Summary
35 - Gunnar comes to Njal's house for a winter feast, and their wives have a large feud. Bergthora, Njal's wife, tells Hallgerd to move off the cross-bench. Hallgerd defends herself by casting aspersions on Bergthora: she has gnarled nails and her husband is beardless. Bergthora concedes to these accusations, but says that they tolerate these flaws in each other and that when Hallgerd had a bearded husband, Thorval, she had him killed. When Hallgerd suggests that Gunnar must avenge her for Bergthora's insult, Gunnar grows angry at her, accusing her of using him like a "cat's paw" (57).
36 - It is time for the Thing, but before Gunnar rides off, he warns Hallgerd not to mettle with Bergthora. Hallgerd does not listen. Bergthora sends Svart, a good servant, out to chop wood from a plot that Njal and Gunnar share for the week, with the plan of sending more men to help him bring it all home at the end of the week. Hallgerd sends her morally repugnant but obedient servant, Kol, out to the land to kill Svart, thinking that Svart will take too much timber. Angry because he knows it will cost him his life, Kol reluctantly agrees. He splits Svart's head with his axe and returns home. News of the incident gets to Gunnar and he promptly confronts Njal about the situation. Njal asks only for 12 ounces of silver and warns Gunnar not to let Hallgerd "have her way in everything" (59). Atli, a harsh-tempered man arrives at Njal's abode on the same day that Njal rides north with his sons. Bergthora takes him on as a field worker so long as he is content to do anything for her, even killing a man. Njal knows that Atli will be a hard worker, but perhaps not a good worker.
37 - Bergthora tells Atli to go and kill Kol. He comes across some traveling men and they tell him that Kol has fled north, at which point Atli suggests he is somewhat reluctant to go through with the killing. Atli catches up with Kol, taunts him, and then thrusts his spear into his waist while they are still riding their horses at full speed. Kol falls off and dies immediately. Atli goes to Hallgerd's workmen and tells them to clean it up, and all but admits to the crime. When Gunnar and Njal are told of the event they respond with silence, and the 12 ounces are paid back. They each scold their wives and see to it that nothing else happens that year.
38 - Njal tries to persuade Atli to leave so that he will not die on Hallgerd's terms, but he refuses to leave with the stipulation that if he should die, he will "be paid for like any other free man... paid for in blood" (64). A brutal kinsman of Hallgerd's, Brynjolf the Brawler, joins Gunnar's house to his dismay. Atli is sent off to the woods to burn charcoal and Hallgerd hears about it. She tells Brynjolf to go and kill him. Atli is found under a cloud of smoke; after a few missed strikes from both of them, Atli is killed. It is implied that Byrnjolf killed him without even using his axe. Gunnar is told of this fate at the Thing and he approaches Njal to give compensation. Atli is valued as a free man, and a high compensation is paid.
39 - Thord, a freed slave and foster-father to all of Njal's sons, is told by Bergthora to go and kill Brynjolf. He says that he is not a killer, but will do it. On his way, he sees Hallgerd and asks her where Brynjolf is. She tells him because she also knows that he is no killer. Thord catches up with Brynjolf on horseback and tells him to defend himself. Brynjolf strikes at him with the axe, but Thord is quick to cut down his axe and thrust his weapon deep into his chest. Brynjolf falls off the horse to his death.
40 - News of this slaying reaches Njal at the Althing. With his sons, he tells Gunnar the news. 100 ounces are paid.
41 - A friend of Gunnar's named Sigmund longs for fame as a poet and sportsman. Gunnar invites him to stay at his home for the winter, but he has come with a vicious Swede, Skjold. Gunnar welcomes them both into his home but warns him that Skjold does not improve his character and may lead to trouble with Hallgerd. Hallgerd becomes very friendly with Sigmund and starts thinking about avenging Brynjolf once again. Meanwhile, Thord mentions to Njal that he has seen a goat covered in blood just over a hill. Njal says there is no goat and that he has witnessed his spirit animal's death, so he must be on guard. Hallgerd goes to Thrain Sigfusson attempting to persuade him to kill Thord, but he refuses because he knows the Njalssons' revenge will be swift and deadly, not to mention that he would disgrace Gunnar. Instead, she convinces Sigmund and Skjold to do the killing and for Thrain to simply witness it. This will occur when Njal and Gunnar go to the Thing. But Gunnar waits for the men before leaving, so they have to alter their plan.
42 - Ambushed by all three men, Thord keeps up a miraculous defense before getting his arm cut off and getting run through by Sigmund. During the battle, the men insult Skarphedin Njalsson, who would be avenging Thord. Gunnar's mother tells Hallgerd that she would not even waste her energy using harsh language, because it would be "no revenge for so great a matter" (71).
43 - Gunnar is told the fate of Thord, and he cannot think of worse news to hear. He goes to Njal promptly. 200 ounces are paid—per a self-judgment settlement, same as the last judgments. The Njalssons take this death harshly because Thord was also foster-father to each of them. Njal pleads with them not to break the settlement; they agree, but they remain hostile.
44 - Like Gunnar's mother, Gunnar warns Sigmund that his character flaws of mockery and sarcasm have made him "rise to Hallgerd's bait" (73) and that he should never allow it to happen again. Some itinerant women pass through while Gunnar is out and they gossip about the Njalssons, creating malicious poems with Sigmund's help. They call Njal 'Old Beardless' and the sons 'Dung-beardlings'. Right when Hallgerd is praising Sigmund for "do[ing] just what I want", Gunnar walks in (74). He has heard the whole fiasco from outside the door. Although everybody is scared, the itinerant women go on to tell Bergthora of the poems. Bergthora tells her sons of the episode and that she wants them to avenge it, but they do not find it necessary. The Njalssons leave clad in armor in the middle of the night; when Njal catches them, they say they are off to collect sheep, and that if they cannot find the sheep, they are going to fish for salmon. Njal is suspicious and accuses Bergthora of egging them on.
45 - They spy Sigmund on his horse wearing bright clothing, looking like a "red elf" (76). They attack him and Skjold. Skarphedin separates Sigmund's shoulder, making him collapse to his knees; Sharphedin says he's just made him bow. The other brothers kill Skjold by taking off his leg and piercing his heart. Skarphedin takes off Sigmund's head and gives it to Hallgerd's servant to bring back to Hallgerd. Njal is happy with the outcome. Hallgerd wishes the servant had brought the head back to her so she could give it to Gunnar and egg him on to take revenge. When she brings the news to him, Gunnar believes that justice has been served and does absolutely nothing to gain compensation. After three Things pass, Gunnar comes to Njal with a completely separate issue for his advice. Njal gives his advice and then brings up the missed compensation for Sigmund. Gunnar offers judgment of 200 ounces for Sigmund, and none for Skjold. Gunnar announces the settlement at Law Rock and furthermore announces that if anybody should ever use the malicious language invented by Sigmund, he would have no right right to compensation.
Analysis
Clearly the moral of these chapters is that nothing ought to come between good friends. Njal and Gunnar are steadfast in their allowance of self-judgment, a practice that enables the defendant to set a fair price of compensation for the loss of life rather than the plaintiff. The point is driven home so much, in fact, that a modern reader may find the back-and-forth revenges redundant. But the point of this ostensible redundancy is to establish the extraordinary glory of true friendship.
These chapters also develop a theme that has been hinted at a few times earlier on: language as a feminine weapon. While the men act as though they are impervious to malicious language, Thrain has already demonstrated that this is not so. Even when the Njalssons say "We're not made like women, that we become furious over everything" (75), it is not long before they commit revenge. Furthermore, Gunnar only stalls compensation, instead of forgoing it completely as he had desired. Although no couplets are given to the reader with the scene between Sigmund, Hallgerd, and the itinerant women, it is the third instance of poetry in the saga and it seems that poetry never has good effects.
Among other somewhat bizarre motifs are the spirits animals that have come to portend death. So far, there has not been a single foretelling of atrocity that has not come to pass. It is at once an encouragement to trust the wisdom of those who give it and also an assertion that one cannot change one's fate. While Atli knows that he would "best be warned by another man's woe" (62) when deciding whether to follow Kol or not, he knows that he truly has no choice. Perhaps the plot is neater and more predictable than the reader may have suspected. Each foreshadowed death ends happens predictably, and each planned killing ends with the planned victim dead. There seems to be no chaos in this realm, aside from the chaos inside the houses of the tormented husbands.
There have been many evil men throughout these sections and it should come as no surprise that they are constantly killing each other and being killed. They are often said to 'not improve' a friend's 'character'. This is almost as good as witnessing the death of a spirit animal in terms of foreshadowing death. As a matter of national pride, perhaps, the only uncompensated death is that of Skjold—a Swede.
