The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1967, Qupperneq 88

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Summer 1907
Flosi, who was in command of the
raiders, did not want to burn N jal—
it was the sons whom he was after.
He begged Njal to leave the burning
house. “I have no wish to come out.”
answered Njal, “for I am an old man
and little fitted to avenge my sons, and
I will not live my life in shame.”
“Then Flosi spoke to Bergthora
(Njal’s wife): “Come out, lady, for I
would not for anything burn you here
indoors.”
“I was given to Njal young,” said
Bergthora, “and it was my promise to
him that we should share the same
fate.”
If there are elements of barbarism in
this scene, there are elements of nobil-
ity as well.
Njal’s kinsmen undertook to avenge
his death, — to avenge the burning
Their first step was to seek redress at
the Althing. They placed their case
in the hands of another Mord, a man
of eloquent tongue, but of crafty mind
and devious ways. Mord launched a
suit against Flosi. Their was no writ-
ten pleadings. A lawsuit was begun by
a verbal notice of suit given before
the Althing. The case was heard at the
next sitting. Mord went to the Hill of
Laws and gave notice of his suit in
these words: “I take witness to this,
that I give notice of an assault laid
down by law against Flosi, Thord’s
son, for that he rushed at Helgi Njal’s
son, and dealt him a brain or a body,
or a marrow wound, which proved a
death-wound, and from which Helgi
got his death. I say that in this suit he
ought to be made a guilty-man, an out-
law not to be fed, not to be forwarded,
not to be helped or harboured in any
need.”
The suit was heard at the next ses-
sion of the Althing. The fortunes of
between Mord and Flosi in a most
legal battle see-sawed back and forth
amazing way. The procedure was high-
ly technical. One false move in the
intricate game was enough to defeat
the ends of the law, we must not use
the word justice, the end for which
law is still aiming and now and then
getting an arrow or two near the bulls-
eye.
In the end Flosi, a man of wisdom
and integrity, a prisoner of fate, who
accepted his fate — who had no hope
that he could alter the rulings of
heaven — Flosi was convicted and a
sentence of banishment was passed
upon him. But the saga does not end
here.
For all the good that came out of the
verdict of the Althing, Mord might as
well have stayed away from the Hill
of Laws and saved his breath. The
verdict was disregarded. The blood-
feucl was resumed and the killings, on
both sides, continued apace. But, due
to Flasi’s nobility of soul, the saga
ends on a note of reconciliation.
Njal's Saga does not mirror a well
developed legal system, it does mirror a
striving for a better method of settling
disputes, than an appeal to force. The
Icelanders were slowly growing up.
Let me recall here a significant point.
The first settlers in New Iceland
governed themselves as a republic for
a period of twelve years, for four years
before, and for eight years after, the
formulation of their constitution at
Sandy Bar on January 11th, 1878. This
constitution made no provision for the
punishment of wrong-doers. Why, this
omission? The early settlers simply
did not expect to have any wrong-do-
ers among them. They expected
obedience to the laws, not from fear
of punishment, but because to obey
laws in which one has had a hand in
making, is the sensible, the honour-
able, thing to do. They expected that,
good would be done, without bribe of