Remember yesterday

John Roddam Spencer Stanhope: Knowledge strangling Ignorance

Can you tell me why 

It seems so hard to carry on 

When you hear a voice 

From long ago, so bittersweet 

Even though I try, I cannot 

Read between the lines 

You know I tried 

Oh, yes, I tried, what's wrong 

Too late to turn back time 

To look over my shoulder 

Maybe one day I'll return again 

Rembember Yesterday and think about tomorrow 

But you have to live today - Oh lonely yesterday 

Don't leave me with the sorrow 

Cause I have to live today 

Every morning I awake 

To see the newborn day 

To carry on the flame 

Until the end of time 

Too late to turn back time 

To look over my shoulder 

Maybe one day I'll return again 

Rembember Yesterday and think about tomorrow 

But you have to live today - Oh lonely yesterday 

Don't leave me with the sorrow 

Cause I have to live today 

Oh, oh, oh, don't step aside 

And pretend about the future 

Oh, oh, oh, never live a lie 

Don't you know tomorrow never comes 

Rembember Yesterday and think about tomorrow 

But you have to live today - Oh lonely yesterday 

Don't leave me with the sorrow 

Cause I have to live today 

Oh, oh, oh, don't step aside 

And pretend about the future 

Oh, oh, oh, never live a lie 

Don't you know tomorrow never comes

Sons of Odin

Sir Francis Bernard 'Frank' Dicksee: Vikings heading for land

Carousal of Odin
Fill the honey'd beverage high,
Fill the skulls, 'tis Odin's cry:
Heard ye not the powerful call,
Thundering through the vaulted hall?
Fill the meath, and spread the board,
Vassals of the grisly lord!

The portal hinges grate, - they come -
The din of voices rocks the dome:
In stalk the various forms, and dress'd
In various armour, various forms, and dress'd
In various armour, various vest,
With helm and morion, targe and shield,
Some quivering lances couch, some biting maces wield:
All march with haughty step, all proudly shake the crest.

The feast begins, the skull goes round;
Laughter shouts - the shouts resound.
The gust of war subsides - E'en now
The grim chief curls his cheek, and smooths his rugged brow.
..........................................................
'Joy to the soul! a joy divine!
When conflicting armies join;
When trumpets clang, and bugles sound;
When strokes of death are dealt around;
When the sword feasts, yet craves for more;
And every gauntlet drips with gore.'

The charm prevail'd, up rush'd the madden'd throng,
Panting for carnage, as they foam'd along;
Fierce Odin's self led forth the frantic band,
To scatter havoc wide o'er many a guilty land.

Thomas Penrose (1742-1779), English poet

The king must die... Kill the king!

Boris Vallejo: Assassin of Gor

One way...


... or another...

Love is meant to last for ever...

Johann Heinrich Füssli: Arthur and the Faery queen

.... but forever is a long, long time...

Pour some sugar on me!

Step inside, walk this way

You and me babe, Hey, hey!

Love is like a bomb, baby, c'mon get it on

Livin' like a lover with a radar phone

Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp

Demolition woman, can I be your man?

Razzle 'n' a dazzle 'n' a flash a little light

Television lover, baby, go all night

Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet

Little miss ah innocent sugar me, yeah

Hey!

C'mon, take a bottle, shake it up

Break the bubble, break it up

Pour some sugar on me

Ooh, in the name of love

Pour some sugar on me

C'mon, fire me up

Pour your sugar on me

Oh, I can't get enough

I'm hot, sticky sweet

From my head to my feet, yeah

Listen! red light, yellow light, green-a-light go!

Crazy little woman in a one man show

Mirror queen, mannequin, rhythm of love

Sweet dream, saccharine, loosen up

You gotta squeeze a little, squeeze a little

Tease a little more

Easy operator come a knockin' on my door

Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet

Little miss innocent sugar me, yeah, yeah

Give a little more

Take a bottle, shake it up

Break the bubble, break it up

You got the peaches, I got the cream

Sweet to taste, saccharine

'cause I'm hot, say what, sticky sweet

From my head, my head, to my feet

Do you take sugar? one lump or two?

Across the Great Wide Sea...

Johannes Gehrts: Arminius bids farewell to Thusnelda

"Eager am I to depart. The Disir summon me home, 

those whom Odin sends for me from the halls of the Lord of Hosts. 

Gladly shall I drink ale in the high seat with the Aesir. 

The days of my life are ended. I laugh as I die."

- Death song of Ragnar Lodbrok 

(Vikings - Land of lore)

Valkyries

Charles Ernest Butler: Siegfried and Brunnhilde

How does it feel when you're cut down

And you can't get back up

When you're down and you need a hand

Someone to give you strength

There's just one thing that will do it

Don't let 'em take it away

It's the calling to battle

And you will ride the wings, yeah

Blood! Fire!

And the dead will ride the

Wings of honor

And the gods will lead our

Charge to glory

On that day for every man

Who rides

(ASKA - Valkyries)

The mission

Wilhelm von Kaulbach: Battle of Salamis

The autumn's vice on dregs of life has past

While roundabout the hills the snow drives fast

The mercenary slips his lair

And grappled in his hands there bears

The solitary hope of nations thralled

Wherefore comes this titan of men?

The seas lie in wait for his ships of stealth

'Cross monstrous waves of seething crests

And ocean vales of uneasy rest

Ne'er terror nor lust shall ever waylay

Tempestuous gales these masts will outstand

And hold steadfast 'til death or land

Ferried aloft the standard's face is revealed

And borne upon the winds of a godless zeal

He forges on through the perpetual dark

And closes in on the ancient ark

Where the fame of erstwhile heroes's stored

And all cherished tales of battlelore

The sceptre wrench'd from the master's hand

Argentine skies below he stands

Ferried aloft the standard's face is revealed

And borne upon the winds of a godless zeal

He forges on through the perpetual dark

And closes in on the ancient ark

Where the fame of erstwhile heroes stored

And all cherished tales of battlelore

The sceptre wrench'd from the master's hand

Argentine skies below he stands

Primordial mores are all but lost

The latter days know nothing of the cost

Insipid lives of lifeless men

Their doctrine's claim on penitence

Doth rules the weakest minds of those not freed

Ensanguined spoils of crusades' toils are fixed

To pietism's clasp on those betwixt the amalgam of gods and men

Our mercenary strives to rend

Anathematic bonds of theists' call, for one an all

The faithless one shall never fall

(Old season - The mission)

The art of war

Henry Merwin Shrady: Cavalry

“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”
“Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.”
“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”
“All warfare is based on deception.”
“Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
“To know your Enemy, you must become your Enemy.”
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
“Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot anticipate.”
“Move swift as the Wind and closely-formed as the Wood. Attack like the Fire and be still as the Mountain.”
“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.”
“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”
“The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.”
“So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.”
“One mark of a great soldier is that he fight on his own terms or fights not at all.”
“Hold out baits to entice the enemy.  Feign disorder, and crush him.”
“Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.”
(And many more from Sun Tzu book The art of war)

(Manowar - Warriors of the world)

Only the strong survive!

Boris Vallejo: Conan

Search your soul 

Seek the truth 

Shed your fears 

Take control 

Life could be everlasting paradise 

We must be strong, we must unite 

Only the strong survive 

The task is now 

Can we face it 

A new age is coming 

Will we make it? 

Envision the future and fear for your life! 

The choice is ours, you must realize 

Only the strong survive