Athelstan tilts his head curiously at the other's comment. It seems a bit too direct to be without some experience behind it which makes him a bit curious though he does not decide to question it just now. He idly traces the binding of the book that he had in hand and continues to study Ronan. He is a very interesting young man from everything he has seen of him thus far. There's a soft laugh at the follow up and he rubs his thumb over the scarring on one of his hands from his own crucifixion.

"Sacrifices are not always metaphorical, even for Christians. Christ's pain on the cross was not a metaphor. Our sacrifices on Earth are very often very real."

He exhales softly. There's some hesitancy before he speaks again. "When you look past some of the exterior and really listen to the stories of their gods, the Vikings are not so different from us."