A snippet of Norse Myth
[From the myth of Odin and Billing's Daughter, translated/retold by Kevin Crossley-Holland]
The High One cried, 'A man should not trust a woman's word and he should never rely on her promises. The hearts of women were turned on a whirling wheel and imbued with caprice.
'To love a fickle woman is like this: setting out over ice with a two year old colt, unshod, restive and unbroken; or sailing a ship without a rudder in a storm; or hunting reindeer over slippery rocks, with a pulled hamstring.
'I will speak clearly,' cried the High One, 'for I know them both: men deceive women. The fairer our words the falser our thoughts. We undermine their commonsense. A man who longs for a woman's love mouths soft words, and brings gifts, and praises her beauty; sophistry works wonders.