Thursday 10 March 2011

Dangerous Jokes

Harald Hardrada had that nickname for a reason - he was not a man to be messed with. But horrible as this is, I do find it funny:

Harrying in Denmark in 1048, Harald’s men "burned down the farm of a great chieftain called Thorkel Geysa, and carried off his daughters in chains to the ships because they had made derisory remarks the previous winter about King Harald’s plan to invade Denmark; they had carved anchors out of cheese, and said that these could easily hold all the king of Norway’s ships.”

Haralds saga harðraði, ch.32

The girls were OK; their father ransomed them. Still: don't tell jokes about Viking kings.

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