Human Affairs

Wisdom of a Valkyrie

“If you hear foolish words from drunken men, do not dispute with those who are drunk on wine and have lost their wits. To many men such things bring much grief or even death.” […]

Human Affairs

Dangers of Courtship

“t would be less dangerous for a man to court every lady in an entire land than for a lady to remove a single besotted lover from her skirts, for he will immediately attempt to strike back.” […]

Viking

Boy Vs. Bear

“They had not been there for long when they heard a loud crack from the woods, and suddenly they say an incredibly huge and savage-looking bear. It was a great bear, wolf-grey in color.” […]

Britons and Celts

The Language of Birds & Banalities

“For being on a time sitting at dinner in a house among his friends : he harkened diligently to a Sparrow that came flying and chirping to others that were about the house, & smiled to himself to hear her. When one of the company desired to know why he smiled : he told him the sparrow’s tale.” […]

Humor

A Fate Worse Than Death

“He turned him over to a hundred comrades, the best and worst together, from the kitchen. These men plucked out his beard and moustache, and each one hit him four times with his fist.” […]

Greek and Roman

The Grasping Goes Too Far

“When the accused saw her, he was thunderstruck and stood there, speechless, for some time. Then he just managed to regain enough of his composure to embrace the emperor’s feet in tears and become a humble petitioner.” […]

Humor

The Bell of Justice

“And behold the iron fell out of the middle, right on the head of the cheating brass founder, killed him on the spot and passed straight through his carcass and crashed to the ground, carrying his bowels and genitals with it.” […]

Human Affairs

Noble Thieves; Just Deserts

“When Hading came home from his Swedish campaigns he found that the treasury in which he usually stowed the proceeds of his warfare and plundering had been broken into and riffled. He immediately hanged his guard, Glumer, and devised a cunning scheme. ” […]