‘Njal’s Saga’ is rightly famous as one of the most heroic, and most poignant, of all the Icelandic narratives. Epic in scale, with battles, blood-feuds and storm-filled voyages that stretch across the breadth of the Scandinavian World, the tale is spiced with strange apparitions, ghostly singing and prophetic dreams. The anonymous author brings to life a variety of compelling personalities: the formidable Gunnar who excels in war yet detests violence, the scheming Flosi, Gudmund the Powerful, and Njal himself, gifted with second sight yet unable to save his family from a terrible doom.

The Saga also treats of more homely matters, from family disputes and divided loyalties to farming and failed marriages, giving the modern-day reader a broader, more nuanced perception of a people we too readily dismiss as axe-wielding, bloodthirsty barbarians.

This Aziloth Books edition includes both an introduction to the tale by its translator Professor Sir George Dasent, and a map of Viking Iceland.