History Literature / NjalsSaga

* PrettyBoy: Gunnar. He is said to the "the most beautiful man in the world" and he was said to be a tall man with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and rosy complexion.

* PrettyBoy: Gunnar. He is said to the "the most beautiful man in the world" and he was said to be a tall man with Long, blonde hair, blue eyes, and rosy complexion.

-->''With that Atli hurled his spear at him and pierced him through the middle.''

* ThrowingOffTheDisability: During the lawsuit against the Burners of Njál and his household, Njál's foster-son Thórhall Ásgrimsson must stay in his booth because he suffers from a large and painful boil on his foot, which forces him to limp and to walk only with a cane. After an intense legal battle the Burners finally exploit the fact that [[OffOnATechnicality the jury which passed verdict contained more than the allowed number of judges to declare the entire suit invalid]] at the last moment. When Thórhall hears this, he is so furious that he jumps up from his bed, grabs a spear and drives it through the boil on his foot so that blood and pus pours out "like a brook"; then rushes to the law court without his cane and without limping and "so fast that that messenger could not keep pace with him", and kills the first man of the Burners' party he meets.

%%* HornyVikings: Are usually the baddies -- like all sagas, ''Njal's Saga'' was written well after conversion to Christianity. Heroes usually get their loot by fighting more standard Horny Vikings. %% examples need to be specific, not general

''Njal's Saga'' is a thirteenth-century [[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas Icelandic saga]] - arguably the most famous of them all. It covers the fortunes of two families in the generation immediately before and after the Conversion of Iceland in the year 1000.

Even the greatest warrior in Iceland can't feud forever, and Gunnar departs the story, leaving his family - and Njal - to struggle with the aftermath. Gunnar's death leaves a power vacuum in the district that his extended family is quick to exploit; while his close friendship with Njal had held things together, with Gunnar dead things are not so easy. His family is torn apart, some siding with Njal's kin, and some decidedly against them. In the mix is the malevolent Mord Valgardsson, a cousin of Gunnar's, whom Njal had previously been able to beat at every turn. But Njal can't be everywhere, and sometimes his sons decide to take things into their own hands as well. This all leads up to the pivotal moment, the one a common English [[SpoilerTitle title]] refers to: the Burning of Njal.

* BlackWidow: Hallgerd is a somewhat unwilling one - she never intended to have Glum killed, and while [[spoiler: she did contribute to Gunnar's death, she certainly didn't plan it and her role was only nominal.]]

* CassandraTruth: Njal has a touch of the second sight, and people ''do'' listen to him - but never when it matters most. Gunnar followed his advice on everything, right up until the moment he chose to ignore the terms of the settlement with Thorgeir Otkelsson's family, which Njal had been warning him about for years. His sons always followed his lead, until they killed [[spoiler: Hoskuld Thrainsson]],which he had been working hard to avert for ''at least a decade.''

* FemmeFatale: Hallgerd - although, unusually, the author carefully does her point of view justice as well. She's certainly a dangerous lover to have, even admitting as much to Gunnar before their marriage, but all of her actions are preceded by at least some provocation. Her notorious husband murders were provoked by DomesticAbuse, and the feuds were sparked by insults.

%%* HornyVikings: Are usually the baddies - like all sagas, ''Njal's Saga'' was written well after conversion to Christianity. Heroes usually get their loot by fighting more standard Horny Vikings. %% examples need to be specific, not general

* MurderByCremation: How [[spoiler: Njal and his family - though the title should be a giveaway]] go out. House-burnings are this, on a large scale. However, most of the bodies are recoverable as they die of smoke inhalation.

* RatedMForManly: The medieval Icelandic standards for masculinity are rigid and all-encompassing, and the characters all hold this as an ideal. However, rather than a stereotypical saga glorifying the male Viking ideal, Njal's Saga questions and deconstructs the value of this. Men are supposed to be beard-growing stoical killers - but following that description to a tee doesn't work out too well for Gunnar, or for that matter Thrain, or even Kari. Meanwhile Njal, while a good man, is none of those. His family fights an uphill battle due to this expectation.

** When Gunnar and Hallvard clash with a band of vikings, the viking Karl hurls a spear at Gunnar from his ship. Gunnar catches the spear with his left hand and throws it back towards Karl's ship, killing one of Karl's men.

** In Kári's second fight with the sons of Sigfús and their allies, Grani Gunnarsson hurls a spear at Kári. Kári catches it in flight with his left hand, then hurls it back so that it pierces both Grani's shield and his thigh.

[[caption-width-right:320: [- Njáll in a 17th century manuscript. -] ]]

* OffOnATechnicality: After Njál and his household have been burnt in their farmstead, Njál's friends and relations sue the Burners at the Althing with the purpose of getting them outlawed. Two times a jury passes judgment against the Burners and their leader Flosi, and two times their legal adviser Eyjólf Bolverksson succeeds in declaring the verdict invalid for technical reasons: At the end of the first suit in the Court of the Eastern Quarter, Eyjólf reveals that Flosi has secretly (but legally correctly) declared himself a thingman (client) of a ''goði'' from the Northern Quarter, and so should have been cited before the Court of the Northern Quarter, making the verdict of the Eastern Quarter Court invalid. This leads to another suit before the Fifth Court (the Icelandic court of appeal), in which Flosi (advised by Eyjólf) waives his right to exclude six judges of his choice from the jury; this later allows him to declare the jury`s verdict invalid because the jury contained more than the allowed number of judges.

* ThrowingOffTheDisability: In the lawsuit against the Burners of Njál and his household at the Althing, Njál's kinsmen and friends rely on the legal expertise of Njál's foster-son Thórhall Ásgrimsson. Thórhall however suffers from a large and painful boil on his foot, on account of which he limps and walks with a cane, and stays in his booth during the proceedings while communicating with his friends at the law court via messengers. Eyjólf, the legal adviser to the Burners, obstructs the proceedings with his arsenal of legal tricks, but Thórhall can counter most of them until an error made by Mord Valgardsson enables Eyjólf to declare the entire suit invalid at the last moment ([[OffOnATechnicality because the jury did not contain the correct number of judges]]). When Thórhall hears this, he is "so shocked that he could not speak a single word", rises from his bed, grabs his spear and drives it through the boil on his foot so that blood and pus pours out "like a brook"; then leaves the booth without his cane, walks to the law court without limping and so quickly that the messenger cannot keep up with him, and runs the first man of the Burners' party he meets through with his spear. A battle ensues in which the Burners are routed.

* ThrowingOffTheDisability: In the lawsuit against the Burners of Njal and his household at the Althing, Njal's kinsmen and friends rely on the legal expertise of Njal's foster-son Thórhall Ásgrimsson. Thórhall however suffers from a large and painful boil on his foot, on account of which he limps and walks with a cane, and stays in his booth during the proceedings while communicating with his friends at the law court via messengers. Eyjolf, the legal adviser to the Burners, obstructs the proceedings with his arsenal of legal tricks, but Thórhall can counter most of them until an error made by Mord Valgardsson enables Eyjolf to declare the entire suit invalid at the last moment ([[OffOnATechnicality because the jury did not contain the correct number of judges]]). When Thórhall hears this, he is "so shocked that he could not speak a single word", rises from his bed, grabs his spear and drives it through the boil on his foot so that blood and pus pours out "like a brook"; then leaves the booth without his cane, walks to the law court without limping and so quickly that the messenger cannot keep up with him, and runs the first man of the Burners' party he meets through with his spear. A battle ensues in which the Burners are routed.

* ThrowingOffTheDisability: In the lawsuit against the Burners of Njal and his household at the Althing, Njal's kinsmen and friends rely on the legal expertise of Njal's foster-son Thórhall Ásgrimsson. Thórhall however suffers from a large and painful boil on his foot, on account of which he limps and walks with a cane, and stays in his booth during the proceedings while communicating with his friends at the law court via messengers. Eyjolf, the legal adviser to the Burners, obstructs the proceedings with his arsenal of legal tricks, but Thórhall can counter most of them until an error made by Mord Valgardsson enables Eyjolf to declare the entire suit invalid at the last moment ([[OffOnATechnicality because the jury did not contain the correct number of judges]]). When Thórhall hears this, he does not speak at all, but rises from his bed, grabs his spear and drives it through the boil on his foot so that blood and pus pours out "like a brook"; then leaves the booth without his cane, walks to the law court without limping and so quickly that the messenger cannot keep up with him, and runs the first man of the Burners' party he meets through with his spear. A battle ensues in which the Burners are routed.

* HeroicAmbidexterity: Among the many exceptional martial abilities of Gunnar of Hlidarendi is that "[h]e could wield the sword and shoot equally well with either hand".

* CatchAndReturn: At the battle at the Althing Hólmstein, a supporter of Flosi, hurls a spear at Kári Solmundarson "but [Kári] caught it in mid-air and hurled it back, and it brought death to a man in Flosi's following."

* CassandraTruth: Njal has a touch of the second sight, and people ''do'' listen to him - but never when it matters most. Gunnar followed his advice on everything, right up until the moment he chose to ignore the terms of the settlement with Thorgeir Otkelsson's family, which Njal had been warning him about for years. His sons always followed his lead, until they killed [[Hoskuld Thrainsson]],which he had been working hard to avert for ''at least a decade.''

* MurderByCremation: How [[Njal and his family - though the title should be a giveaway]] go out. House-burnings are this, on a large scale. However, most of the bodies are recoverable as they die of smoke inhalation.