Njal's Saga

by Anonymous

Overview

Considered to be one of the finest of the Icelandic sagas, “Njal’s Saga” or “The Story of Burnt Njal” was written sometime in the thirteenth century by an unknown author and is the longest and most developed of the Icelandic sagas. The source material for the saga was historical but probably drawn largely from oral tradition. The story relates events that took place between 960 and 1020 AD, involving blood feuds in the Icelandic Commonwealth. It features memorable characters like the noble warrior Gunnar of Hlidarendi, the lawyer Njáll Þorgeirsson, and the mildly villainous Mord Valgardsson, whose motivations and passions are familiar to people of every age and locale. The saga is divided into three parts, which describe the friendship between Gunnar and Njal, the tragic consequences of revenge, and finally the retribution of Flosi and Kari. Themes of loyalty, marriage, family honor, and vengeance permeate this beautifully written and timeless epic. This edition follows the translation of George Webbe Dasent.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781420965209
Publisher:	Digireads.com Publishing
Publication date:	12/22/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Robert Cook, born and raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was educated at Princeton, Zurich, and Johns Hopkins and taught English medieval literature at Tulane University in New Orleans for twenty-seven years. In 1990 he moved to Reykjavik to serve as professor of English literature at the University of Iceland.