Greek and Roman
Land of the Winged Snake
“While the male is in the act of procreation and as soon as he has ejaculated his seed, the female seizes him by the neck, and does not let go until she has bitten through.” […]
Articles by Saxo
Greek and Roman
Medieval Lie Detector
“Then, in a careless tone, adverting to the person whom she was presumed to love, her pulse immediately quickened to a surprising degree, and acquired a feverish heat.” […]
Britons and Celts
Plague of Toads
“They chose a tall tree, cut off all its branches and removed all its leaves. Then they hoisted him up to the top in a bag. He was still not safe from his venomous assailants. The toads crawled up the tree looking for him.” […]
Supernatural
High-Stakes World of Smith Apprenticeship
“If the dwarfs want to murder you before I come back, take the sword and defend yourself with it, and let me find out that I have a son and not a daughter.” […]
Human Affairs
Many Marriages Means Many Mongols
“All the idolaters, and likewise the Saracens, take six, eight, or ten wives apiece, and as many as they can afford to keep, and beget innumerable children.” […]
Greek and Roman
Evidence of Mer-Folk
“I have illustrious knights as authority for the assertion that a Triton has been seen by them in the Gulf of Gades, perfect resembling a man in his physical appearance.” […]
Orient
One-on-one Demon Combat
“He sprang forward like a maddened elephant and slashed with his sharp sword at the demon’s trunk. The force of his blow severed a leg at the thigh, but the wounded demon attacked him, and the two locked together like an elephant and a lion.” […]
Human Affairs
Marriage Woes of the Great and Powerful
“He said that it was on every man’s lips that Harald was the son of King Helgi, and the boy looked just like him. And he said that he had come to let him know about this betrayal.” […]
Medieval Mentality
The Dance of the Heavens
“Others have suggested that during the hours of night, when the sun’s course is beneath the earth, an occasional gleam of its light may shoot up into the sky; for they insist that Greenland lies so far out on the earth’s edge that the curved surface which shuts out the sunlight must be less prominent there.” […]
Eastern Europe
The Price of Honey
Life in medieval Bulgaria. […]