'Why is your axe bloody?' : a reading of Njáls saga / William Ian Miller.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Miller, William Ian, 1946- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Njáls saga.

Sagas--History and criticism.

Sagas.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 334 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Summary:

Njals saga, the greatest of the sagas of the Icelanders, was written around 1280. It tells the story of a complex feud, that starts innocently enough in a tiff over seating arrangement at a local feast, and expands over the course of 20 years to engulf half the country, in which both sides are effectively exterminated, Njal and his family burned to death in their farmhouse, the other faction picked off over the entire course of the feud. Law and feud feature centrally in the saga, Njal, its hero, being the greatest lawyer of his generation. No reading of the saga can do it justice unless it takes its law, its feuding strategies, as well as the author's stunning manipulation and saga conventions. In 'Why is your axe bloody' W.I. Miller offers a lively, entertaining, and completely original personal reading of this lengthy saga.

Contents:

1 Njála's Unity Problem and the Very Beginning: Chapter 1 15

2 Marriage Formation and Dissolution: Chapters 2-34 24

Case 1 Hrut and Unn 24

Case 2 Hallgerd and Thorhiald, with Cameos by Skarphedin and Thorhild, Grim and Astrid, and Helgi and Thorhalla 33

Case 3 Hallgerd and Glum (chapters 13-17) 44

3 Making a Scene: Chapters 34-5, 48 49

Thrain 51

Seating Arrangements 55

Wife-beating in Company 59

4 Looking Forward: Njal's Prescience: Chapters 22-3 62

Disenchantment 63

Das Monstrum and the Future Tense 69

Prescient Coda 71

5 Bergthora vs. Hallgerd, Part I. The Theory: Chapters 35-45 73

The Balanced-Exchange Model and its Contradictions 75

Compensation and its Contradictions 79

The Model's Simplifications 86

6 Bergthora vs. Hallgerd, Part II: Some Facts 88

Atli's Story (chapters 36-8) 88

Njála and Independent People 96

Thord Freedmansson (chapters 39-43) 99

The Lethal Insults (chapters 44-5) 102

7 Otkel vs. Gunnar: Chapters 46-56 109

The 'Theft' 110

Gunnar's Lament 116

8 Gunnar vs. the Thrihyrning People: Chapters 57-66 123

Njal as Banker and Lawyer 126

Paying for Those You Have a Right to Kill 131

9 The Two Thorgeirs and Death of Gunnar: Chapters 67-77 134

The Two Prongs of the 'Prophecy' 136

Death of Gunnar 140

10 Revenge for Gunnar: Chapters 77-81 144

Gunnar and Envy Mismanagement 147

11 The Atlantic Interlude and Hrapp: Chapters 82-9 153

12 Setting up Thrain: Chapters 90-2 157

Dining with Runolf 161

13 A Tale of Two Hoskulds: Chapters 93-9 164

Amending the Constitution 168

Lyting and the Breach of Father and Sons 169

14 Conversion and the Genius of the Law: Chapters 100-6 178

Concerning Signs and Wonders 179

'St,' Thorgeir the Lawspeaker 184

Before and After Conversion: Compare and Contrast 188

15 Valgard 'the Wise' and Hoskuld's Blood: Chapters 107-16 194

Hoskuld Martyr 197

The Cloak and Holy Relics 200

16 Skarphedin Ascendans, Flosi's Ninth Nights: Chapters 117-23 207

Reintroducing Skarphedin 208

Backing Down Thorkel Hake 210

The Struggle for Settlement 212

Flosi Furtoso 216

17 The Burning: Chapters 124-32 222

The Decision to Go Inside 225

Njal's Virtuoso Going to Bed for the Last Time 231

Skarphedin's Miracle 234

Flosi's Flinch 238

Thorhall Asgrimsson Hears of Njal's Death 340

Cleaning Up Some Leftovers 242

Coda: Exit Skarphedin and his Grins, Obit Njal 243

18 Preparation for the Next Althing: Chapters 132-7 248

Flosi and Support-mustering 249

Flosi Visits Asgrim, Chapter 136 257

19 The Trial of Flosi and the Battle: Chapters 135, 141-5 259

Law and its Limits 260

Some Procedural Matters, Chapters 135, 142 265

Three Lawmen 268

20 Kari and Friends: Chapters 145-55 276

Kari and Thorgeir 279

Bjorn of Mork and Kan 281

Kari vs. Gunnar 284

Flosi and Kari 289

Kari and the Author 292

21 How Not to End a Saga, Unless...: Chapters 146-59 294

22 A Conclusion: Justice and Exits 301.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0198704844

9780198704843

OCLC:

869726277

Publisher Number:

99961142104