Njáll Þorgeirsson (
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
: ;
Modern Icelandic
Icelandic ( ; , ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Since it is a West Scandinavian language, it ...
: ) was a 10th and early-11th-century
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
ic lawyer who lived at
Bergþórshvoll in Landeyjar,
Iceland
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
. He was one of the main protagonists of ''
Njáls saga
''Njáls saga'' ( ), also ''Njála'' ( ), or ''Brennu-Njáls saga'' ( ) (Which can be translated as ''The Story of Burnt Njáll'', or ''The Saga of Njáll the Burner''), is a thirteenth-century Icelandic saga that describes events between 960 a ...
'', a medieval
Icelandic saga which describes a series of blood feuds.
Biography
Njáll was the son of Þorgeir gollnir Ófeigsson. His paternal grandfather had fallen out of favour with the king and therefore decided to leave Norway but as he had prepared and was about to leave when the king's errandmen came to him and took his life. After that his grandmother and their children and her brother left for Iceland. ''Njáls saga'' does not in important events contradict other sources but in details such as genealogy it sometimes contradicts the ''
Landnámabók
(, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE.
is divided into five parts and ov ...
'' which is thought more trustworthy. The name Njáll is a Norse derivative of the Irish name Niall.
Njáll lived in Bergþórshvoll and was married to
Bergþóra Skarphéðinsdóttir. He is described as a kindly, wealthy, non-violent, and handsome man, but beardless, suffering from the peculiar condition of not growing any facial hair. He was a great lawyer — supposedly unequalled in wisdom and predictive powers — and solved the problems of every man who came to him for counsel. He was a close friend of chieftain
Gunnar Hámundarson of
Hlíðarendi.
After his sons became involved in a dispute, the farmstead at Bergþórshvoll was surrounded by a hundred men and put on fire. By then, Njáll was an old man and was offered the chance to leave. He chose to stay and died in the fire with the rest of his family — hence ''Njáls saga'' has also been called ''Brennu-Njáls saga'' meaning "Saga of Burning Njáll".
See also
*
Skarphéðinn Njálsson
References
Other sources
Full text of ''Njáls saga'' with English translation at the Icelandic Saga Databaseh1>
External links
Njál´s Saga Centre websiteIcelandic Saga & Heritage Association website
10th-century Icelandic people
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