Chapter 57 of The story of Burnt Njal is here in full — 43 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter LVII
Chapter 57 of The story of Burnt Njal is here in full — 43 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
GUNNAR AND GEIR THE PRIEST STRIVE AT THE THING. There was a man named Skapti. He was the son of Thorod. That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law. Thorod was thought to be rather crafty and guileful.
Chapter 57 of The story of Burnt Njal is here in full — 43 sentences across 9 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/8 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
plural of “chief” — a person who is in charge
From this reading “That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law.”
marked by skill in deception
From this reading “Thorod was thought to be rather crafty and guileful.”
the collection of rules imposed by authority
From this reading “That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law.”
past form of “name” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading “There was a man named Skapti.”
a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders
From this reading “GUNNAR AND GEIR THE PRIEST STRIVE AT THE THING.”
having or showing or requiring special skill
From this reading “That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law.”
a male human offspring
From this reading “He was the son of Thorod.”
attempt by employing effort
From this reading “GUNNAR AND GEIR THE PRIEST STRIVE AT THE THING.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading There was a man named Skapti.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading GUNNAR AND GEIR THE PRIEST STRIVE AT THE THING.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading GUNNAR AND GEIR THE PRIEST STRIVE AT THE THING.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Thorod was thought to be rather crafty and guileful.
plural of “chief” — a person who is in charge
From this reading That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law.
marked by skill in deception
From this reading Thorod was thought to be rather crafty and guileful.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading GUNNAR AND GEIR THE PRIEST STRIVE AT THE THING.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law.
marked by skill in deception
From this reading Thorod was thought to be rather crafty and guileful.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading GUNNAR AND GEIR THE PRIEST STRIVE AT THE THING.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was the son of Thorod.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law.
the collection of rules imposed by authority
From this reading That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading There was a man named Skapti.
past form of “name” — assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading There was a man named Skapti.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He was the son of Thorod.
a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders
From this reading GUNNAR AND GEIR THE PRIEST STRIVE AT THE THING.
on the contrary
From this reading Thorod was thought to be rather crafty and guileful.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There was a man named Skapti.
having or showing or requiring special skill
From this reading That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law.
a male human offspring
From this reading He was the son of Thorod.
attempt by employing effort
From this reading GUNNAR AND GEIR THE PRIEST STRIVE AT THE THING.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading GUNNAR AND GEIR THE PRIEST STRIVE AT THE THING.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was a man named Skapti.
a special situation
From this reading GUNNAR AND GEIR THE PRIEST STRIVE AT THE THING.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He was the son of Thorod.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Thorod was thought to be rather crafty and guileful.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Thorod was thought to be rather crafty and guileful.
precisely as stated
From this reading That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was a man named Skapti.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading That father and son were great chiefs, and very well skilled in law.
Chapter 57 of The story of Burnt Njal by George Webbe, Sir [Translator] Dasent holds 43 sentences, grouped into 9 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 57 holds 43 sentences of The story of Burnt Njal, unabridged, divided into 9 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 57 of The story of Burnt Njal by George Webbe, Sir [Translator] Dasent exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 43 sentences, grouped into 9 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 9 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 9 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 57 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
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How to work through The story of Burnt Njal section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
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Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The story of Burnt Njal, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
