Britons and Celts
A Legend in Battle
“With hard steel clubs they clattered at helmets,
Crushing down crests and crashing through brains,
Slaying infantry and armored horses,
Chopping down chevaliers on chalk-white chargers.” […]
Articles by Saxo
Human Affairs
#BeggarHacks
“Speaking of the good there was in my blind man, your Honour must know that since God created the world He has not made a being more astute and sagacious.” […]
Viking
Unstoppable on the Battlefield
“Visina said to Starkad, ‘Now Hel’s greed has come upon you, and now you must die, you ogre.’ He answered, ‘But first, you’ll let King Harald’s banner droop,’ and he cut off her left hand. […]
Greek and Roman
Saved By Honor
“This was the reason, we are told, why he, together with the Trojans who still survived, was allowed to leave the Troad in complete safety and go to whatever land he wished.” […]
Britons and Celts
Nothing Will Stop William Wallace
“But they in vain to break it did essay,
Till Wallace fretting at the long delay,
Came on himself, and with a furious shock,
The bar and staple all in flinders broke.” […]
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.” […]
Britons and Celts
The Man Who Farted
On his return the queen welcomed him home and said, “My lord, I had forgot the fart”. […]
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.” […]
Greek and Roman
The Emperor’s No-Good Step-Brother
“He also used to thrown the largest coins into cookshops and smash the cups with them.” […]