Qoutes

[Ranika]

"If a man does not even know his grandfather's name, how can he be trusted to know the history of his people, and the reason they exist at all? Why would he care for their existence if he does not know them? How can he love people he cannot understand?" - Part of 'Riordan's Questions', posed to potential Irish judges in the 7th to 15th centuries

"What is death but the culmination of life? It is nothing to fear." - Unknown Welsh poet

"The noble fighting spirit is the spirit at the most pure. When a man shed's his greed and fear for himself, and fights for fear of what would happen to those he cares about, as long as he has breath, he will fight until victory is had." - Attributed to a monk known solely as 'Cormac'

[Meneldil]

Here we go, we're still looking for quotes. I wouldn't mind some from Anna Comnema's (sp) Alexiade (sp again).

[Rodion Romanovich]

Hm, as for norse quotes, I found a link to a full version of Heimskringla and possible some other works, which could be great sources of quotes. But it's a lot to skim through in order to find interesting phrases, so you might not be interested.

Edit: The full version of Heimskringla was impossible for me to find again, but here's some stuff that might be of interest:

- Some parts of Ynglingasaga from Heimskringla: http://wikisource.org/wiki/Ynglinga_Saga
- Links to more from Heimskringla:
http://wikisource.org/wiki/Ynglinga_Saga
- Beowulf in old English: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/9701
- and in modern English: http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/bwulf11h.htm
- Kalevala full version in English: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/kveng/

Some quotes (more to come):

- from Beowulf:
On kin of Cain was the killing avenged
by sovran God for slaughtered Abel.
Ill fared his feud, and far was he driven,
for the slaughter’s sake, from sight of men.

Or in old English:
In Caines cynne þone cwealm gewræc,
†ēce drihten, þæs þe hē Ābel slōg;
ne gefeah hē þǣre fǣhðe, ac hē hine feor forwræc,
110metod for þȳ māne man-cynne fram.

- from Beowulf:
Then shone the boars
over the cheek-guard; chased with gold,
keen and gleaming, guard it kept
o’er the man of war, as marched along
heroes in haste

- from Beowulf:
’Tis time that I fare from you. Father Almighty
in grace and mercy guard you well,
safe in your seekings. Seaward I go,
’gainst hostile warriors hold my watch

- from Beowulf:
Corselets glistened
hand-forged, hard; on their harness bright
the steel ring sang, as they strode along
in mail of battle, and marched to the hall

- from Beowulf:
“Whence, now, bear ye burnished shields,
harness gray and helmets grim,
spears in multitude? Messenger, I,
Hrothgar’s herald! Heroes so many
ne’er met I as strangers of mood so strong.

- from Beowulf:
with gripe alone
must I front the fiend and fight for life,
foe against foe. Then faith be his
in the doom of the Lord whom death shall take.

- from Beowulf:
in the play of war
such daring deed has done at all
with bloody brand, -- I boast not of it! --
though thou wast the bane {9a} of thy brethren dear,
thy closest kin, whence curse of hell
awaits thee, well as thy wit may serve!

- from Beowulf:
For I say in sooth, thou son of Ecglaf,
never had Grendel these grim deeds wrought,
monster dire, on thy master dear,
in Heorot such havoc, if heart of thine
were as battle-bold as thy boast is loud!

- from Beowulf:
remember thy glory; thy might declare;
watch for the foe! No wish shall fail thee
if thou bidest the battle with bold-won life.”

- from Beowulf:
Of force in fight no feebler I count me,
in grim war-deeds, than Grendel deems him.
Not with the sword, then, to sleep of death
his life will I give, though it lie in my power.

- from Beowulf:
Let wisest God,
sacred Lord, on which side soever
doom decree as he deemeth right.

- from Beowulf:
Bloody the billows were boiling there,
turbid the tide of tumbling waves
horribly seething, with sword-blood hot,
by that doomed one dyed, who in den of the moor
laid forlorn his life adown,
his heathen soul, and hell received it.

- from Beowulf:
This work of war most willingly
we have fought, this fight, and fearlessly dared
force of the foe. Fain, too, were I
hadst thou but seen himself, what time
the fiend in his trappings tottered to fall!

- from Beowulf:
Should Frisian, moreover, with foeman’s taunt,
that murderous hatred to mind recall,
then edge of the sword must seal his doom.

- from Beowulf:
These are quotes from chapter 1-17. I will continue adding more. As there are plenty of possible quotes, only choose those you think are very, very good, and skip many of them. It seems there won't be that hard to find more, if we want.

- from Song of Roland:
Charles the King, our Lord and Sovereign,
Full seven years hath sojourned in Spain,
Conquered the land, and won the western main,
Now no fortress against him doth remain,
No city walls are left for him to gain,
Save Sarraguce, that sits on high mountain.
Marsile its King, who feareth not God's name,
Mahumet's man, he invokes Apollin's aid,
Nor wards off ills that shall to him attain.

- from Song of Roland:
I have no host in battle him to prove,
Nor have I strength his forces to undo.
Counsel me then, ye that are wise and true;
Can ye ward off this present death and dule?

- from Song of Roland:
Better by far they go, though doomed to die,
Than that we lose honour and dignity,
And be ourselves brought down to beggary

This is from part 1 to 10. More can be added.

[GoreBag]

I looked up the same thing last night, but grew frustrated after I couldn't find the passage where it says Grendel was refusing to pay the "death price". At least, that's what it was when I read the story.

[Apoc]

I don't know if you're still looking for quotes, but I'll suggest one (since this is a Viking mod):

A furore Normanorum libera nos, O Domine!
From the fury of the norsemen deliver us, O Lord!

- Medieval Prayer

Apoc

[Spongly]

"Hear you what this people say, pirate? A tribute they will pay you,
of file hardened spears and ancestral blades that you will reap no profit from!"

"Tell your people this spiteful message, that here stands undaunted an Earl with his band of men who will defend our homeland, Aethelred's country, the lord of my people and land. Fall shall you
heathen in battle! To us it would be shameful that you with our coin to your ships should get away without a fight, now you thus far into our homeland have come."

[Nacheras]

"without other support than his policy and his perseverance, he humbled his proud enemies, killed the rebels, secured the borders against christian attacks, raised a great empire and unite under his sway a large country that seemed divided between multiple heads"

Abbasid calipha Al-Mansur about his enemy the omeyid Abd Ar Rahman, first indepent amir of Al Andalus


"They said 'Pelayo has only thirty starved hillmen. What minds thirty men?' Great mistake, that was later cause of great harm for Islam"

Historist Ben Hayyan about history of Al Andalus.


"The treads that he left on earth will show you his history. For Allah the fate will never bring us another one similar to him, and no one like him will never defend our borders"

epitaph on the burial of Ibn Abu Amir Al-Mansur Billah, "the victorious", called Almanzor by christians, dictator of Al Andalus.


"At year of our Lord 1002 died Almanzor. Was buried at hell"

Chronicon burguensis