Eastern Europe
The Old Gods and the New
“Messengers thus came and said to the father, “Since the lot has fallen upon your son, the gods have claimed him as their own. Let us therefore make sacrifice to the gods.”” […]
Evil
History
A Gloriously Remembered Stab in the Back
“Thinking that the time was ripe for them to obtain control of the whole region, they drew their knives and rushed upon the unarmed and unsuspecting enemy and slew them also that not a single man escaped.” […]
Human Affairs
A Dead Man With a Message
“he way in which the emissary was dispatched was as follow: certain of them held a number of sharp spears pointing upwards, and others, seizing the hands and feet of the man who was fated to be sent, threw him on top of them.” […]
Violence
Sacred Ground is No Safety from the Wrath of God
“They tumbled down from the tower and became stuck on the points of the standing lances. With arrows flying into them, they breathed their last and carried off their miserable souls in sorrow to hell.” […]
Supernatural
The Blood of a King for the Life of the People
“Then the chieftains held a council, and they agreed that the famine probably was due to Domaldi, their king, and that they should sacrifice him for better seasons.” […]
Britons and Celts
A Dead Man’s Riposte
“The severed head, speaking with its own lips, at once replied.” […]
Violence
When It Shall be OK to Torture
“What a splendid deed! The plunderers themselves were plundered and the torturers tortured with the same or even more pain than they had used to torture others.” […]
Human Affairs
A Premium Sacrifice
“Sometimes it occurred that even kings were chosen by lot in similar fashion to be sacrificed, and since this was considered to be an offering most favourable for the kingdom.” […]
Britons and Celts
Blood and Grace
“The cleanness of the strike cleaved the spinal cord and parted the fat and the flesh so far that the bright steel blade took a bite from the floor.” […]
Viking
A Regretful Do-Gooder
“He tied their dead bodies to planks and stretched them upright in such a way that they seemed to be standing.” […]