True. The executioner that wrote the diary was literally a logger. He was ordered to "do the choppin" when they couldn't find an executioner. He was ALSO immediately thrown out of all his social connections. No one wanted to befriend someone who's job it is to punish / kill. It was devastating for his and his family's standing.
It's a bit of a contrast to the Game of Thrones style of fantasy, where macho leaders do public executions as if it wasn't a big deal.
Even pagans were reluctant to do such things. They were terrified of curses, magic, the hidden strengths in apparent weakness: not powers suited to rule with, but very well suited for destructive revenge.
One of the oldest of the old Norse stories we know, the story of Wayland, is basically a revenge flick. There's also:
"The twelfth I know
When in the tree
I see a dead man dangling:
Then I the runes
Carve and draw
So he who there hangs
Walks and talks with me."
That is from Hávamal, the final part, where Odin lists the spells he knows. It sounds like a warning to me: are you sure you want your enemy to become Odin's companion?
