Eastern Europe
The Cruelty of Beauty
“They warm them to extreme heat, then undress, and after anointing themselves with an acid liquid, they take young branches and lash their bodies.” […]
12th Century AD
Uncategorized
There’s More Than One Way to Seduce
“For love hath many avenues; the path of pleasure is opened to some by grace, to others by bravery of soul, and to some by skill in accomplishments. Courtesy brings to some stores of Love, while most are commended by brightness of beauty. Nor do the brave inflict a shallower wound on maidens than the comely.” […]
Britons and Celts
Beware the Gifts of the Adversary
“He first complained that the hawk gripped his fist rather strongly with his talons, presently he was lifted by the hand into the air, and soon after vanished altogether.” […]
Britons and Celts
Drag Me to Hell
“Thou art now judged, and the Lord hath hardened thy heart against repentance; and whereas thou hast trifled with His long-suffering, hast not heeded warning, and hast proudly refused honour to God, thou shalt on the third day after this be caught up alive by devils into the air at the third hour.” […]
Britons and Celts
The Royal Poisoner
“The King immediately obeyed the advice of the man who had betrayed him, and dropped off to sleep, imagining that he was about to recover his health. The poison ran quickly through his veins and the pores of his body; and thus death, which has the trick of sparing no man, came to him while he slept.” […]
Uncategorized
Never Trust a Horse Skull
“Dismounting from his horse, he laughed and remarked, “So I was supposed to receive my death from this skull?” And he stamped upon the skull with his foot.” […]
Viking
Laughing in the Face of Death
” I never saw, by heaven, a braver man; he collapsed half-conscious and leaning on his elbow welcomed his fate with a smile, laughed death to scorn, as he passed on to the other world exultant.” […]
Medieval Mentality
A Heretic Until the End
“I am Eun, who is to come to judge both the quick and the dead, and the world by fire.” He held in his hand a staff of uncommon form, and forked at top; and being asked the meaning of this, he said, “It is a matter of great mystery.” […]
Eastern Europe
The Life of a Giant
“In that city the qadi Ya’qub ibn Nu’man informed me that this woman, so exceedingly tall, had killed her husband, who was named Adam and was one of the strongest men in the country. Clasping him to her bosom, she broke his ribs, killing him instantly.” […]
Britons and Celts
The Dragon’s Head
“He made a present of of the Dragons to the congregation of the cathedral church of the see of Winchester.” […]