Njal and fate

Njal og skæbne

Last year I reread Njals Saga. I had seen a comment saying that the concept of fate in the sagas is fairly modern, with an emphasis of Njals Saga in particular. As I only remembered a little of it, it triggered a desire in me to read it again.

Sidste år genlæste jeg Njals Saga. Jeg havde set en kommentar om at skæbnebegrebet i sagaerne er ret moderne, med særlig fremhævelse af Njals Saga. Da jeg kun huskede lidt af historien, gav det mig lyst til at læse den igen.

Njals Saga takes place on Iceland in the Viking Age. It is surprisingly easy to read, does not appear a thousand years old at all. That is, except from the many small, very thorough genealogical descriptions. Another amusing thing is the recurring courtroom dramas at the Alting. Not many would think of legal actions in the context of vikings, but that is how it was.

Njals Saga foregår på Island i Vikingetiden. Den er overraskende let at læse, virker slet ikke tusind år gammel. Altså bortset fra de mange små, meget grundige slægtsbeskrivelser. En anden sjov ting er de tilbagevendende retssagsdramaer på Altinget. De færreste ville nok forbinde vikinger med retssager, men sådan har det altså været.

The law was something someone remembered from "old times". Seen with todays eyes, you could say that the judicial power came before the legislative power. However strange that sounds. The executive power didnt exist as such. The verdict was delivered and everyone went home and followed it. If one didnt, someone inevitantly took matters into their own hands and punished the convicted person (killed him), and everyone was relieved.

Loven var noget som nogen huskede tilbage fra "gammel tid". Set med nutidens øjne kan man godt sige at den dømmende kom før den lovgivende magt. Hvor mærkeligt det end lyder. Den udøvende magt eksisterede som sådan ikke. Dommen blev afsagt og alle gik hjem og fulgte den. Gjorde man ikke, ville der ske det at nogen tog affære og straffede den dømte (dræbte ham), og alle var lettede.

To be viking is only a small part of the sagas. One only went into viking for a short period as young, or if one had problems at home. Life according to the sagas was mostly courtroom dramas and the struggles of large farmers. Incidentally Njal was one of the jurisprudents, the best one according to the saga.

Det at være viking fylder meget lidt i sagaen. Man drog kun i viking en kort tid som ung, eller hvis man havde problemer derhjemme. Livet i sagaerne var mest retssagsdramaer og storbønders bryderier. Njal var iøvrigt en af de retslærde, og den bedste hvis man skal tro sagaen.

Anyway, what I found was not one, but a series of different concepts of fate. Here they are listed from most primitive to most modern.

Nå, men det jeg fandt var ikke ét, men en række forskellige skæbnebegreber. Her listet fra mest primitiv til mest moderne.

1: The Nornes are mentioned several times. They are the nordic godesses of fate, that weaved peoples fate on big looms, with intestines as thread and craniums as weights. In the course of Njals Saga Iceland is Christianized. But that does not mean that the Nornes disappear. One could be Christian first, and still keep some of the old religion as secondary.

1: Nornerne nævnes nogle gange. De er de nordiske skæbnegudinder, som vævede folks skæbne på store væve, med tarme som tråd og hovedskaller som vægte. I løbet af Njals Saga kristnes Island. Men det betyder ikke at nornerne forsvinder. Man kunne godt være kristen først, og stadig beholde noget af den gamle religion som sekundær.

2: Several times people see hallucinations of themselves killed before it happens. For example Thord sees a bloody goat in the field. Njal that sits next to him, tells him that there is no goat. It is his own bloody body he has seen. An old woman sees flames engulfing the place, before the farm where she lives is set on fire.

2: Flere gange ser personer syner, hvor de ser sig selv dræbt før de bliver det. For eksempel ser Thord en blodig buk på marken tror han. Njal der sidder ved siden af fortæller ham at der ikke er nogen buk. Det er hans egen blodige krop han har set. En gammel kone ser flammer over det hele, før der bliver sat ild på gården hvor hun bor.

3: Some people get ominous advices. You could call them conditional predictions. For example, if a certain person is your guest for more than three days, it will be your downfall. Every time such an advice is given, it is not followed, and it goes as the advice predicted. It is reminiscent of advices given in fairy tales. Sleeping Beauty is told not to go to a certain room, and we know how it goes. It is the same template. These advices could be a story teller trick that has been added later in one of the retellings, rather than an original concept of fate.

3: Nogle personer får ildevarslende råd. Man kunne kalde dem betingede spådomme. For eksempel, hvis en bestemt person er din gæst i mere end tre dage, så bliver det din undergang. Hver gang sådan et råd gives, overholdes det ikke, og det går som rådet forudsagde. Det minder om de råd der gives i gamle eventyr. Tornerose må ikke gå ind i et bestemt værelse, og resten af historien kender vi. Det er samme skabelon. Disse spådomme kunne godt være et fortælletrick som er tilføjet i en af genfortællingerne, mere end det er en oprindelig skæbneopfattelse.

4: Some people have the ability to sit for themselves and ponder, and in this way figure out what will happen. Their predictions span quite some time and are peculiarly specific. Njal is one of those people. This concept of fate aligns with the one seen in classical mechanics with Newtons Laws, and in the Relativity Theory. It is the deterministic world, where you can calculate what the future will be if you know the current state of the world.

4: Nogle få har den evne at de kan sætte sig hen og gruble, og på den måde regne ud hvad der vil ske. Deres forudsigelser strækker over lang tid og er underligt specifikke. Njal er en af dem der kan dette. Denne opfattelse af skæbne stemmer med den der er i den klassiske fysik med Newtons mekanik og i relativitetsteorien. Det er den deterministiske verden, hvor man kan regne fremtiden ud hvis man kender verdens nuværende tilstand.

5: People has to act like they do, because it is in their nature. Or in other words in their personality. Even when they see the path they are on, they can fight it, but it is useless. The path is set and their nature ensures that they dont stray too far from it. Njals Saga contains many storylines where different personalities interact to do what they have to do, follow the path their personalities create together, despite the fact that it will obviously end badly. Like Gunnar that has to marry Halgerd. Everyone tells him it will end badly. He can see it himself. But no one tries to stop it. What has to happen, will happen. Zooming out a bit, you could say that the whole of Njals Saga has to happen, the way it does, according to this concept of fate.

5: Personer må handle som de gør, fordi det ligger i deres natur. Eller med et andet ord i deres personlighed. Selv når de ser hvad vej det går, kan de godt kæmpe imod, men det er nytteløst. Vejen ligger fast, og deres natur sørger for at de ikke afviger for meget fra den. Njals Saga indeholder mange handlingsforløb hvor forskellige personligheder i samspil gør som de er nødt til at gøre, følger den vej deres personligheder sammen danner, til trods for at det tydeligvis vil gå galt. Som Gunnar der må gifte sig med Halgerd. Alle fortæller ham at det vil gå galt. Han kan selv se det. Men ingen prøver at stoppe det. For det der må ske, må ske. Ja, ser vi det i et større perspektiv, så kan man sige at hele Njals Saga må ske, på den måde den gør, ud fra dette skæbnebegreb.