Description

Book Synopsis
Njáls Saga is universally recognised as the greatest and most complex of all the sagas of Icelanders (Íslendingasögur). The originality with which the writer composed his narrative has led to its being likened to a novel created by an author who certainly used sources, although identifying which parts of the saga descend from oral, and which from written sources has proved difficult. The `Christian background’ of the title of this study refers to the ecclesiastical texts (including Scripture and its exegesis, church liturgy and the liturgical year, and hagiographical and apocryphal writings) which, it is argued, were used by the author of Njáls saga as he both created a bipartite structure, using familiar Christian metaphors to help unify the work; and developed his central thematic concern: that good legal judgement depends upon justice and mercy acting together, as in divine judgement. It is this which finally redeems Skarpheðinn Njálsson.

Njáls Saga and its Christian Background: A Study

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    A Paperback / softback by A. Hamer

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      Book details

      Publisher Peeters Publishers
      Published 31 December 2014
      ISBN-13 9789042930896
      978-9042930896
      ISBN-10 9042930896
      Also in:
      Literary studies: ancient, classical Literary studies: fiction

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Njáls Saga is universally recognised as the greatest and most complex of all the sagas of Icelanders (Íslendingasögur). The originality with which the writer composed his narrative has led to its being likened to a novel created by an author who certainly used sources, although identifying which parts of the saga descend from oral, and which from written sources has proved difficult. The `Christian background’ of the title of this study refers to the ecclesiastical texts (including Scripture and its exegesis, church liturgy and the liturgical year, and hagiographical and apocryphal writings) which, it is argued, were used by the author of Njáls saga as he both created a bipartite structure, using familiar Christian metaphors to help unify the work; and developed his central thematic concern: that good legal judgement depends upon justice and mercy acting together, as in divine judgement. It is this which finally redeems Skarpheðinn Njálsson.

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