14 h 33 minAudiobook2 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 14 h 33 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if keeping your honour means destroying the peace your family needs?
In medieval Iceland, a quarrel spreads beyond the people who begin it. Families, neighbours, and allies take sides. Gunnar has strength and courage, but his friend Njal sees dangers that fighting cannot solve. In The Story of Burnt Njal, friendship faces the relentless demands of family loyalty and revenge.
Njal seeks peace through legal advice, compensation, and settlement. Yet Hallgerd, Gunnar’s wife, and Bergthora, Njal’s wife, draw their households into bitter conflict. At the Althing, Iceland’s national assembly, witnesses and procedure matter as much as powerful supporters. Every agreement faces a hard test: will anyone let an injury rest?
What you’ll discover
- Strength meets its limits Follow Gunnar, whose generosity and fighting skill cannot protect him from the consequences of feuds.
- Peace requires more than courage Watch Njal use foresight and law to protect the people he loves.
- Households drawn into conflict See how Hallgerd and Bergthora’s hostility pulls servants and dependants into violence.
- The struggle at the assembly Enter legal disputes where witnesses, careful procedure, and gathered support can shape a settlement.
- Mercy against old obligations Explore how the arrival of Christianity raises questions without simply ending the duty of revenge.
Who will love it
For readers drawn to family rivalries, courtroom struggles, and morally complicated heroes, this saga offers friendships tested by vengeance and settlements that face another test.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Two friends face Iceland’s spreading feuds
- Njal guides Gunnar through dangerous conflicts
- Two wives’ hostility draws their households into violence
- Law offers protection and fuels feuds
- Njal’s sons bring new conflicts
- Mercy competes with the duty of vengeance
Who’s who
- NjalA skilled legal adviser who tries to protect his family and friends through foresight, compensation, and peaceful settlements.
- GunnarNjal’s brave and generous friend, whose fighting ability cannot shield him from the consequences of feuds.
- HallgerdGunnar’s proud wife, whose hostility towards Bergthora helps draw their households into repeated conflict.
- BergthoraNjal’s strong-willed wife, fiercely loyal to her household and unwilling to accept Hallgerd’s insults.
- SkarphedinNjal’s formidable son, whose courage and sharp tongue make him a dangerous participant in family disputes.
- The AlthingIceland’s national assembly, where legal skill and political support shape the struggle between settlement and revenge.
Formats and delivery
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- Audiobook
- 14 h 33 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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La saga di Njáll il Bruciato
by Anonimo; George Webbe Dasent (traduttore) · 1280
Njal uses the law to protect family and friends as honour and revenge threaten the peace.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Story of Burnt Njal is an anonymous Icelandic saga about friendship, family feuds, and the struggle to settle violence through law. People still read it for its sharply drawn characters and its hard question: how can peace survive when honour seems to demand revenge?
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two friends face Iceland’s spreading feuds
In medieval Iceland, a quarrel rarely belongs only to the people who start it. Families, neighbours, and powerful allies become involved, and each injury creates another claim for payment or revenge. The Story of Burnt Njal follows this growing pressure through the lives of two friends: Gunnar, a brave and admired farmer, and Njal, a wise adviser whose skill in law makes him valuable to everyone around him.
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Is The Story of Burnt Njal the same as Njal’s Saga?
Yes. The Story of Burnt Njal is an English title for the Icelandic work commonly called Njal’s Saga. It follows Njal, his friend Gunnar, and their families through connected feuds in which personal honour and legal settlements repeatedly collide.
Is Njal’s Saga a true story?
The saga draws on Icelandic history, remembered people, and traditions about events around the tenth and early eleventh centuries. It is also a carefully shaped literary narrative, written centuries later. Its conversations, motives, and individual episodes should not be treated as a direct historical record.
Who wrote The Story of Burnt Njal, and when?
The author is anonymous. It belongs to the Icelandic family sagas, prose narratives concerned with households, kinship, disputes, and the settlement of Iceland.
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