The Hamlet Project

What if there was a giant axe of justice in the city? And it stood at the center of the square, just waiting to come crashing down on offenses.
I mean, I suppose that’s what a guillotine is – and that’s essentially what happened during the French Revolution, from some folks’ perspectives. A giant axe, dealing out justice.
But of course I’m picturing a very different sort of axe than a guillotine. I’m imagining a Viking axe or a Paul Bunyan tree falling axe – and I picture it set up like a gate to the city – suspended over the entrance, ready to fall at any injustice.