The Shadow Of The Gods Quotes
"Death is a part of life," Orka whispered into her son’s ear.
"He is too gentle for this world of pain, Orka thought."
"Hard words are needed for this hard world."
"Why didn’t it kill any of those reindeer?" Breca asked as he took his short spear back from Orka.
"Yes," she said as she handed Breca his spear, half-an-arm shorter than hers and Thorkel’s.
"Heya, lad, it must have been. When gods go to war, it is no small thing. The world was broken in their ruin."
"This is a world of blood. Of tooth and claw and sharp iron. Of short lives and painful deaths."
"Travel the soul road with a blade in your fist," she whispered.
"I don’t need to be a Seiðr-witch to know a sword wound to the heart when I see one," Orka said.
"We are better off uniting with the strong, and Queen Helka is the strongest."
"No signs of anyone else," Thorkel said, rising. He passed through the rune-marked gates and turned left, Orka following.
"It was a good throw," Thorkel said, tapping Breca’s spear with his water bottle, though his eyes were still on Orka.
"If I say they were asking for trouble, then they were asking for trouble," Guðvarr said, his voice a hiss, like a sword leaving a scabbard.
"It is a hard world, and we will not always be here to protect him from it. We are not just his parents; we are his teachers, too."
"Let him be a boy. Plenty of time yet before he steps out into that dark world."
"The tennúr will not harm him, or us. We have seen enough of life’s sharp edge."
"The past runs deep in our blood and bones, a rope we cannot see, binding us to it, whether we like it or not."
"The dead gods caused a lot of harm, most would say. They broke the world."
"A shield is not only for protection. It is a weapon, too."
"Never lose sight of me by hiding behind your shield. That way lies a quick death."
"Most warriors think this is a good thing, no? To live a little longer."
"You should know, I am planning on taking our prize to Snakavik. Jarl Störr is famed for his Berserkir thrall-guard, and I am thinking he will give us the best price."
"I would not challenge you to an arm-wrestle, let alone a holmganga duel."
"We live in Vigrið, the Battle-Plain. Only fools do not learn how to protect themselves."
"It is only a matter of time before Störr and Helka face one another, and the winner will take all Vigrið."
"I have seen her drakkars, and her warband. The bones of the dead god Orna rear over her fortress at Darl. I have seen the wings. She will not lose."
"I have never seen such a thing, though it may take Einar a while to forgive you."
"Fighting without a shield makes no sense. You cannot be part of the Bloodsworn and not know your way around a shield."
"Protect us? When you cannot even protect us against murderers and child-stealers?"
"It is part of the rules. If a shield is destroyed, there will be a pause while it is replaced. Three shields broken, well… you deserve to lose."
"The rules of holmganga abide here. You must agree: first wound, submission, or death."
"I would rather the people of Fellur fight our enemies, not each other."
"A weapon is just hard, sharp steel. A tool, nothing more, only as good as the one holding it."
"Fear is no bad thing. How can you be brave if you do not feel fear?"
"I am going to kill you. Your days are done."
"Aye, well, you should have an axe, then. You’ll have a spear, and you cannot afford to buy a sword."
"This is my way to fulfilling my oath. A twisting path, but it is the only way forward."
"A stab to your body, you may live. A stab to the head…"
"I am blood. I am death, I am vengeance."
"Sometimes we do." He shrugged. "But not sheep that are paying us."
"He fought well, and so he died well. All that lives on is our battle-fame."
"You are an idiot," a voice said behind him and he turned to see Røkia.
"It belonged to Aslog, whose seat on the oar-bench you will be filling. He was a fine man, though not fine enough to keep his head."
"You have been out too long in the sun if you think I would hand over one of my own."
"At least, it feels so at the time. And mead is a fine killer of pain."
"I am a niðing thrall," the woman growled. "I do not give commands. I obey them."
"Walk the soul road without a blade," Orka snarled at the dying woman.
"Silent and thoughtful and bold in strife, the jarl’s bairn should be."
"Coin feeds bellies and is the weighing scale of a warrior’s reputation."
"I am about my own vengeance. I have no time for yours."
"You have found what you sought, then. You reek of battle-fame and great deeds."
"For every plan spoken, there is another hidden within it."
"I will show you the sharp edge of my reputation, brother, and Grend can stay here sitting on his arse."
"I am born for the battle-storm and shield wall. I will make my own reputation, not be wed into someone else’s."
"The things you seek… But I do not care for my life. I care for my husband, whom I have lost, and I care for my son, who is taken."
"I will not wed Hakon, just to spread your border a little wider."
"Trust me, he will not think well on you doing this."
"I am recently come to the Bloodsworn. I am not yet one of them, have not yet taken their oath."
"I am blood. I am vengeance, I am death."
"This is the greatest secret in all of Vigrið. I will not share it without your oath and your blood."
"Life is not so hard," Elvar said. "My father would have sold me off as a brood bitch to Queen Helka’s spawn. I would not have been content with that."
"I just want to survive long enough to find out how my sister died, and avenge her."
"All of you must take the oath," Uspa said. "You have all heard Oskutreð spoken of. It is the only way that we can trust one another."
"If you break the oath before you die, then your blood shall boil in your veins. You will die screaming."
"I did not win it through any great act of skill, just a desperate, lucky thrust in the man’s back with my seax."
"Fear is good. It sharpens the senses, makes you faster, stronger. It is the forge of your courage and will help you kill your enemies."
"Killing doesn’t come easy to most people. When it comes to it, most people care more about staying alive. They hesitate."
"Killing's always come easy to me. Not something I'm proud of, but there it is. And I don’t hesitate."
"We are the Bloodsworn, and we are here. We will rid these hills of whatever is lurking here, and we will earn our coin."
"To walk into a tavern and try to attack twelve people? It seemed like a good idea at the time."
"My mother died of the wasting disease when I was ten winters old. My father sold me as a thrall when I was eleven, because the crops had blighted, and he needed food for the winter."
"Life is for the living, happiness for the taking."
"That is why we fight so hard for each other. We do not abandon the living. We do not abandon those we have sworn oaths to."
"Death is our constant companion, a whisper in our ear, but when you see a friend fall... Nothing prepares us for it, even though we’ve waded through a river of the dead."
"We cannot choose our kin, but us... These are my kin, closer than blood. My sword-brothers, my shield-sisters. I would give my life for them, and I think they would give their lives for me."
"A spark of rage bloomed in Varg’s belly, pure and white-hot, like when he was in the pugil-ring and had been floored, like when Einar had knocked him down."
"This shield work is harder than a bout of fists between the hazel rods."
"Being Tainted does not mean you are Bloodsworn."
"You have been watched with a close eye. We have to be careful."
"A brotherhood, a sisterhood: we live and die together."
"The red-eyed man fixed Varg with his glare that turned to a look of surprise."
"Without conscious thought he released the pit-hound in his soul."
"I have been waiting for you a very long time."
"I am starting to think that this is always your first plan." - Mord
"Just don’t let one of them bite you." - Orka
"I heard them screaming, my children, my faithful, but I could not help them, because of that winged BITCH." - Lik-Rifa
"Your blood will chill and slow in your veins." - Orka
"Be ready for the shield-storm, the battle-fray." - Grend
"What has become of my world, my children, my warbands?" - Lik-Rifa