Njals Saga

Icelandic settlers first established regional assemblies to arbitrate disputes. However, as their population increased, they also created a larger, parliamentary body and gathering called the Althing. The Althing and the district assemblies were sites of judicial action—in Njal’s Saga, many lawsuits are initiated here—and also of legislation. Regional chieftains, or godis, oversaw much of the legislative action through the body called the Law Council. Freemen from across Iceland attended to hear the lawspeaker recite the code of law and hear public initiation of suits at the Law Rock, an elevated slope at the Althing site. The Althing, for instance, is the body that declared Christianity the religion of Iceland in 1000, as recounted in Njal’s Saga.

The Althing was also a major site of social occasions; the saga indicates that marriage arrangements were often made here, and alliances were built. For example, Gunnar negotiates his marriage to Hallgerd at the Althing. Conflicting parties also reached settlements at the Althing and prosecuted lawsuits. For instance, Njal and Gunnar negotiate compensation (in the form of a cash payment) at the Althing for various retaliatory slayings of their servants, orchestrated by their wives. It is also at the Althing that Gunnar is prosecuted for murder and made an outlaw; it is also where Flosi and his co-conspirators are prosecuted for Njal’s burning.