Genre

Britons and Celts

The Punishment of Judas

May 7, 2024 Saxo

“When I am sitting here I feel as if I were in a paradise of delights in contrast with my fear of the torments that lie before me this evening. For I burn, like a lump of molten lead in a pot, day and night. But here I have a place of refreshment every Sunday from evening to evening, at Christmas until the Epiphany, at Easter until Pentecost, and on the feasts of the purification and assumption of the mother of God. After and before these feasts I am tortured in the depths of Hell.” […]

Violence

A Duel By Night

May 5, 2024 Saxo

“I would rather die here and now than let the 9 king’s daughters or their mother see me bound, and after that be insulted by all ladies and maidens as long as I live.” […]

Britons and Celts

A Self-Proclaimed Master

May 2, 2024 Saxo

“They are surprised that, from all the great and striking subjects which the world can offer, I choose to extol in my writings and to adorn with all the flowers of my rhetoric those rugged countries.” […]

Greek and Roman

The Paradise of Fools

April 30, 2024 Saxo

“The fools, of course, believing it to be Paradise, while they themselves were the chosen and happy possessors of the land, gave not another thought to the future. The consequence was that, one night, finding them asleep, the magician cut them off; and thus, through the instrumentality of a factitious Eden, perpetrated the foulest enormities.” […]

Greek and Roman

The Off-Key Emperor

April 28, 2024 Saxo

THE SCENE: Being the most powerful person in the land doesn’t insulate you from criticism, as is demonstrated by this passage about an emperor who vastly overestimated his singing skill. THE TEXT: He was very […]

Supernatural

Alien, Airship, or Mass Hallucinations?

April 25, 2024 Saxo

“They saw a ship with men on board floating before the anchor cable; and soon they saw a man leap overboard and dive down to the anchor as if to release it. The movements of his hands and feet and all his actions appeared like those of a man swimming in the water.” […]

Orient

Bevis the Boar Killer

April 23, 2024 Saxo

“As soon as the boar saw Bevis, its bristles stood on end. It looked at him with piercing eyes as though imagining how pleasant it might be to swallow him whole, then opened its mouth and gave out an almighty snarl.” […]

Human Affairs

A Righteous Fury

April 21, 2024 Saxo

“Vigdis raised the purse and struck him on the nose with it, drawing blood; she accompanied this with a stream of derisive words, adding that he would never get the money back, and told him to clear off.” […]