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.”” […]
Religion
Supernatural
The Death of Odin
“Othin was burned after his death, and this burning on the pyre of his body took place with great splendor.” […]
Human Affairs
Respect for Honor is Universal
“Hardly could he speak, but when he did, [craving] pardon for putting off the fulfillment of his promise, all were filled with wonder and sympathy, and the king himself, appeased by the good faith of his prisoner, let him go free.” […]
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.” […]
Humor
A Bedroom Blessing
“Before you turn to messing /
With my body and cunt, a blessing /
You must pronounce and make as well /
The sign of the cross, for I tell” […]
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.” […]
Eastern Europe
Satan Exalting
“Following the devil’s instruction, [the human race] sacrificed to trees, springs, and rivers, and did not know God.” […]
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.” […]