Firespear, Norns And Ravens

We, editorially speaking, are unwell and are entering this single post this evening without checking Comments or anything else online. Normal service will be resumed later. The rest of this evening will be devoted to rereading Stieg Larsson and maybe watching some TV news (while wondering which is the more fantastic).

Elf-earl Imric tells guardsman Firespear:

"'...if [the witch] yet lives, slay her out of hand.'

"'Aye, lord...'"

-The Broken Sword, XII, p. 86.

I found some gallows humour in this prompt acceptance of an order to slay someone out of hand. 

Firespear:

"...still a youth of two centuries..." (ibid.)

- was prepared to track the witch through foreign lands for twenty years but instead finds her nearby immediately, leaving:

"'...the rest of the night for better game.'" (p. 90)

Tyr tells Skafloc that:

"'The Norns spin many a thread to its end these days.'" (p. 84)

- and:

"'...ravens hover low...'" (ibid.)

In Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: The Kindly Ones, the Three Who Are One manifest both as the Norns/Fates and as the Furies. The Fates spin Morpheus' thread to its end and the Furies attack his realm, the Dreaming. During their attack, ravens gather in the Dreaming, including Noah's raven and the ravens from the Tower of London (where their absence means that the kingdom will fall).

I hope that that summarizes enough interconnected fantastic fiction for this evening!

To paraphrase John Carter: We still live!