"Njal's Saga": Slayings and Atonements Quiz

Answer: Hallgerd

Hallgerd is an expert at manipulating men, which she does by appealing to their egos. All she has to do is imply that he's not brave, and most men will do whatever she asks. She goads her bondsman Kol into killing Bergthora's thrall Svart while the latter is chopping wood.

In a line worthy of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kol says, "You're not the only one who can chop hard" and kills Svart with an axe. This starts a slew of killings in which each woman gets back at the other by sending another man to kill the one who just killed her servant or kinsman, always during the Althing when their husbands are away.

Answer: Dungbeards

As Njal can't grow a beard, Sigmund insults him by suggesting that he and his sons have to use dung to stimulate beard growth. Hallgerd uses this insult herself later in the saga. Sigmund is the sixth to die in the feud. Since Sigmund uses an insult that a man can be legally killed for saying, Gunnar doesn't seek atonement or revenge for his death at the hands of Skarphedin.

Answer: Food

It is famine time, and she commands him to rob the storehouse, then set it on fire to cover his tracks. He does. He also kills the dog, which is unnecessary, since the dog knows him and would not have barked. This is the first of two dog killings in the saga. This theft is foreshadowed in the saga's first chapter, when little Hallgerd is said to have thief's eyes.

Answer: He slaps her.

And in public, no less, at the feast of the stolen food. Angry that he's married to a thief, and thus legally responsible for her behavior, he slaps her. She vows to repay him for it. Judging from what happened to the other husbands who slapped her, readers can guess Gunnar's likely fate. But that comes later.

Answer: No

On the contrary, they affirm their bond whenever something bad happens. Whenever their wives order another man killed, their husbands keep passing the same bag of silver back and forth that one received from the other the year before, adding more as the value of each man increases. The first two killed are worth 12 ounces of silver. The rest are worth 100 or 200 each.

Answer: Horsefight

Horsefights were an entertainment in Iceland and often mentioned in sagas. They were called hestavigs. In a hestavig, stallions were goaded into fighting one another, typically by using the presence of a mare in heat, and bets were made on whose horse would win. In this saga, a horse is wounded in the eye and Gunnar is forced to kill it. This incident sparks another round of killing.

Answer: He kills more than one person from a family.

Njal has a knack for guessing events and behavior before they happen. It could be magic, as the saga has a slightly fantastical feel, or it's just a good eye for detail and knowing how people tend to behave in certain scenarios. Either way, most if not all his guesses about future events come true.

He predicts that Gunnar will not live long if he kills more than one member of a family and fails to keep the atonement, which is simply good advice.

Answer: He looks back at his home and can't bear to leave.

He is outlawed from Iceland for three years as part of the atonement for killing twice in the same lineage. He takes one look back at his homeland and decides he cannot leave, come what may. He continues to live as normal despite being outlawed, and most don't care. Those who do, like Mord Valgardsson, are plotting revenge on the outlawed man. Njal's "prophecy" is about to come true.

Answer: Halberd

A halberd is a combination axe, spear, and spike on a long pole. However, this type of halberd may not have existed in the 10th century, when much of this saga takes place, or even when it was written down in the 13th century. The halberd Gunnar wields may simply be an axe head on a spear pole. Thorgrim then falls over dead.

His final line is one of many instances in the saga of a snappy one-liner that would not be out of place in an action movie.

Answer: Strands of her hair for his bowstring.

She refuses in order to repay him for the time he slapped her, even though refusal means his death. He replies that everyone is known for something, implying that this shameful refusal will be Hallgerd's claim-to-fame. All three of her husbands pay for one slap with their lives.

After killing and wounding several men, Gunnar is finally killed. His mother Rannveig allows his killers to bury their own dead on her land, saying directly to her son's killers, "I would have been even more willing to give enough room for all of you." There's enough snark for everyone in this saga.

They accept her insult.