Passages that give a glimpse of every day life during another era.
Human Affairs
A Dramatic Reunion
“In truth, father, I shall bring you and my mother together. I shall kill her husband and marry her to you.” […]
Human Affairs
Greek and Roman
A Ban on Good Hair
“So he published an edict that everywhere men should cut their hair close to the skin and that no Roman should be permitted to wear his hair below the neck.” […]
Human Affairs
An Everyday Killing
“Gudrun was wearing a tunic with a tight-fitting woven bodice, and a tall head-dress, and round her waist she had tied a fringed sash with dark blue stripes. Helgi Harbeinsson went up to her and took one end of the sash and wiped the blood off the spear with which he had run Bolli through.” […]
Human Affairs
Facial Hair Diplomacy
“The adult men of the land of Gog and Magog are beardless. When a man with a full beard enters their country, the king, who is of the line of Gog and Magog, orders his beard plucked out.” […]
Human Affairs
Forbidden Love and Swan Abuse
“Milun and his beloved maintained this way of life for twenty years. The swan acted as messenger. They had no other intermediary and they starved it before releasing it. Whoever received the swan fed it, of course. They came together on a number of occasions.” […]
Britons and Celts
A Beloved Bird of Prey
“For what place was left to the poor little birds, when men held the land and the waters, and a hostile and terrible tyrant of a bird endangered the air?” […]
Human Affairs
Ritual for Infanticide
“Using the light they had brought with them, they lit two candies, each an inch long, one on each side of the child’s head and fixed them in -the trunk above it. Then they withdrew until the candles had burnt out.” […]
Human Affairs
A Way With (Sexy) Words
“He asked if she would harden it again, and she said that she would like that very much, if it seemed necessary to him.” […]
Human Affairs
The Martial Glory of the Snowball Fight
“Absconders, however, and any timid creatures who quit the field, have snow put down their backs between their skin and clothing when they have been caught and, after being chastened with insults and abuse, are set free.” […]
Human Affairs
Treacherous Love in the Medieval World
“Am I to have a husband? How can I accept him? I am no longer a virgin; I shall be a servant all my days. I never realized that things would turn out this way.” […]