Comparisons between Njal and Moses in Njal’s Saga

Comparisons between Njal and Moses in Njal’s Saga

Njal in Njal’s Saga is a man of much mystique and knowledge, using his mind to solve his problems and never raising a weapon he is a true wonder in the Viking world of Iceland. Njal is able to see the future making him a prophet of sorts, he shares his gift with others offering his wisdom in matters and is very accurate. His advice is especially directed at Gunnar, his close friend. He lives a peaceful life yet meets a gruesome end when Flosi and his band of men burn him and a large majority of his family alive in their home. Throughout Njal’s life he reveals qualities and lives experiences similar to that of Moses and God in the Bible.

Njal’s advice that he gives through his power to see into the future is comparable to Moses’s delivery of the ten commandments to Israel through God. In the Bible the story goes that Moses and the Israelites journeyed into the desert and came to Mount Sinai and Moses went to the top of the Mountain and was given ten commandments by God to reiterate to the people of Israel so that they may lead an abundant and fruitful life that will eventually lead them to heaven in the afterlife. Njal’s advice to Gunnar is similar to this story. At Gunnar’s request Njal uses his ability to see into the future to give Gunnar advice to live a more peaceful and longer life. Njal first gives Gunnar advice at the beginning of their relationship telling him how to navigate about a case and hold himself at the Thingskalar assembly. His next bit of advice to Gunnar is to not marry Hallgerd, a spiteful woman who has already killed two of her previous husbands. Hallgerd proves to be an issue as Njal said she would be and Gunnar’s marriage proves to be a constant problem and leads to his demise. This event can be compared to the word of the Bible, that if the ten commandments given to Moses by God are not followed and an individual does not repent they will go to hell. The final bit of advice that Njal gives to Gunnar is “Never kill more than once within the same bloodline, and never break any settlement which good men make between you and others…” (Njal’s Saga, 94). This quote resembles the ten commandments that Moses reiterates to the Israelites, ‘Thou shall not kill, Thou shall not steal etc.’ Njal gives Gunnar this advice so because Gunnar and Njal have a great relationship as friends and wants to see him live a prosperous life. This is echoed in the bible by God, Moses and the Israelites’ relationship, wanting to lead each other in the direction they see is right and will benefit each other the most.

Njal’s relationship with Gunnar and Moses and God’s relationship with the Israelites are both beneficial to all parties. Njal gets to help a friend and Moses, God and the Israelites are able to unite and help one another through a common cause.

Wise, Weary, and Being a Father: Master Splinter and Njal

Wise, Weary and Being a Father: Master Splinter and Njal

Njals wisdom, patience and unruly children were key components of his saga. He continued to help Gunner even when he married a well known murderess. He continues to stand by while his sons cause trouble, and he lets his wife continue her feud with Hallgerd. His attributes are very similar to the attributes of the 2012 Teenage mutant ninja turtles Master Splinter. In this blog well compare the twos wisdom, patience and children. While also contrasting their relationships with past friends.  

Wisdom

Njal shows great wisdom when Gunnar tells him he is planning to marry Hallgerd. When Gunnar comes and tells Njal about the marriage agreement Njal is understandably upset. He does not stand in the way of Gunnar but warns him of all the evils that Hallgerd will unleash upon Gunnar and his way of life. Gunnar, confident in his abilities to deal with what comes, tells Njal that Hallgerd could never ruin their friendship. Njal tells him that it will come close to     that and they part ways, agreeing to meet again at the wedding feast.

Master splinter shows great wisdom many times on the 2012 series, but one of my favorites is when he’s teaching Raphael to deal with his anger issues. He tells Raph that while anger might seem like a helpful tool in battle it can actually jeopardize oneself and those around that person. Raphael is well known for his angry outbursts and uncontrollable temper and when he’s shown through combat that his anger is detrimental he takes Splinters advice to fix himself and his issues. In this way Master Splinter showed great wisdom in helping his son to not place himself in dangerous situations because of an unbridled temper. 

Patience 

Later in the Saga Hallgerd and Bergthora begin a servant killing spree. Left and right servants are killing each other for their employers. Gunnar and Njal stand by and watch, each doing their part to pay the other for the feud. Later Hallgerd kills a free man named Atli who goes to work for Njal. When Gunnar tells Njal about this he shows great strength and patience in telling Gunnar that while he’s been trying to avoid a conflict between  the two men he can not take a slaves value for the slaying. Gunnar understands and they come to a mutual agreement for Atli, much to the chagrin of their wives.

Master Splinter shows patience when Michelangelo brings home a mutant alligator. Though the other three brothers show distant at the alligator, mostly because he kicked their butts before he passed out. Splinter understood that the alligator was not a bad person, just had a sever cause of PTSD.  With that understanding Splinter allowed the alligator to stay in the lair, chained up of course.

Unruly Children

Njals children are very unruly. They seemed to always be looking for a fight. In one of the most prominent instances of Njals children, we see them planing to go off to fight. When Njal confronts them, they tell him their going salmon fishing. Njal simple lets it happen and is continually stepped on by his children.

While Master Splinter is well known for punishing insubordination, it still happens. In an early episode of the series, the turtles are grounded for a week. Instead of sticking with their punishment they go up to the surface and beat up a dude named Baxter stockman. Though this seemed like an easy win, the turtles accidentally gave Baxter a way to upgrade his tech and become nearly invincible to their weapons. In the end, Master Splinter finds out and helps the boys, specifically Donatello, to defeat Baxter. 

Advice

Both men are well known for their advice. Each helping overs with their understandings of situations. Now we will contrast the two with their advice, specifically centered around their friendships. Interstingly enough both friendships lead to burning houses. 

Njal has a wonderful friendship with Gunnar, even with all the crap they have to put up with from their wives feuds, they still stay in touch. Whenever Gunnar comes and asks for advice Njal helps him. They never let the situation truly get between them.

Sadly, Master Splinter does not do the same with his friend. Through wise beyond his years he wasn’t always like that. He let his anger get in the way of his understanding of the situation and disgraced his friend in front of Splinters wife. With this small act of aggression he lost everything, his wife, daughter and his former friend, now known as the shredder. If he had followed his own advice, he would likely have never lost his family and home.