Njal´s Saga 4

Does a cycle of vengeance ever end? There are some cases where people live the rest of their lives with the desperation to get equal with anyone who has caused harm to them. This is practically as bad as actually redeeming yourself through actions. If someone hits you, you hit him, if someone steals from you, you steel from him. In the end, you each loose so much that the satisfaction isn’t even worth it. The one who wins the argument isn’t the person that has caused more harm, but the one that can live the fact that some losses can never be retrieved through violence.

This was a case presented in the Njal’s Saga, when Bergthora and Hallgerd begin to get out of hand with revenge. It all started with Begthora, who sends one of her servants out to the forest for a week to cut wood. Hallgerd, thinking of this as a threat, sends one of her servants to kill him. Bergthora responds in the same way. Then the cycle comes into play, with these two women killing each others servants, and only ends with the death of several innocent men.

The only two that I would say reacted correctly would have been Gunnar and Njal who never showed by hatred during the entire scheme. While their wives were in a constant fight, Gunnat and Njal simply made amends with each other. This way, they never lost their friendship.

Njal´s Saga 3

I’m surprised to see how many things happened in just twenty pages. Gunnar’s entire journey outside of Iceland was written in less than ten. This was where we were able to see his true skill as a fighter. Without getting injured, this man was able to slaughter all the ships of the most famous Vikings and retrieve a hidden gold. It made me notice how concise the author of this book was. Unlike many stories which have one mayor plot and resolution, the Njal’s Saga has many of them.

Then another unpredictable event occurs when Gunnar turns into Hallgerd’s third husband. From what I have read, this man has become a true hero and gets along well with everyone he meets. I imagine that a guy like him could get himself any woman he wants as his wife, but instead, he chooses the daughter of the one family which I would think despises him for taking their lands. They end up agreeing to the marriage anyway.
It is in this section of the story where we begin to notice how evil Hallgerd truly is. Njal had even warned Gunnar that she would only bring trouble, but love must blinded him at the moment. I’m almost positive that this husband won’t end up like the others did, but something will definitely happen between these two once Gunnar opens his eyes to see what is really going on in his marriage.

Njal´s Saga 2

For the first time, Njal appears in the book. Along with him, a new character called Gunnar is introduced. These two seem to make a perfect duo. While Njal demonstrates a very distinguished mind and natural ability to solve problems, Gunnar stands out in strength, bravery, and extraordinary fighting skills. I couldn’t help relating this to the comic X-Men, where a combination of mind and body is also present. Dr. Charles Xavier is a defenseless man who lives his life on a wheelchair, but thanks to his knowledge and experience, he is also the one who controls an entire army of powerful mutants such as Wolverine or Cyclops. In this case, Charles Xavier would be Njal and the other X-Men would represent Gunnar.

I wasn’t able to understand Njal’s plan of action, probably because I have no clue how the negotiation of lands worked back then. I only know that Gunnar is suppposed to trick Hrut into giving Unn her lands back.

Njal´s Saga 1

Alter reading the bible, the Njal’s Saga has been a piece of cake in terms of understanding. It is hard though, to keep track of the several names which take place it. I noticed that in Icelandic culture (at least to me), women names such as Hallgerd are very similar to men names such as Thorvald, therefore making it even more confusing.

I’m surprised to see how people would settle dysfunctional marriages in Iceland, or the past in general. You obviously shouldn’t hit your wife, but killing your husband as revenge is simply crossing the line. Thorvald seemed like a nice man, in my opinion, the real villain behind the story is Thjostolf. I believe that as a foster father to Hallgerd, he might be over reacting. His attitude is making me assume that he’s the type that thinks that there’s nobody good enough for his ¨daughter¨ (I’m even wondering why she would have a foster father if her real dad was Hoskuld). I’m almost convinced that Glum isn’t going to have a happy ending with Hallgerd either.

Revelation (1-End)

I can assure you that the revelation is probably one of the craziest texts I have ever read. Anyone can easily say that John was drugged or delirious when this “vision” came to him. Every sentence had more than one symbolic meaning, making it rather hard to keep track of them. One figure that kept coming up was the usage of the number seven. For example, the seven trumpets, the dragon’s seven heads, the seventh bowl, and probably more that I can’t remember. The only other biblical reference I can make to this is the seventh day of creation when God decides to rest, but it’s still not a logic relation.

I feel that the entire discussion was really coming down to one point, Judgment Day. The day when God opens the gates of heaven on earth, choosing the people who deserve to be in it. Satan is also mentioned a couple of times, but he is continuously defeated by heaven’s “army”, showing the victory of good over evil. It’s kind of scary to see how John describes the sate of the earth during the revelation. Who knows if in the end of human kind, our race will be as messed as the text says. Many experts have found ways to connect biblical predictions with our world today.

The Gospel According to John (1-End)

Out of the four versions of the Gospel in the New Testament, I have found John’s perspective to be the most distinguished. He begins the very first chapter differently by writing about the beginning of the world and how God created all things. Then, he skips Jesus’ entire childhood and actually begins with John the Baptist. In this Gospel, there are many events that I never heard of in the other ones. Some examples would be Christ’s encounter with Nicodemus, the conversation with the Samarian woman, the story of the sinful woman about to be stoned to death, and the several times Jesus escaped being stoned himself.

John may have changed the story way more times than I noticed, but there was one occurrence that I’m sure was different from the other gospels. When Mary Magdalene goes to visit Jesus’ tomb after the crucifixion, according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, angels appear to tell her that Christ had resurrected, but John tells us that Jesus himself was in the tomb, and Mary Magdalene tells the disciples about it.

As I said before, John’s gospel was very different from the other four, and I think there is one quality that sums it all up. In my opinion, the characteristic is that John gives Jesus a way more Godly appearance than Matthew, Mark, and Luke did. In the previous gospels, in spite of the several miracles performed, Christ acts in a more humanlike manner. I’m not even sure what it is, but in this story, he shows a great deal of superiority. Maybe it’s just that disciple viewed and appreciated Jesus in a different way. It is probable that John showed way more affection him than the rest, giving him more importance.

The Gospel According to Luke (1-End)

After reading the gospel according to Luke, I noticed that he chose to concentrate on the relationship between Jesus Christ and John the Baptist, beginning with their parents. It is said that Gabriel the angel appeared to both Zechariah (John’s father) and Mary (Jesus’s mother) to announce the birth of their children, obviously showing the importance that these boys would have to the world. Another characteristic of Luke’s Gospel is that he wrote more on Jesus’s youth than Mark and Matthew did. One very famous story is the one where Mary finds her son (probably a teenager) on the temple steps surrounded by sages. The boys explanation was that he had to be in his father’s house. I’ve always wondered how it was that Jesus knew with such assurance and from a very young age that he was the son of God. I’m not sure, but if I remember correctly, Christ’s first direct encounter with God was after John had baptized him. My previous guess had been that it was after this event where Jesus accepted himself as the messiah. Luke finally stops mentioning John after he was arrested by Herod, the king of Galilee. Not only did Christ and John the Baptist have very similar birth stories, but they both ended their lives persecuted, imprisoned, and killed by the powerful people of the time.

Luke then goes into repeating the same actions that were explained in both previous gospels such as the miracles, Satan’s test in the wilderness, the sermon on the mount, and the union of Simon Peter, James, and John as one of the apostles. Again, all the teachings mentioned had the same essentials. There is not much to say anymore about the Christ’s trial and crucifixion because it’s all been told before.