Iceland in Tolkien's Work?

[Lalaith]

Níð - now there's a word for your translation thread, Davem. I would say "slander" was a better word than scorn because it has a formal connotation. The Svinafell troll insult Fordim and I referred to earlier was a níð which was punishable by full outlawry in Iceland. For more on insults and their linguistic and legal implications:
http://ragnarokr.com/Scholarship/nidsenna.html
I think Fordim is right btw. The bickering in the Icelandic sagas is not something you'd ever see in Tolkien, except among the trolls or orcs.

Gunnhild is a fascinating character, actually. She crops up in lots of the sagas and I see her as a dark Galadriel - maybe what Galadriel could have become if she'd taken the Ring... Gunnhild learnt her arts of magic from the Sami of Finland, not the Valar...she also turns up for example in Njalssaga, where she kickstarts the whole feud that destroys the two factions when she renders the Icelander Hrutr impotent by her witchcraft, so that when he goes back home his bride Unnr is most unimpressed and wants a divorce...