If you Pay Through The Nose you've paid far too much for goods or services. The phrase's origin lies in the Viking invasion of the Britain during the ninth century. The Danes had very strict tax laws, and they applied them every time they invaded a new land. In Ireland the Vikings introduced a particularly high tax which they called the "Nose Tax" being called such because any citizen failing to pay it had their nose either slit open or cut off altogether. This continued until the Viking leader, Eric Bloodaxe, was killed by the English warrior King Edred at the Battle of Stainmore in 954.