Wyrd bið ful āræd. Fate is inexorable. A man who rules by fear cannot afford a single setback.
There’s a time for caution and a time to just kill the bastards.
That is why battles of the shield wall are slow to start. Men have to nerve themselves for the horror.
Play with the devil and you get burned.
Most men want to follow, and what they demand of their leader is prosperity.
It is not difficult to be a lord, a jarl, or even a king, but it is difficult to be a leader.