When Continental Christians opened their doors in the morning, they did not see the work of elves, dwarves, and nature-spirits; their day was not ordained by the Norns; the dew on the grass was not sweat fallen from supernatural horses; a rainbow did not lead to Asgard and the sky-halls of the gods. Even battles, though bad enough, were not the playground of terrible war-women, screaming their rage and malice in the din. The Vikings, in short, were different.
