From the introduction to the document: Tonight, my friends, we shall slay a dragon. Or else, in the attempt, we shall ourselves be slain. Should we succeed, the tale of our deed will be told in mead-halls and wine-sinks for ever more, and our names will be spoken in tones of reverence and awe. Should we fail, we shall die and so shall our names. But hear this, my boon companions: Live or die, we will have flung the dice of fate, we will have stared in the face of the impossible, we will have lived on the icy edge of death, and we will have been heroes.