Hávarðr halti (Howard the Halt)

Howard the Halt is the saga world's most unlikely hero — an aging, lamed yeoman of the Westfjords, once a viking, now sunk in grief and helplessness after the murder of his promising son Olaf by the powerful, untouchable chief Thorbjorn. For years Howard lies abed, broken, unable to get justice against a man too strong to challenge and too well-connected to outlaw. The saga's power is in his rising: roused at last by his fierce wife Bjargey, the lamed old man gathers a handful of equally unlikely allies and takes the vengeance the law would not give him, then carries the fight to the Thing and wins. Howard is the proof that the saga world's heroism is not only for the young and strong — that an old, crippled, grieving man can still, with a loyal wife and a hard will, set the broken scales right.