Mörðr Valgarðsson

Mörð Valgardsson is the great schemer of Njáls saga — the bad counsellor whose poisonous advice drives much of the killing without his ever risking his own skin. Jealous, clever, and small-souled, he works through others: he counsels Gunnarr's enemies, devises the plot to cut Gunnarr's bowstring that leaves the hero defenceless at his last stand, and later manipulates the legal machinery toward the feud that ends in the Burning. Mörð is the saga's portrait of the man who does his damage with words and whispers, turning friends against friends and steering brave men to their deaths while keeping his own hands clean. He is the type the sagas most despise — not the killer who strikes openly, but the schemer who arranges killings — and the proof of how much harm a single envious, talented counsellor can do in a society where reputation and law are everything.