or conflict is presented, and the feud breaks out as members of one family commit a punitive act against members of another family” (Lars Lonnroth, pg. 69).This is also clearly seen and recorded in Njal’s Saga when Njal is burned for the sake of his family.Nowell, 4Another interesting aspect of this story is that midway through the saga, Christianity is introduced. The values and morals upheld by Christianity are very different from those of the Icelandic culture. The Christian value system is based on love, specifically the love God has for people. It is also founded on people’s love for God and for one another. This calls for forgiveness of those who have wronged you and for an attitude of fairness and submission to God. The differences between the two moral systems may have influenced the writer since Njal’s Saga was written years after the Christians came into Iceland. G. Turville-Petre notes” but at times the Christian outlook dominates in the Njal’s Saga; forgiveness triumphs over vengeance” (G. Turville-Petre, pg. 251). It is interesting that religion was a major influence on the Icelandic writing. It seems that when Christianity came into the picture, the Icelanders took the best of both worlds. They still maintained the feud system, which allowed murder, yet still, acted in the name of God, even violently. Even before Christianity came, the Icelanders had already developed their pagan religion. Hermann Palsson remarked: “The learned men of medieval Iceland took great pride in their pagan past and copied traditional poems on mythological and legendary themes” (Hermann Palsson, pg. 3). Perhaps, they were content with their previous religion, but found comfort in the idea of one God who they could call upon when they were in trouble. Or perhaps they wanted to Nowell, 5sound more spiritual and righteous in what they were doing. Once again, a very factual event and ...
