THE HIES OPEN LIBRARY
George Webbe Dasent, trans. • 1861
Category: PRIMARY SOURCE
The Story of Burnt Njal is an English translation of Njáls saga, one of the major Icelandic family sagas. Set principally in Iceland around the late tenth and early eleventh centuries, the saga follows interconnected families and communities through friendship, marriage, legal disputes, feud, violence, reconciliation, and far-reaching questions of responsibility and honor.
The saga is especially important for the study of Icelandic law and assemblies, social relationships, conflict and peacemaking, reputation, kinship, leadership, religious transition, and the consequences of individual and communal decisions.
This Open Library entry uses George Webbe Dasent's English translation of Njáls saga, first published in 1861 under the title The Story of Burnt Njal. Dasent's translation was an important early English presentation of the saga and remains useful for historical and comparative study.
As with other historical translations and scholarship in the HIES Open Library, this edition should be read critically and in conversation with later scholarship and additional translations.
Saga Literature
Law & Legal Culture
Honor & Reputation
Kinship & Friendship
Feud & Reconciliation
Leadership & Responsibility
Religion & Conversion
Icelandic Society
The Story of Burnt Njal is an important source for the study of saga literature, Icelandic society, law, conflict, leadership, and cultural memory at Hákonarætt Institute of Eddic Studies.
It is especially relevant to courses addressing saga literature, Old Norse history and society, law and governance, honor and social responsibility, religious transition, leadership, and the interpretation of narrative sources.
Inclusion in the Open Library does not mean that every chapter or section is assigned in every HIES course. Specific required readings are identified within individual courses on the HIES Learning Platform.
Title: The Story of Burnt Njal
Original Work: Njáls saga
Translator: George Webbe Dasent
Publication Year: 1861
Resource Type: Primary Source / Translation
Language: English