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ebf3f0b
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You can teach someone a skill but you can't teach them spirit.
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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1ba0320
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Lif and Lifthrasir will have children. Their children will have children. There will be life and new life, life everywhere on earth. That was the end; and this is the beginning.
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ragnarok
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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9a39462
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A culture finds the gods it needs.
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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73e68f0
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In the beginning was the word, and primitive societies venerated poets second only to their leaders. A poet had the power to name and so to control; he was, literally, the living memory of a group or tribe who would perpetuate their history in song; his inspiration was god given and he was in effect a medium.
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poetry
spoken
word
language
poet
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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02bc00c
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The three sons of Bor had no liking for Ymir... At last they attacked Ymir and killed him. His wounds were like springs; so much blood streamed from them and so fast, that the flood drowned all the frost giants except Bergelmir and his wife. They embarked in their boat and rode out on a tide of gore
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myth
norse
ymir
odin
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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0f22e49
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Men and women expected their share of trouble and the best of them attempted to use it, to rise above it and carve out a name for themselves through bravery and loyalty and generosity.
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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9528ee6
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The rivers that sprang from Hvergelmir streamed into the void. The yeasty venom in them thickened and congealed like slag, and the rivers turned into ice.
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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b33237a
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That's where the raiders would come from, and where Wales begins. That's where the world starts to turn blue.
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past
raiders
stories
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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d1ac890
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No Viking believed he could change his destiny, ordained as it was by the Norns who wove the fates of gods and men alike (Note 4) but, for all that, the way in which he lived his life was up to him. This sentiment is perfectly expressed by Skirnir in 'Skirnir's Journey': 'Fearlessness is better than a faint heart for any man who puts his nose out of doors. The length of my life and the day of my death were fated long ago.
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fate
vikings
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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d94f26e
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Ymir's body is divided so that everything, even his eyebrows, were used in the creation of the world; the four dwarfs who hold up the sky; the wolves that chase the sun and moon; the giant's eyes that are tossed up into heaven and turned into stars: these and a host of other particulars become narrative elements within the cycle.
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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06430cd
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Some things in our lives, we think about, we hope for, we dream of, we half believe. But some we just know. And what I know, Laura, is that if you practise and learn to play this instrument, the day will come when angels stop and listen to you.
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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02043a5
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Be generous, be spirited, and you'll lead a happy life.
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happy-life
spirited
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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b3cae70
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Because you know something won't ever happen, it doesn't stop you longing for it. I know I'll never be able to speak or sing with my own voice. I don't know why. I wish I did.
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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c3c9c5a
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That's what happens when you're really concentrating. Time stands still. Time flies!
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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5f69f0f
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Playing in an orchestra is completely different to playing on my own. Sometimes I played, sometimes listened; instead of waiting my turn, I sometimes interrupted another player, sometimes I argued, sometimes agreed. My flute is my mouthpiece and I felt as if I was actually joining in a conversation.
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orchestra
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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6e6302d
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Everything, I thought, everything keeps changing. Changing shape, changing colour, changing sound.
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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3e13e3f
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This superstitious, family-oriented existence is the background to 'The Lay of Loddfafnir' and the whole of (Myth and Note25). This great compendium of aphorisms and advice on right conduct offers a commonsensical and sober (though sometimes witty) picture of the day to day life of the Norsemen, and it is a far cry from the heady image of Vikings on the rampage. Value life itself; censure naivete; cherish and celebrate friendships; beware..
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vikings
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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7189748
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Since men who become embittered never win respect or admiration, those who sought fame did not rail at the undoubted hardship of their lives and the inevitability of death. Rather, they endured it or, even better, laughed at it. This accounts for the ironic tone in the fabric of the myths and explains, for example, the reaction of the gods when Tyr sacrificed his hand (Myth 7) in the interests of binding the wolf Fenrir. Men and women expec..
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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0d8355d
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Yet, in H.R Ellis Davidson's wise words: Reading the myths, we can identify the Norseman's spirit and confidence, his boundless curiosity, extreme bravery, clannish loyalty, generosity and discipline; we can also detect his arrogance and lack of compassion, his cunning if not treachery (amply reflected in the figure of Loki), his ruthlessness and his cruelty.
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viking-spirit
vikings
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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f1b664f
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As often as not, a man who sticks at home knows next to nothing about his guest.
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homebodies
travel-experience
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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10fc6f2
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Ymir was a frost giant; he was evil from the first. While he slept, he began to sweat. A man and woman grew out of the ooze under his left armpit, and one of his legs fathered a son on the other leg.
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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c241f6e
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The treachery of a friend is worse than the treachery of an enemy.
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treachery
friend
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |
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3d60dc3
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Sometimes it's better not to see. Sometimes it's better to have a choice.
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choice
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Kevin Crossley-Holland |