Editing Njáls saga (section)

==Authorship and sources==
[[Image:Möðruvallabók f13r.jpg|thumb|right|Excerpt from ''Njáls saga'' in the [[Möðruvallabók]] (AM 132 folio 13r) circa 1350]]
The author of ''Njáls saga'', like the other [[sagas of Icelanders]], is anonymous. There are, however, several hypotheses about the saga's authorship. The oldest idea, attested in the early 17th century, is that [[Sæmundr fróði]] wrote the work. Other suggested authors include Sæmundr's sons, [[Jón Loftsson]], [[Snorri Sturluson]], [[Einarr Gilsson]], [[Brandr Jónsson]] and [[Þorvarðr Þórarinsson]].<ref>Einar Ól. Sveinsson 2010 [1954]:CVII-CXII.</ref>

The saga is now believed to have been composed in the period from 1270 to 1290.<ref>Thorsteinn Gylfason 1998:XIII.</ref> Among written sources which the author likely used are ''[[Laxdæla saga]]'', ''[[Eyrbyggja saga]]'' and ''[[Ljósvetninga saga]]'' as well as the lost sagas ''[[Brjáns saga]]'' and ''[[Gauks saga Trandilssonar]]''.<ref>Einar Ól. Sveinsson 2010 [1954]:XXXIX-LVI.</ref> However, the author probably derived the bulk of the material in the saga from [[oral tradition]], which he manipulated for his own artistic purposes.<ref>Magnusson 1987 [1960]:23</ref> Opinions on the historicity of the saga have varied greatly, ranging from pure fiction to nearly verbatim truth to any number of nuanced views.<ref>Magnusson 1987 [1960]:22–26.</ref> It can be regarded as certain that Njáll and Gunnarr were real historical people and their fateful deaths are referred to in other sources.<ref>Vésteinn Ólason 2006:141.</ref> [[Gabriel Turville-Petre]] said, "It was not the author's purpose to write a work of history, but rather to use a historical subject for an epic in prose".<ref>Magnusson 1987 [1960]:26.</ref>