Miller, William Ian. Marriage Formation and Dissolution: Chapters 2–34

• Author: Miller, William Ian
• Title: Marriage Formation and Dissolution: Chapters 2–34
• Published in: Why Is Your Axe Bloody?: A Reading of Njals Saga
• Place, Publisher: New York: Oxford University Press
• Year: 2014
• Pages: 24-48
• E-text:
• Reference: Miller, William Ian. Why Is Your Axe Bloody?: A Reading of Njals Saga. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

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Annotation

Miller looks at the marriages described in these chapters as study cases for marital law in Iceland. He discusses the legal issues that surrounds Hrútr and Unnr’s marriage agreement and the issues that rise from the divorce case at the alþingi. He then looks at the scene when two children play and recreate the divorce, and its various implications for society, including the violence Hǫskuldr exhibits to one of them. Miller looks at Hallgerðr‘s marriage to Þorvaldr (comparing this with Laxdœla saga‘s Guðrún‘s marriage to another Þorvaldr) as a blatant ‘plundering marriage’ where the immanent divorce is calculated (though not Þorvaldr‘s death), and both sides stand to gain something. In regards to Hallgerðr and Glúmr’s marriage, Miller looks at Þjóstólfr’s low position in Hǫskuldr’s household. Njáll securing marriages for his sons and the importance of the wedding feasts’ descriptions are also discussed.

Links

• Written by: Yoav Tirosh
• Icelandic/English translation: