Ordower, Henry. Exploring the Literary Function of Law and Litigation in "Njal's Saga."

• Author: Ordower, Henry
• Title: Exploring the Literary Function of Law and Litigation in "Njal's Saga."
• Published in: Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature 3, 1
• Year: 1991
• Pages: 41-61
• E-text: JSTOR
• Reference: Ordower, Henry. "Exploring the Literary Function of Law and Litigation in "Njal's Saga." Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature 3, 1 (1991): 41-61.

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Annotation

Ordower contends the author of Njáls saga used the law as a literary device, despite whether or not the author fully understood Icelandic law. This ariticle demonstrates how the author uses law to define his characters, e.g. he humanizes Gunnar by exposing the one thing Gunnar is not good at, legal matters. This work exhibits how the author skillfully uses law to advance the plot, using court cases to build tension leaving some characters unsatisfied leading to devastating ends. Ordower argues Njáls saga is the author's critique of Saga Age society and the society of the Sturlunga Age. The author uses the cycle of unsatisfactory compensation and bloody vengeance to bemoan the problems of the legal system within his own age. Ordower concludes Njáls saga reveals a legal system which ultimately leads to vengeance and he suggests it is easy to see how some Icelanders would be willing to trade their dysfunctional democracy for the seemingly concrete rule of law from the Norwegian Crown.

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• Written by: Jesse Barber
• Icelandic/English translation: