“And there is but one passion that can let loose this accumulated force: his
passion for honour. For the Northman to be affected by this or that in what he
meets depends on something that has happened, something past, and
something ahead, an event which has happened to himself or his ancestors,
and an event which must be brought to pass for the betterment of himself and
his descendants. He does not live in the moment; he uses the moment to
reckon out: how can it serve him to the attainment of his end? He does not hate
a thing for its own sake, or on his own account; for if he can purchase a chance
of revenge by giving up his dislike, he tears his hate away, and where he can
gain a chance by enmity, the hate wells up again in undisguised power. This
does not mean that the Northman is temporarily beside himself when he is
seeking redress for his wrongs.”