According to folklore set in 10th-century Iceland, a man named Thrain Sigfusson was invited to attend the wedding feast of his prominent nephew, Gunnar...
Njal’s Saga (written anonymously in the 13th century)
"It's not breaking a settlement...if a man deals lawfully with another—with law our land shall rise, but...
This illustration, vaguely labeled “Charlemagne” or “Charlemagne: Emperor of West and King of France,” was created by the French artist Jean Marie Mixelle (c....
Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321)
"Just as a swimmer, who with his last breath
flounders ashore from perilous seas, might turn
to memorize the wide water of his...
Mark Twain (c. 1835-1910)
"No sound and legitimate business can be established on a basis of speculation."
From chapter 19 of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut...
This terracotta artwork, made by an unknown artist from 6th-century BCE Greece, was inspired by mythological tales about the interactions between the legendary hero,...
This tapestry, by an unknown 17th-century workshop, depicts the beginning of a raucous myth involving three deities. The female character on the right side...
This rather abstract painting, by the Finnish artist Magnus Enckell (c. 1870-1925), was inspired by the ancient Greco-Roman myth of Endymion. His tale is...
This painting, by the Flemish artist Jacob Jordaens (c. 1593–1678), was inspired by the Greco-Roman myth of Philemon and Baucis. The shirtless men, seen...
Christine de Pizan (1364-1430)
"Together we must construct the houses and buildings inside the walls of the City of Ladies which my sister Reason has...
(German city painted by Sebastian Münster (1488-1552), via Creative Commons)
An Unbelievably Bizarre Anabaptist Rebellion
During the 1530s, a strange occurrence blandly labeled the Münster...
This tapestry, by an unknown 17th-century workshop, depicts the beginning of a raucous myth involving three deities. The female character on the right side...
Unfortunately, information on the earliest periods of Rome’s history are scant and heavily obscured under thick layers of folklore and myth. The city by...
This tapestry, by an unknown 17th-century workshop, depicts the beginning of a raucous myth involving three deities. The female character on the right side...
Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE), a masterful Roman poet, wrote verses about romance, love, eroticism, and all manner of topics related to women—including fashion trends—in...
Sir Winston Churchill (c. 1874-1965)
"How else are we going to marshal adequate and if possible overwhelming forces against brazen, unprovoked aggression, except by a...
William Shakespeare (c. 1564 – 1616)
"Lovers and madmen have such seething brains,
Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend
More than cool reason ever comprehends.
The lunatic, the...
(Colonel Theodore Roosevelt in military uniform, c. 1898, photographed by George Gardner Rockwood via Creative Commons)
Theodore Roosevelt may easily be ranked as one...
(Portrait of General W. T. Sherman by George Peter Alexander Healy (1818–1894), via Creative Commons)
During the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), a future Union General...
The Saintly Bishop of Myra Who Evolved Into A Magical Christmas Entity
Most cultures that have been influenced by Christianity have some sort of magical...
(Charlemagne being crowned at Old Saint Peter's Basilica, photographed by Jean Fouquet, via goodfreephotos.com)
The Franks were a powerhouse of the Middle Ages, and...
(Julian the Apostate presiding at a conference of sectarians, c. 1875, painted by Edward Armitage (1817–1896), via Creative Commons)
The Constantinian Dynasty officially began...
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
From an interview Albert Einstein gave to The Saturday...
