"Njal's Saga": Kari's Vengeance Quiz

Answer: A gold ring

Snorri the Priest, also called Snorri Godi, realizes what's happened and warns Eyjolf that this gift, and the alliance he made through it, might cost him his life. This Snorri is the son of Thordis, Gisli Sursson's sister (from "Gisli's Saga"). He is one of many characters to appear in multiple sagas: he also appears in "Laxdale Saga" and "Eyrbyggja Saga".

His grandfather is Thorstein Codbiter, who appears in "Eyrbyggja Saga" and is mentioned in "Gisli's Saga".

Answer: A fight breaks out and many men die.

As a neutral ground where marriages are brokered, wares are bought and sold, and cases are heard by judges, the Althing is a place of peace, and fights are strongly discouraged. Many are killed, including Eyjolf, who took the bribe from Flosi. The rain of burning blood happens later in the saga.

Answer: Execution

Some are told to leave the country for a time, while others are sentenced to full outlawry, which is permanent and means anyone can kill them if they are discovered living in the country. Some atonement is paid, while some killings balance each other and are not compensated. No one is executed for his part.

However, Kari will see that some of the exiles will die for their part in his son's death.

Answer: Bjorn

Bjorn the White shelters Kari, then rides with him to defend him while killing a few men himself. He is then given a farm for his help and is considered a better man than he was before. The wrong answers all have sagas about them.

Answer: Telling a false story about the burning

Gunnar claims Skarphedin cried during the burning, which was not so, as Skarphedin was responsible for Gunnar's lost eye by throwing a tooth at him. Kari kills him in retribution for both his lies and the burning. In true saga fashion, Kari doesn't just kill Gunnar: he beheads him, and the head goes flying off and lands on the earl's table.

The earl demands his death, but as everyone likes Kari, and Flosi himself points out that the death was done for vengeance, Kari is left alone.

Answer: The severed head keeps counting.

Kol is counting; Kari decapitates him, and the severed head says "Ten". A similar scene appears in "Laxdale Saga", where a man is beheaded while counting, except the head cries "Eleven" after it flies off. This scenario also appears in the film "Aguirre: The Wrath of God", which otherwise has nothing to do with the saga.

The men in "Njal's Saga" and "Aguirre" are even beheaded before speaking the same number. The number "ten" is significant in the saga because Kol is the tenth and final man Kari kills in his vengeance.

Answer: Body parts

The saga contains an extended poem in which Valkyries prophesy various events while looming, and the depiction of what parts are used is a bit graphic. As Valkyries choose the slain in battle, it make perfect sense that they should weave body parts in their spare time.

This part may have inspired a scene in a film based on "Gisli's Saga". In the film "Utlaginn: The Saga of Gisli", Gisli dreams of women looming bloody threads. It is meant to presage his death.

Answer: No

When Flosi is sentenced to lesser outlawry, he goes on pilgrimage to Rome, which isn't unusual for saga characters. It also occurs in "Grettir's Saga". Flosi and Kari reconcile before Flosi goes out on the ocean and is never seen again.

Answer: He marries Hildigunn.

Kari's wife Helga has died, so he marries Hoskuld's widow and has three sons. Thus ends the anonymously-written saga. It's rare for a saga to end with "Here I end", rather than "Here ends" or "Here we end", but "Njal's Saga" ends with this perspective.

Answer: The saga doesn't say.

Her last proper appearance is telling Skarphedin that he will be repaid for calling her a harlot and a hag. However, she never takes her vengeance. The last mention of her occurs shortly thereafter when the narrator says she might go to visit someone. After all her machinations, she disappears from the narrative without even an "and she is out of the saga" to mark her going.