Orient
Psychotic Pride
“Much booty I burned with fire; many soldiers I captured alive; of some I chopped off the hands and feet; of others the noses and ears I cut off.” […]
Regions
Britons and Celts
Dangerous at any Time
“Wallace unmov’d, the impetuous shock sustains,
And awful joy his gloomy brow serenes.
Straight rising to the blow, he aim’d a wound,
And brought his enemy stagg’ring to the ground.” […]
Greek and Roman
Sex Scandals of the Ancient Emperors
“It is of interest to know the way in which he is said to have taken his stepmother Julia as his wife. She was very beautiful and, as if through carelessness, had uncovered the greater part of her body.” […]
Human Affairs
The Family Police
“There is a department of state whose sole function it is to impose severe penalties on those who are found guilty of such ingratitude.” […]
Human Affairs
Unn the Deep-Minded
“Thereupon she rose to her feet and said that she was now retiring to her bed-chamber; she urged them all to enjoy themselves in whatever way each thought best, and ordered ale to be served to the whole company. It is said that Unn was tall and stoutly-built. She walked briskly down the length of the hall, and those present remarked on how stately she still was.” […]
Britons and Celts
The Eternal Rider of the Wild Hunt
“Sir, I can hardly understand your speech, for you are a Briton and I a Saxon; but the name of that Queen I have never heard, save that they say that long ago there was a Queen of that name over the very ancient Britons, who was the wife of King Herla; and he, the old story says, disappeared in company with a pigmy at this very cliff, and was never seen on earth again, and it is now two hundred years since the Saxons took possession of this kingdom, and drove out the old inhabitants.” […]
History
The Kingsmen of Norway
“Whenever the king becomes aware of an enemy, it is these men’s duty to pursue the foeman and thus to cleanse the realm.” […]
Britons and Celts
A Revenant Haunts Wales
“Peradventure the Lord has given power to the evil angel of that lost soul to move about in the dead corpse. However, let the body be exhumed, cut the neck through with a spade, and sprinkle the body and the grave well with holy water, and replace it.” […]
Greek and Roman
Dairy Delirium
“The island was one great cheese, quite firm, as we afterwards ascertained by eating it, and three miles round.” […]
Viking
A Famous Fatality
THE SCENE: The “blood-eagle” was a legendary Viking execution method. The passage below represents one of the few instances where an actual blood eagle is described in detail. THE TEXT: Where the armies met each […]