A man who has been fortunate in life falls for beautiful woman and marries her, assuming to live happily ever after. But looks can be deceiving. She plots against him, causing a row which spoils his relationship with his best friend. It’s all downhill from there…

This could be the storyline of a new Hollywood movie but is actually centuries’ old. A dramatic tale of upstanding heroes and deceitful women, Njála entertains readers of the present as well as the past, and has all the stuff blockbusters are made of, minus the sex scenes and Hollywood ending.

In my last column, I mentioned the Icelandic Sagas as our greatest cultural treasure. Written in the 13th and 14th centuries, they feature the colorful lives of the settlers and their descendants in the 10th and 11th centuries and really are, to this day, an exciting read.

Scholars have debated whether they’re fact or fiction but I think most people would agree today that even though the Sagas may be based on real-life characters and events to a certain extent, they’re far from an exact historical documentation of the Commonwealth.

Even so, the Sagas do provide an interesting, if partly skewed, picture of the lives of the early Icelanders, their culture and community. And what’s more, they’re set in actual locations in Iceland; many of the farms mentioned in the Sagas are still inhabited today.

Given the global interest in the Icelandic Sagas (or Sagas of the Icelanders, as they’re also known), cultural tourism is growing in Iceland.

Contributing to that growth is the Icelandic Saga Trail Association, which has set up a website listing destinations of interest for Saga enthusiasts.

These include English novelist David Mitchell, who recited his experience of the Saga Trail in The Independent last summer.

“Encountering names from the Saga Age endows the stories with delicious added reality; it’s like driving past a matter-of-fact road sign saying ‘Narnia 15km.’ You experience an uncanny sensation that the landscape itself is the parchment on which the Sagas were inscribed,” Mitchell wrote.

In his article, Mitchell mentions Njála (aka Brennu-Njáls saga, Njal’s Saga or Njáls saga), by many considered the supreme Icelandic Saga.

Among Njála’s fans is IR contributor Nanna Árnadóttir, who passionately outlined the—according to her—soap-opera-like plot back in 2008.