Researching and writing Chapter 12 proved one of the most humorous of the entire book. Norse wedding rituals came up, specifically the negotiations involved in a marriage. Why so amusing? For one thing, the negotiations were between the two families, and my parents and my wife's parents despised each other. We kept them apart as much as possible for over thirty years. For another, ask yourself just how many goats your spouse is worth. Then discuss that question with her (or him) and try to keep a straight face! Then you can talk about the reasons for a Viking divorce, and we haven't even discussed how to ask your wife about her morning-gift!
For those who read Chapter 11 immediately after it went up, you noticed my attempt at doing the Runic language in the story failed. It just doesn't translate into html. I would have needed to post the lines as a picture, so I simply deleted it and reposted it. It still works fine without the runes.