The Pleasures of: Episodes Four, Five and Six

Norse Mythology, including the epics Beowulf and The Saga of the Volsungs, as well as Certain Other Things.

I could say, "Because of the fatalism, how they assumed that their gods would die, that evil would triumph and the world would end in fire."

Or I could say, "Because isn't it fascinating, the way the old poems reveal a world so completely unlike our own?"

Or being a bit more honest I could say, "Because I like being able to know where the names of the days of the week come from, Tyr and Votan and Thor and Frigg -- and to hold it over others' heads."

But the real truth is I just think it's cool that they had dragons and trolls and giants and elves and dwarfs and wizards and monsters -- and not only were they not all pasty-skinned sixteen year olds sitting in a basement with a bunch of books and multi-sided dice, it was their freaking religion!