reported together with the naming is Hoskuld’s mother Thorgerd (Ch. 14). In both cases Hallgerd chooses a name from her father’s side.

  2. Olaf Peacock: The son of Hoskuld Dala-Kollsson and the Irish princess Melkorka; he figures prominently in The Saga of the People of Laxardal.

  Chapter 60

  1. Njal and my friend Helgi: The ties between Njal and his son Helgi and Asgrim Ellida-Grimsson are strong: in Ch. 27 it was told that Helgi Njalsson married Asgrim’s daughter and that Njal fostered Asgrim’s son Thorhall.

  Chapter 64

  1. Steinvor: She was introduced in Ch. 58 as the wife of Egil and the mother of their three sons, all now slain. She is also the sister of Starkad, who lost two sons in the fight with Gunnar at Knafaholar.

  Chapter 65

  1. choose Kol as the slayer … this is lawful: The actual slayer of Hjort was the Norwegian Thorir (see Ch. 63), but the law permitted the citing of another man, as Njal here asserts.

  2. his brothers-in-law: Gunnar’s brothers-in-law (Hallgerd’s brothers) are Olaf, Thorleik and Bard. They were mentioned at the end of Ch. 1, and Olaf (Peacock) befriended Gunnar in Ch. 59; he will do so again in Chs. 70 and 75.

  Chapter 66

  1. Hjalti Skeggjason of Thjorsardal: Hjalti Skeggjason is introduced abruptly here. He is mentioned widely in early texts, and although Njal’s Saga does not say so, The Book of Settlements tells that he is the son-in-law of Gizur the White; this should place him on the side of Gunnar’s enemies.

  Chapter 69

  1. heaviness came over them and they could do nothing but sleep: Being overcome by sleep while en route to a fight is a literary motif in the sagas. The sleep may be accompanied by a dream, as with Gunnar in Ch. 62, or may provide a pause in which the party being attacked can gather forces, as in this case.

  Chapter 71

  1. Ormhild, Gunnar’s kinswoman: Ormhild is mentioned in Njal’s Saga only in this chapter; from The Book of Settlements we know that she is the daughter of Gunnar’s sister Arngunn and Hroar the Godi of Tunga – see Ch. 19.

  Chapter 72

  1. it was called ‘wound rain … great battles: ‘Wound rain’ is another word for ‘blood rain’, which occurs frequently as an omen of death in Old Icelandic literature, very likely under Irish influence. For similar omens, see Chs. 127, 156 and 157. The Olvir to whom Gunnar refers here is Olvir of Hising, who helped him in Sweden (see Ch. 29).

  Chapter 73

  1. a second time: The second notice has to do with the wound, whereas the first had to do with the assault. The filing of such distinct complaints in cases of homicide is in accord with early Icelandic law, which the language of this passage follows closely. See The Laws of Early Iceland, p. 148, and Chs. 135 and 141–2 of this saga.

  Chapter 74

  1. They went there … that this was so: Again in Ch. 142 a panel of nine members is reduced to five, but there it is because four members are disqualified. Here the point seems to be that a panel for the prosecution (nine men) can become a panel for the defence if four members are eliminated.

  2. Gunnar and Kolskegg were to go abroad … the slain Thorgeir: Gunnar is declared an outlaw in the next chapter for breaking this agreement, but he is not at this point an outlaw, although the arbitrated three-year exile is similar to that of lesser outlawry. Under official outlawry, Gunnar could be killed with impunity by anyone at all for failing to go abroad; under this arbitrated settlement only the kinsmen of Thorgeir Otkelsson would have licence t
o kill him.

  3. Gunnar gave no indication that he thought this settlement unfair: In fact the settlement is unfair, as these words imply. Njal had just shown that Gunnar was not the aggressor in the battle. Njal could have gone on to win acquittal for Gunnar, but instead chose to allow the case to be arbitrated, probably thinking of what would be best for Gunnar in the long run.

  Chapter 75

  1. ‘Lovely is the hillside … I will ride back home and not leave’: In Alexanders saga, translated into Icelandic by Bishop Brand Jonsson in the late thirteenth century from the long twelfth-century Latin poem Alexandreis by Walter of Chatillon, Alexander is also moved towards a fateful decision by a beautiful view; the fact that the phrase ‘pale fields’ occurs in both texts has led some scholars to claim a direct literary borrowing by the author of Njal’s Saga.

  2. ‘I made a promise … I shall keep this promise’: The incident Hjalti refers to was recounted in Ch. 66.

  Chapter 77

  1. ‘Then I’ll recall … for a long or a short time’: Gunnar had slapped Hallgerd in Ch. 48, over the matter of the stolen cheese, and she promised at that time to pay him back. Earlier she had been slapped by her first husband, Thorvald (Ch. 11) and by her second husband, Glum (Ch. 16).

  2. Thorvald the Sickly … Hestlaek in Grimsnes: This slaying will be reported in Ch. 102.

  Chapter 78

  1. how Gunnar behaved after the slaying of your kinsman Sigmund. In Ch. 45, after Skarphedin killed Gunnar’s relative Sigmund Lambason, Gunnar restrained himself from seeking compensation, until eventually Njal persuaded him to do so.

  Chapter 80

  1. All the facts were weighed … they were fully reconciled: The self-judgement granted to Hogni by Mord was set at the same value as the penalties levied against Skarphedin and Hogni for the slaying of Starkad and Thorgeir.

  2. the case between Geir the Godi and Hogni: Geir must have brought a separate suit against Hogni for the slaying of his son Hroald.

  3. Hogni … is now out of the saga: In spite of this statement, Hogni appears again in Chs. 93 and 109.

  Chapter 81

  1. King Svein Fork-beard: King of Denmark from 986 to 1014.

  2. the Varangian guard: An élite corps of Scandinavians and other foreigners in close attendance on the Byzantine emperor.

  Chapter 83

  1. Melkolf: Possibly Malcolm II (1005–34).

  Chapter 85

  1. Mainland: The modern name for Icelandic Hrossey (Horse island), the main island in Orkney.

  Chapter 88

  1. Thorgerd Holda-bride: Thorgerd and her sister Irpa (mentioned shortly after) were semi-divine figures associated with the family of the earls of Lade.

  2. Thrain … was not certain what the earl would place highest: Thrain is not sure whether the confidence he has already earned with the earl, by killing Kol, will cause the earl to trust him now in the matter of Hrapp.

  Chapter 89

  1. the tribute money: The earls of Orkney owed tribute to Norway, and it was mentioned in Ch. 86 that Kari would be carrying this tribute money from Earl Sigurd to Earl Hakon.

  Chapter 91

  1. the effect of every action is two-sided: Njal shared this same proverbial wisdom with his wife in Ch. 44; it indicates his awareness, central to the meaning of the saga, that blood vengeance is not a definitive resolution of a conflict.

  2. we must put out such a wide net: The meaning of this metaphorical expression, based on net-fishing, is that they must proceed with care and patience.

  3. cast-off hag: The unusual word translated here as ‘cast-off hag’, Icelandic hornkerling, appeared in Ch. 35, when Hallgerd refused Bergthora’s request to move aside for Thorhalla Njalsdottir. Skarphedin recalls that fateful scene and asserts that Hallgerd is indeed what she earlier said she was not.

  4. pay him a red skin for his grey one: A proverbial way of saying ‘make someone shed (red) blood for the shabby (grey) treatment he gave’.

  Chapter 92

  1. ‘That’s what you said the other time … but then you were hunting men’: The ‘other time’ that Njal refers to was the similar scene at the end of Ch. 44.

  2. to help Hogni: Skarphedin helped Hogni avenge his father, Gunnar of Hlidarendi, in Ch. 79.

  Chapter 93

  1. They decided that Ketil … to agree to peace: A section of the Codex Regius text of the Grágás (‘Grey-goose’) lawbook deals with the division of compensation for a slaying among the members of the kin group, and the wording here seems to reflect those provisions. See ‘The Wergild Ring List’, in Laws of Early Iceland, pp. 175-85. Dividing the compensation money becomes an issue on three occasions in this saga (with Lyting in Ch. 98, with Amundi in Ch. 106, and with Thorgeir Skorargeir in Chs. 146–7), but normally in the family sagas there is only talk of a lump payment of compensation.

  Chapter 95

  1. There was a man named Flosi … daughter of Herjolf the White: Flosi Thordarson, the last major character to be introduced in the saga, has a rich ancestry with parallels in The Book of Settlements. Noteworthy antecedents are the Norwegian hersir Bjorn Buna and the settler Helgi the Lean.

  Chapter 96

  1. There was a man named Hall … Thidrandi Geitisson: Hall of Sida’s genealogy, traced back to a Norwegian earl, indicates his importance. He will play no strong role in the plot, but will stand out as an advocate of peace and reconciliation and one of the most noble characters in the saga.

  2. whom Kari was to slay in Wales: The slaying of Kol Thorsteinsson by Kari will take place in Ch. 158. Other cases of anticipation of an event to be narrated later occur in Ch. 77 (Thorvald the Sickly) and Ch. 101 (Glum Hildisson).

  3. Thidrandi, whom, it is said, the dísir killed: The story alluded to here is told in the saga of Olaf Tryggvason in the fourteenth-century Icelandic manuscript Flateyjarbók (vol. i, pp. 419-21 of the 1860-68 edn.), just prior to the story of Thangbrand’s mission to convert Iceland. The young Thidrandi, contrary to the advice of a seer, went outside one night and encountered nine women in black riding from the north with swords, who struck him mortally in spite of nine women in white on white horses who came riding from the south. The event was interpreted to signify the coming change of faith, the nine women (dísir) in black being personal spirits of Thidrandi’s family who were unhappy about what was to come. This story of a young man who goes outside at night and experiences supernatural beings on horseback resembles the story of Hildiglum in Ch. 125 of Njal’s Saga. For an English translation of ‘Thidrandi Whom the Goddesses Slew’, see Eirik the Red and Other Icelandic Sagas, translated by Gwyn Jones (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1961), pp. 158-62.

  4. There was a man named Thorir … Thorgrim the Tall: Holta-Thorir and his three sons were mentioned in Ch. 20, where it was specified that he was the brother of Njal. The sons of Holta-Thorir will later be responsible for avenging the burning of Njal. Skorargeir’s proper name is Thorgeir.

  Chapter 97

  1. the relationship … is very precarious: Flosi is referring to the fact that Njal’s sons killed Hoskuld’s father Thrain Sigfusson, and the possibility that the peaceful settlement made for Thrain’s death (in Ch. 93) could be broken.

  2. Skafti Thoroddsson: According to AriThorgilsson’s Book of the Icelanders, written in the early twelfth century, Skafti was responsible for the establishment of the Fifth Court, usually dated around 1004. This chapter of Njal’s Saga presents a deviant and unlikely version; see Glossary under ‘Fifth Court’.

  3. cases involving the offer or acceptance of payment for assistance in legal suits: In this saga, though not in Grágás, payment for legal service is equated with a bribe to a witness or judge. This will become an issue in Ch. 144 with Eyjolf Bolkverksson, who in Ch. 138 accepts a gold bracelet when he agrees to act as lawyer for Flosi.

  4. bought land at Ossabaer … and settled there: Ossabaer is about ten kilometres from Bergthorshvol. Hildigunn’s stipulation above that she and Hoskuld live in the east (i.e. at Svinafell)
after their marriage has been ignored, probably because of Hoskuld’s deep trust in Njal; see the comment he makes after Hildigunn’s stipulation.

  Chapter 98

  1. Hoskuld Njalsson: It is important to keep the two Hoskulds apart: Hoskuld Thrainsson, Njal’s foster-son, is now at Lyting’s feast with his relatives (his father was a Sigfusson); Hoskuld Njalsson, the victim in this passage, is Njal’s natural son with Hrodny. As a Njalsson, he is an enemy to the Sigfussons, since his half-brother Skarphedin killed Thrain Sigfusson.

  2. I have not received compensation for my brother-in-law Thrain: As the husband of Thrain’s sister and not related to Thrain by blood, it is to be expected that Lyting did not receive a share of the settlement money for the slaying of Thrain; see Ch. 93.

  3. that other woman: The Icelandic word which Hrodny uses for Bergthora, elja, means concubine or a woman who shares a man with another woman. In this extreme situation the concubine Hrodny is indulging in heavy sarcasm at the expense of the legitimate wife Bergthora.