Short passages for reading, drawn from history, legend, poetry and fiction.
Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
The Israelites crossed over into the Land of Promise, only to find their progress barred by the well-fortified city of Jericho.
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By Walter Holmes Sullivan (1836-1908), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Frederick Ponsonby’s involvement in the Battle of Waterloo began early, and it seemed to him that it went on for ever.
© Robin Drayton, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Magnus had just reasserted Norway’s authority over The Isles and Man, when he stumbled into a party of Normans harassing the King of Gwynedd.
© Lauren Johnston-Smith, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.
Barely a generation after Harald Hardrada narrowly missed out on taking the English crown, his grandson Magnus re-asserted Norway’s authority over The Isles and Man.
By the Underworld Painter (fl. 350-300 BC). Photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
Walter Map was so tired of being on the road in the entourage of King Henry II, that he began to wonder if the whole court was under a spell.
© Ray Bird, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
A bee asks a blessing of the king of the gods, but what she gets from him is not quite what she had in mind.