Njáll Þorgeirsson
Encyclopedia
Njáll Þorgeirsson was a 10th century Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

ic lawyer who lived at Bergþórshvol and is one of the main protagonists of Njáls saga, a medieval Icelandic saga
Icelanders' sagas
The Sagas of Icelanders —many of which are also known as family sagas—are prose histories mostly describing events that took place in Iceland in the 10th and early 11th centuries, during the so-called Saga Age. They are the best-known specimens of Icelandic literature.The Icelanders'...

.

Njáll was the son of Þorgeir "gollnir" Ófeigsson. His paternal grandfather had become ill with the king and therefore decided to leave but as he had prepared and was about to leave the king's errandmen came to him and took his life.

After that his grandmother and their children and her brother leave to Iceland. Njals saga does not in important events contradict other sources but in details such as genealogy it sometimes contradicts the book of settlements which is then thought more trustworthy.

Njáll lived in Bergþórshvoll in Landeyjar and was married to Bergþóra Skarphéðinsdóttir. He is described as a kindly, wealthy non-violent and handsome man, but beardless, suffering from the peculiar defect of not growing any facial hair. He was a great lawyer — supposedly unequalled in wisdom and predictive powers — and solved the problems of every man who came to him for counsel. He was a close friend of Gunnar Hámundarson
Gunnar Hámundarson
Gunnar Hámundarson was a 10th century Icelandic chieftain. He lived in Hlíðarendi in Fljótshlíð and is probably better known as Gunnar of Hlíðarendi...

 of Hlíðarendi.

After his sons become involved in a dispute, the farmstead at Bergþórshvol is surrounded by a hundred men and put on fire. By then, Njáll is an old man and is offered to leave. He chooses to stay and dies in the fire with the rest of his family — hence Njál's saga
Njál's saga
Njáls saga is one of the sagas of Icelanders. The most prominent characters are the friends Njáll Þorgeirsson, a lawyer and a sage, and Gunnarr Hámundarson, a formidable warrior...

is often called "Brennu-Njáls saga", which means "the saga of Burning Njáll".

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