Missive 7 - Protecting Canada’s Sovereignty: Lessons from Njál’s Saga

*Spurred on by recent X posts by President Trump regarding annexing Canada*

Sovereignty is not just a political principle—it’s the backbone of a nation’s survival and its ability to thrive. For Canada, sovereignty means protecting our borders, resources, culture, and self-determination. It’s about maintaining control over what is ours, from the vast Arctic to the stories that define our identity (we have many identities within Canada… but here I speak to “Canadian” specifically). To understand the importance of sovereignty, we can look to history and the sagas, particularly Brennu-Njáls saga (hereafter, simply Njál’s Saga), which vividly portrays what happens when sovereignty—over land, law, or community—is challenged or neglected.

In both the saga and Canada’s present reality, sovereignty is about stewardship, justice, and unity. The lessons we draw from the sagas offer powerful guidance for how we can face modern challenges to our independence.