“Mr. Allen’s lively and well-informed book will reward students of nearly any long form of medieval narrative. . . . [Allen succeeds] in making connections among scholarly and critical activities that have ordinarily gone their separate ways, uninformed by each other.”
—Comparative Literature

“What is especially gratifying in Allen’s over-all interpretation of  Njála is his willingness to consider those passages which are most clearly expressive of a Christian mind, e.g. the chapters describing the conversion of the Icelanders or the miracles surrounding the  Battle of Clontarf. . . . Allen shows convincingly that such episodes must be considered an important part of the structure.”
—Speculum

“This is a lucid and readable book and one which the scholar should find stimulating.”
—Modern Language Review