In fact, among the men of the more savage North--the men of Norway in especial--it was considered a great disgrace to die of sickness, to die on one's bed.

That was not to die like a man.
Men would go out and get themselves killed, when they felt old age or sickness coming on.

But these facts must not blind us to the other fact that there was even in that society a great force of moral cohesion, and sound principles of morality.

If there had not been, it could not have existed; much less could the people who lived under it have become the masters of a great part of the world, which they are at the present day.
There was, in spite of all that fierceness, much kindness and good nature among them; there were rules of conduct such as no man could find fault with--rules which still govern English society to some extent.

And there was opportunity enough for social amusement, social enjoyment, and the winning of public esteem by a noble life.
Still, even in the "Havamal," one is occasionally startled by teachings which show the darker side of Northern life, a life of perpetual vendetta.
As in old Japan, no man could live under the same heaven with the murderer of his brother or father; vengeance was a duty even in the case of a friend.