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impulse for reconciliation“.50 Considered from this perspective, the moral­
ity of the sagas is primarily procedural in the sense that the main issues are
how conflicts are dealt with and peace restored.
obviously, sœmd and peace are not comparable concepts. Sœmd is inti­
mately bound up with the self-understanding, self-respect and reputation
of the actors on the social scene. Its internal logic relates to the (special)
interests of the persons involved but not to the general welfare of the com­
munity. It is a thick substantial morality with rigorous imperatives rooted
in vulnerable identity.51 This leads to certain competitive ways of handling
disputes – e.g. duty of revenge and duelling – which can threaten the social
order. Peace, however, is in the interest of all and co-operative attempts to
secure it may require the sacrificing of individual interests. this marks a
tension in the sagas between elements of an ethos characterized by particu­
lar interests, and moral features which secure the more general interests of
the community. this also implies a different understanding of honour; the
traditional unconditional sœmd is in conflict with a more reflective notion
of honour which relates to the co-operative virtues and processes condu­
cive to peace.
One way to account for this moral tension or ethos in transformation is
to see how the virtues are depicted in the saga narrative and how they
reflect conflicting values. This will help us see how classical virtues take on
a distinct shape in the early Icelandic cultural context. It also illustrates
how moral elements call for a separate interpretation and cannot be
reduced to mere functions of social processes. Classical moral analysis of
the virtues can throw light on different characters in the sagas which is not
revealed from sociological perspectives.
there is a cluster of characters in Njáls saga which exemplify different
types of virtues and vices. For the sake of analysis, I will focus on four dif­
ferent positions represented by four typical characters, or rather two types
of positions and their antitheses. The first is the traditional hero who
thinks primarily of his sœmd and is ready to uphold it by performing the
duty of vengeance or by duelling. A clear example of this type in Njála is
50 vésteinn ólason, Dialogues with the Viking Age, 201. The wording of the Icelandic original
text, “Átök milli hefndarkröfu og sáttavilja …” (Samræður við söguöld, 168), is somewhat
stronger; “hefndarkrafa” denotes an imperative or demand for revenge rather than desire.
51 on thick and thin morality, see, for example, Michael Walzer, Thick and Thin: Moral
Argument at Home and Abroad (notre Dame, In: notre Dame university Press, 1994).
An etHoS In tRAnSfoRMAtIon