The Bell in the Lake Quotes

“The lower the place of an animal in the animal kingdom, the more fertile it is, and the smaller an animal, the shorter its gestation period, and the lower the resistance of the foetus."
—"Pregnancy with Multiple Foetuses", a chapter in a book found in a room”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“How long is it possible to watch a man fishing where there are no fish?”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“A house of events that were not to be spoken of. A house of turning points in life, where women were reminded of their place in the animal kingdom.”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“He knew very well—he preached it himself—that faith was only faith when it required no answers or proof.”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“There, in one of his essays, the young poet mused over why nobody died for love anymore, and why sinners and outlaws always had the best luck with women.
As usual, Donne answered his own question: "Because fortune herself is a whore.”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“But she had never forgotten what her grandfather had said:
"Ask yersen what ye want to be remembered for, Astrid. . . . The things folks are remembered for are cast in metal or carpented or woven or painted or written. Wickedness and foolishness, not in a small way but big, these be oft remembered too.”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“The frost and flame be good friends.”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“Many people believe that the metric system isn't so well suited to construction work. The old system is in better harmony with art and carpentry, where we operate with wholes, halves, and thirds—just think about the golden ratio. At one time, there was even an agreed model for sorting out any disagreements over the Saxon measurements.
"Oh? Tell me!"
"Four reputable men, who had never met before, would, on the king's orders, gather on a particular Saturday and spend the night travelling to some randomly chosen church. They would wait outside and, when Mass was over they'd pull aside the first sixteen men who came out and tell them to remove their right shoes. Then they'd take all these shoes and line them up toe to heel—in the order in which the men had emerged—and stretch a thin rope along the entire length of the shoes, cut it and bring it to the king. The rope would then be folded four times, and the resultant sixteenth part would be the new standard foot.”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“What are the door handles to be made of?
Kai Schweigaard smiled. "I've no idea. Iron, I expect."
"Not brass?"
"No—why brass?"
"Because it has a unique property: it prevents disease. It's a recent discovery; German metallurgists believe that a light electric current is triggered when hands touch brass. Which kills these bacteria. So the disease doesn't spread when people gather in numbers.”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“. . . and just as her scarf sat proudly over her curls, so too did her pride in the Hekne tradition: speak clearly and honestly, never speak ill of others. Do not mistreat your crofters, take in paupers without question. Be mild in your manner, never belittle anyone. The true legacy—honour, the firmness of a promise, the honesty of a handshake—could not be measured in money nor diminish in value, so long as each and every Hekne conducted themselves well.”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“Folks need summat beautiful too … Not like an ornament. But beauty they can feel inside of them.”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“Nuovargį ištvęrti lengviau nei sielvartą.”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“Rumours are the seeds of legends, light enough to spread on the wind, and quick to grow. By the time a truth has put down its roots, rumours will have blossomed and become their own truths, because even the wildest fantasy has been told by someone, and this - the fact of something being told by someone - gives it a veracity, even if what is told is more than a little unlikely”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“Something good was waiting for her somewhere in the world. With him she would find what was hers, whatever that might be, and she would defend it so that she could call it "mine".”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“Poverty robs people of pride”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“Whining was punished with a clip around the ear, because grumbling did not fill anyone's belly, it only poisoned the will to work”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake

“The Sister Bells had neither a sad nor fearful ring. At the core of each chime was a vibrancy, a promise of a better spring, a resonance coloured by beautiful, sustained vibrations. Their sound penetrated deeply, creating mirages in the mind and touching the most hardened of men. With a skilful bell-ringer the Sister Bells could turn doubters into churchgoers, and the explanation for their powerful tone was that they were malmfulle - that silver had been added to the bronze when the church bells were cast. The more silver, the more beautiful and resonant the chime. The skilfully crafted moulds and bronze had already cost Eirik Hekne a fortune, far more than his twin daughters had ever earned with their weaves. In the madness of his grief he went to the melting pot and threw in all his silver cutlery, then shoved his big working hands deep into his pockets and threw two fistfuls of silver dalers into the boiling alloy, coins that stayed on the surface surprisingly long, before they melted and the bubbles rose”
― Lars Mytting, The Bell in the Lake