Human Affairs
King-class Fashion
“You must have neither hat nor cap nor other covering on your head; for one must appear before lords with uncovered head and ungloved hands, with a blithe face and with limbs and body thoroughly bathed.” […]
Etiquette
Human Affairs
Medieval Fashion Questions
THE SCENE: Ok, you finally got an audience before the king. But you have a fashion problem: should you wear your cloak (mantle) or not? Fortunately, you don’t need to suffer in silence, since the […]
Human Affairs
The Manners of a Viking
“You two must be incredibly unlike,” they said, “as hideous as you are. We have never seen a maiden so beautiful, and we don’t think that she looks anything like you, because you are the greatest monstrosity.” […]
History
Etiquette for the Great Khan
“Next, every baron or nobleman continually carries with him a little vessel of pleasing design into which he spits so long as he is in the hall, so that no one may make so bold as to spit on the floor; and when he has spat he cover it and keeps it.” […]
Human Affairs
How to Talk to a King
“And if the king should happen to speak a few words to you which you did not catch, and you have to ask what he said, do not say “Eh?” or “What?” or make a fuss about it, but use only the word “Sire.” […]
Human Affairs
Wholesome Pursuits for a Young Viking
“Another pleasant and useful diversion is to practice throwing with a sling both for distance and for accuracy, and with a staff sling as well as with a hand sling, and to practice throwing stone missiles.” […]
Human Affairs
Sigurd the Eloquent
“He could speak at length, and with such eloquence, that when he took it upon himself to press a matter, everybody agreed even before he was finished speaking that no course other than the one he advocated was possible.” […]
Britons and Celts
Gawain the Virgin
“Good morning, Sir Gawain,” said the graceful lady, “You sleep so soundly one might sidle in here. You’re tricked and you’re trapped! But let’s make a truce, or I’ll besiege you in your bed, and you’d better believe me.” […]
Britons and Celts
Stubbornness of a Virgin King
“Constrained rather than overcome by the entreaties of his mother, that he might not distress her, he yielded a seeming compliance. Joyously attending on her son when he had retired to bed, she placed by his unresisting side a beautiful and noble virgin.” […]
History
A King Who Acts Like a Foreigner
“Thus rigidly do the Scythians maintain their own customs, and thus severely do they punish such as adopt foreign usages.” […]