Supernatural

Heroism Has a Cost

“Now Eirek of Norway draws his sword and grasps it in his right hand and takes one of his companions by the left hand. They rush up and leap into the mouth of the dragon, and it looked to Eirek the Dane as if the dragon swallowed them both.” […]

Human Affairs

Out-of-Touch Medieval Elites

“Now one time while they were drinking, the king talked with the women and said: “How do you note the break of day, when the night grows light, if you can not see the heavenly bodies?” The maidservant answered: “This is how I note it: as a child I was in the habit of drinking quite a bit before dawn. And when I stopped doing that, I would still wake up at the same time, and that is my signal.” The king smiled at this reply and said: “That is a poor habit for a king’s daughter.”” […]

Humor

Wrestling With Power

” Kjartan plunged into the river and made for this man who was the best swimmer, and forced him under water at once and held him there for a while before letting go of him. No sooner had they come to the surface than this man seized hold of Kjartan and pulled him down, and they stayed under for what seemed to Kjartan a very reasonable time. They surfaced for a second time, and still they exchanged no words.” […]

Viking

Bloody-Handed Hamlet

“Then, cutting his body into morsels, he seethed it in boiling water, and flung it through the mouth of an open sewer for the swine to eat, bestrewing the stinking mire with his hapless limbs.” […]