"I did not like it," Teja says. "I had rather been dead, after what had happened. I would rather have been a smith and a skald, as I had no choice but be alive, than a warrior. But that was what was needed, so I poured my soul into it and would laugh in battle. I would forget myself and become one with the blade. It was not a good thing for a man's soul, but I was there, and able to do it."