Eaters of the Dead

by Michael Crichton

These rivers have no names themselves but are each one called “wyk,” and the peoples of the narrow rivers are called “wykings,” which means the Northmen warriors who sail their ships up the rivers and attack settlements in such fashion.

‘Thank Allah, for in his wisdom he put death at the end of life, and not at the beginning.’ ”

thus do strange things cease to be strange upon repetition.