How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
When I woke in the morning, and found that his hand was not in mine, I knew at once what he'd done.
I could see him waiting till even Father had gone to sleep, and I could see him getting up from our bed of furs and hay, and standing.
I think he probably didn't say anything before he went. His way was to do, not to speak. But I think he probably paused to look down at me, one finger twined around my hare necklace, and then he stole out of the house, into the dark. He left me, alone.
He would have walked just for a little while, and then, finding Tor in the lanes, would have held his hand, turned, and set off, back toward the mound in the long
meadow.It might not have worked.
Tor might not have been satisfied, but it seemed that Eirik was right. Tor was content, in the end, to settle for just one of us, one of the children who might be his nephew, or might be his son. (6.11.18-23)
Young Eirik is no different than his future selves. He sees that his Uncle Tor will stop at nothing until he gets his hands on one or both of the twins, and he hopes that by offering himself to Tor, no one else will have to suffer. Luckily, he's right.
Quote #8
For three years the crops had failed.
For three years there had been hunger, and famine, and disease.
They had killed many beasts, and two men had been blessed on the stone table, too, their blood going after the way of the foals and bulls before them.
It had made no difference.
Still, nothing would grow, nothing but the flower, and there were many who would not touch it, no matter what magic it was reputed to have. So the people had starved, and become weak, and, having become weak, the warriors had fared ill at sea, and had returned not only empty-handed, but short a ship, each time.
So many men lost, so many women left without husbands, so many children dying from the pestilence that creeps into the houses of men when times are hard.
A foal, a man?
A king?
What difference does it make, wondered Eirikr, and yet he knew the laws, for he himself had helped shape them in his long time as king. (7.2.4-12)
King Eirikr isn't really thrilled about dying, but he knows what he has to do. They've tried other plans and things haven't worked; nothing can bring fertility back to the land. They're down to their very last option. And King Eirikr is willing to be their sacrifice.
Quote #9
He lifts his head to the moon, the blood moon, and he prays that his death will rescue his people. He is no longer certain that it will, not after the other blessings, whose skulls now hang in the evergreen, but he has said this to no one, for he knows that his people have nothing else now, and that it is only a small shred of belief.
Without it, he knows they will be dead before the next full moon. (7.3.13-14)
This is sort of a crazy way to die. King Eirikr thinks that allowing his people to cut his throat might help, but he's not totally sure; his death isn't a surefire cure for their problems. He's making this sacrifice to give them hope, to show them that the king is there for them in their troubles. Fingers crossed, man.