Skarphéðinn Njálsson

Skarphéðinn Njálsson (Modern Icelandic: [ˈskar̥pˌçɛːðɪn ˈnjaulsˌsɔːn]; Old Norse: Skarpheðinn Njálsson [ˈskɑrpˌheðenː ˈnjɑːlsˌson]) was a semi-legendary Icelander who may have lived in the 10th century. He is known as a character in Njáls saga, a medieval Icelandic saga which describes a process of blood feuds. The saga is now believed to have been composed in Iceland during the period from 1270 to 1290.

The eldest son of Njáll Þorgeirsson and Bergþóra Skarphéðinsdóttir, he grew up at Bergþórshvoll in Rangárvallasýsla. The saga describes a series of feuds involving friends of Njáll and later also Njáll and his sons. Skarphéðinn is described as hardy and skilled warrior but also as an ill-tempered and sharp tongued man whose insults of potential allies at the althing ends up isolating Njáll and his family, leading to their demise as they are burned by their enemies inside their home at Bergþórshvoll.

Biography

At first the feud is fueled by the anger of Hallgerður Höskuldsdóttir, wife of Njáll's friend Gunnarr, who is slighted when Njáll's wife Bergthora asks her to move away from the main table at a banquet. Hallgerd goads some of her servants to attack members of Njáll's household and Bergþóra in turn convinces some of hers to retaliate. Eventually, the Njálls' foster father Þórður Ieysingjason is killed, and dying he predicts that he will be avenged by Skarphéðinn, pulling him into the conflict. After years of intermittent feuding, Skarphéðinn causes the tide of the conflict to turn against Njáll and his family, when he kills the well-liked and innocent Höskuldr Þráinsson the priest (goði) of Hvítanes as he is sowing his field.