#Njal's Saga
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"On Good-Friday that event happened in Caithness that a man whose name was Daurrud went out.
He saw folk riding twelve together to a bower, and there they were all lost to his sight.
He went to that bower and looked in through a window slit that was in it, and saw that there were women inside, and they had set up a loom.
Men's heads were the weights, but men's entrails were the warp and weft, a sword was the shuttle, and the reels were arrows. They sang these songs, and he learnt them by heart:
"See! warp is stretched
For warriors' fall,
Lo! weft in loom
'Tis wet with blood;
Now fight foreboding,
'Neath friends' swift fingers,
Our grey woof waxeth
With war's alarms,
Our warp bloodred,
Our weft corseblue.
"This woof is y-woven
With entrails of men,
This warp is hardweighted
With heads of the slain,
Spears blood-besprinkled
For spindles we use,
Our loom ironbound,
And arrows our reels;
With swords for our shuttles
This war-woof we work;
So weave we, weird sisters,
Our warwinning woof.
"Now Warwinner walketh
To weave in her turn,
Now Swordswinger steppeth,
Now Swiftstroke, now Storm;
When they speed the shuttle
How spearheads shall flash!
Shields crash, and helmgnawer
On harness bite hard!
"Wind we, wind swiftly
Our warwinning woof
Woof erst for king youthful
Foredoomed as his own,
Forth now we will ride,
Then through the ranks rushing
Be busy where friends
Blows blithe give and take.
"Wind we, wind swiftly
Our warwinning woof,
After that let us steadfastly
Stand by the brave king;
Then men shall mark mournful
Their shields red with gore,
How Swordstroke and Spearthrust
Stood stout by the prince.
"Wind we, wind swiftly
Our warwinning woof.
When sword-bearing rovers
To banners rush on,
Mind, maidens, we spare not
One life in the fray!
We corse-choosing sisters
Have charge of the slain.
"Now new-coming nations
That island shall rule,
Who on outlying headlands
Abode ere the fight;
I say that King mighty
To death now is done,
Now low before spearpoint
That Earl bows his head.
"Soon over all Ersemen
Sharp sorrow shall fall,
That woe to those warriors
Shall wane nevermore;
Our woof now is woven.
Now battlefield waste,
O'er land and o'er water
War tidings shall leap.
"Now surely 'tis gruesome
To gaze all around.
When bloodred through heaven
Drives cloudrack o'er head;
Air soon shall be deep hued
With dying men's blood
When this our spaedom
Comes speedy to pass.
"So cheerily chant we
Charms for the young king,
Come maidens lift loudly
His warwinning lay;
Let him who now listens
Learn well with his ears
And gladden brave swordsmen
With bursts of war's song.
"Now mount we our horses,
Now bare we our brands,
Now haste we hard, maidens,
Hence far, far, away."
Then they plucked down the woof and tore it asunder, and each kept what she had hold of.
Now Daurrud goes away from the slit, and home; but they got on their steeds and rode six to the south, and the other six to the north. A like event befell Brand Gneisti's son in the Faroe Isles."
Njal's Saga - Ch 156
Art Credit: Einherjar_manga
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"It is horrible now
To look around,
As a blood-red cloud
Darkens the sky.
The heavens are stained
With the blood of men,
As the Valkyries
Sing their song."
Magnus Magnusson (trans.), Njal's Saga
#Magnus Magnusson#Njal's Saga#The Story of Burnt Njall#red sky#battlefield#Valkyries#Icelandic sagas#sagas#Icelandic literature#Nordic literature#Norse mythology#mythology#quotes#quotes blog#literary quotes#literature quotes#literature#book quotes
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One thing I have noticed recently is that like. I knew that autistic behaviors also crop up in neurotypical people under stress. And that when accommodations are made for autistic sensitivities, autistic people... don’t do things like rock back and forth covering their ears. (Happy stimming is good and valid.)
I have known this for years. I just never put this together with “sometimes my own brain waxes autistic.” I have had these facts for years and it never occurred to me that “waxing autistic” is probably synonymous with “under stress.” “waxing autistic” is not a mysterious magical state with no known treatments. It can be addressed with de-stressing efforts.
I may still not know what those efforts are, but now I get to feel stupid about it. And That’s a Beginning.
#Nimblermortals Senf#another thing that I learned actually this evening#is that the Njal's saga tapestry place offers souvenir thingumajigs where you can take them home#and embroider your own bits of Njal's saga?#so that's gonna happen obviously#I anticipate hating it! :)
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WHAT DO YOU MEAN HILDIGUNN PICKS UP HER DEAD HUSBANDS CLOAK AND HOLDS IT TO HER CHEST WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THAT
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Remember, medieval Iceland was an early attempt at anarcho-capitalist utopia. When Harald Fairhair declared himself King of Norway, the Norwegians who refused to bend the knee fled west to build a makeshift seastead on a frozen volcanic island. No lords, no kings, no masters. Only lawsuits. So, so many lawsuits.
-Your Book Review: Njal’s Saga
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we need an adaptation of njal's saga set in a cyberpunk ancap society
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Reverse 1999 events/lore I would like to see mmmmmm (explodes)
GOLDEN AGE HOLLYWOOD EVENT
This is mostly because I love Bette. I would love to see a Hollywood focused event, especially with Sweetheart & Bette (and maybe even Blonney). Commentary on the film industry and on theme considering how much film related stuff is in the game (tickets, movie review achievements). At least a sweetheart anecdote. Films have also been mentioned multiple times in the daily login.
Black centered event
Can’t comment too much about this as I’m not black, but black people have done A LOT for the world and it often goes unrecognised. Deserves recognition. The game also needs more black characters. I would especially love to see a music focused event, since there’s not many music themed characters and black people invented essentially every music genre. African folklore is also really REALLY cool and I think that would be nice too see. But yeah mainly there need more black characters.
Early Iron Age Scandinavia (aka vikings)
I think it would be interesting to start it off with the 80’s with meeting Erick. Then going back in time to the Iron Age/viking age, and that’s where she gets her i2 garment. It would also be nice to see other Nordic characters, one I would LOVE to see is Njals from the Icelandic Fairytale Njals Saga. They also mentioned vikings in one of the daily login. Also it would be cool w folklore /viking stuff that’s not romanticised. Perhaps even Nordic mythology & folklore (folklore creatures > asatro gods imo).
Rabies lore
If you’ve read his story, you’ll understand. I really hope we get an anecdote or an event featuring Rabies. I would love to see who he was in his past, the emotions he experienced losing all of his patients. I also need bluepoch to release their Alicia/Alicja design. I want them to kiss. Please. Also read his story if you haven’t, it’s so tragic.
Yule event
Shamane yule goat garment when🕯️ also I like Yule, it’s an easy way to celebrate winter time without tying it to one specific religion or practice (as many places do yule in their own way). Also it would generally be nice to see yule talked about more, since christmas usually get the spotlight.
Mesmer Jr Protagonist
Mesmer Jr gets to be the protagonist of an event, just like Vertin, Sonetto, Regulus and Matilda (kinda) got to be. She deserves that. It would also be very interesting with more Mesmer Family lore, especially her finding out about Scott (three doors). Hopefully it would end with her joining Vertin’s team officially and distancing herself from the foundation/her family. Also she gets to change her name, she deserves a proper first name. Please bluepoch give her a happy development please I’m begging. At the very least there’s NO WAY there’s not gonna be a Mesmer family heavy event/lore, there’s already so so so much and they’re building it up for something I swear.
Tragic ballerina character
I physically need a tragic ballerina reverse 1999 character or I will implode. That’s the only reason I made my r1999 ballerina OC Aigrette. ALSO there’s a painting of a ballerina in the suitcase. Bluepoch, ballerina character is a need.
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what kind of books do you like reading?
My favorite era is 19th century Russian literature. Some of my favorites from there are Dead Souls by Gogol, Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev, Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin, and Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov (I was utterly baffled as to why everyone was talking about Ivan Goncharov when I came back to Tumblr!). I loved a lot of early 20th century American literature, in particular F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was an early hero, and I also read a lot of Joseph Heller and Vladimir Nabokov (Russian/American). I've read everything by Franz Kafka—even the bizarre stuff, like Amerika—and loved it all. My favorite writer of all time is Virginia Woolf, and I love reading writers who experiment with style (Lewis Carroll, of all people, has a nice early example of stream of consciousness with Sylvie and Bruno). I think the best piece of writing I've ever seen from America is Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
I've also read and enjoyed some stuff from the 16th-18th centuries (in particular, Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, Edmund Spencer's The Faerie Queene, and John Milton's Paradise Lost), but a lot more that's a lot older. Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron is a great collection of tales like The Canterbury Tales, but better (note: I haven't yet read 1,001 Nights. Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur was a lot of fun. I slowed down a lot about eight years ago). I even love the fake ones that are tales within tales like Jan Potocki's The Manuscript Found at Saragossa. But I love chasing down and reading older works, like sagas and epics. Some of my favorites are The Nibelungenlied, The Kalevala, Njal's Saga, and The Epic of Sundiata. Gilgamesh is absolutely incredible. I've read some clunkers, though, like The Song of Roland, which I found dry, dull, and short.
As my reading slowed, I liked to read books aimed at young readers. Growing up, I loved the Oz books, which I find to be an utterly fascinating example of uniquely American (and non-European) fantasy. We have that and Little Nemo, but most other fantasy you get (outside of modern times) is distinctly European, and owes more to Lord Dunsany and Tolkien than anyone else. I loved The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear, which I just finished ready to my daughter (Walter Moers). Michael Ende's The Neverending Story is probably the best book for young readers I've read. And then there's the Moomin books by Tove Jansson... What a find those were! Written for kids, but so unbelievably melancholic and subtle! Every page is packed with so much loneliness and longing! I couldn't even believe what I'd read after reading Tales from Moomin Valley. "The Fillyjonk who Believed in Disasters" is something I think every adult should read. It reminds me a bit of The Magic Mountain (see below) in how subtly it captures a character or series of character traits that are quite natural and recognizable, but so hard to pin down! Tove Jansson was brilliant.
For utter, nonsensical, bizarre, indulgent, and absurd escapism, I read E. T. A. Hoffmann. It's hard to even describe how ridiculous his stuff is. Like...you read this stuff, and are saying, "You can't DO that! You'd be laughed off AO3 for that!" And yet he does. And he doesn't care. He had an audience of one, and that was himself. I have no idea how his works are even remembered. Utterly bizarre.
That captures a lot of it. Here are some that don't fit elsewhere:
The Buru Quartet by Pramoedya Ananta Toer (masterful)
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (wrecked me)
Moby Dick by Herman Melville (tore through it!)
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (this one, too! Thick book, but such a quick and joyful read—and written with such exquisite detail!)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (one of the best of the 19th century)
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (so subtle... Let me tell you, this is a long book, and like, it's 90% over, and suddenly this new character is introduced, and it's like, "What even is this…?", and yet, somehow, he takes like 50 pages, and you suddenly care about this guy... Astonishing)
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (tour de force; her best, in my opinion)
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (his best that I've read, and the one I'd recommend to everyone)
Forest of a Thousand Daemons by D. O. Fagunwa (terrible translation, but so wonderfully inventive!)
Black Elk Speaks (I want to mention this, because I really loved it, but it has a problematic history, so fyi)
True Grit by Charles Portis (one of the most beautiful short novels I've ever read; the Cohen Bros. adaptation is actually very, very close to it)
The Awakening by Kate Chopin (what a smack in the face that one is!)
The Tempest by Shakespeare (my favorite of his)
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (best written work from America in the 19th century)
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (by contrast, one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read in my life; HILARIOUS)
Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en (read the whole thing, and...wow. lol So much repetition with humor throughout capped off by brilliance)
The Bostonians by Henry James (the best demonstration of exactly what he aimed to do: produce an ending that has two equally plausible and utterly opposite interpretations that can both be supported textually)
Nohow On by Samuel Beckett (the culmination of his work, and a worthy one)
Three Tales by Gustave Flaubert (I bawled—loudly—after reading "A Simple Heart"; I couldn't help it)
Thanks for asking this! It's been so long since I've really read... It's nice to remember. I wanted to read the Studs Lonigan trilogy for ages now... Oh, and I went through a Gabriel García Márquez phase! And Tom Robbins! And, of course, I've read all the wonderful comic novels by my friend Nina Post, whose wit astounds me.
Okay, now I'm just not getting to sleep. But this is some of what I've read that I've loved. Also, for certain things, I've read a lot (like 19th century Russian literature and Samuel Beckett), so I can tell you what not to read. For example, A Hero of Our Time by Lermontov? Pass. Same with The Golovlovs by Saltykov-Shchedrin. You can probably pass on War and Peace, as well, due to its girth, but you're going to miss some good stuff (amidst a lot of dry stuff).
Okay, hitting the button now! I'm done.
(Oh, but if you were assigned Their Eyes Were Watching God and kind of passed on it because it was a "school book", that was a mistake!!!)
(Oh, Cane by Jean Toomer!)
(Oh, and if you want a short one that has a "wah-wah!" ending, check out As I Lay Dying by Faulkner! lol That rascal...)
(OH! And the "school book" thing? Hard ditto on Of Mice and Men. Holy shit, that book... Wow.)
(OMG BABBIT!!!!! I loved it!!! Pass on Main Street, though.)
(Oh, and John Updike can miss me with his Rabbit stuff... YIKES!)
(Oh, and if you like Woody Allen's style but not Woody Allen, try Portnoy's Complaint.)
(Last one: Jasmine by my short fiction professor Bharati Mukherjee, who sadly passed away far too soon. On the last day of class, she'd forgotten she was going to have us read Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky. As we were walking out the door, she made us promise to read it. I never saw her again, but I did, Ms. Mukherjee, and it was tremendous. Thank you so much for what you gave me. I had so much trouble showing my work to other people before that class. You helped me so much, and I wish I could've told you. You may think those who have influenced you will be around forever for you to thank one day, but they're not. Today's the day. Tell them what they meant to you. You'll regret it if you don't.)
#books#reading#literature#too many to tag#but I'm tagging Virginia Woolf#she's amazing#if I could recommend one for Tumblr#Orlando#you won't regret it#oh and Emily Dickinson#OH THE BOSTONIANS BY HENRY JAMES#adding it now
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"Few people are spoken of in the way they would choose."
Njal's Saga
#Njal's Saga#rumours#rumors#Icelandic literature#Icelandic sagas#sagas#anonymous literature#Magnus Magnusson#Bergthora#quotes#quotes blog#literary quotes#literature quotes#literature#book quotes
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Njalssons Get Roasted: An Extra
We open on the Taskmaster studio. In the seats are Grim Njalsson, Helgi Njalsson, Kari Solmundarson, Njal Thorgeirsson, and Skarphedin Njalsson.
Greg Davies: Welcome back! In our last task, the contestants were asked to kill Thrain Sigfusson while wearing ice skates on their feet or hands, but not both. (Closeup on Skarphedin, who grins.) Can we get another one like that, Alex?
Alex Horne: That’s…
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can’t understand people who hate the end of njals saga. maybe im a freak but the end but where supernatural women are weaving tapestries with entrails and weighted with severed heads at the battle of clontarf is the highlight of this lawyer drama for me
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