Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

Chivalry has come to be very watered down in modern day times. For the most part we think of chivalry as the way a man behaves toward and around women. And while this does characterize chivalry it is actually a very small component of what chivary was. Chivalry was an all encompassing guide for living. This included combat, horsemanship, law, religion, management of people and lands and well just about every aspect of a knight’s life.

There has been a long standing debate about chivalry and whether anybody actually followed any of it and I believe that yes it was something that knights aspired to. Let me explain why I think so.

The early middle ages were an extraordinarily tumultuous time and there was no such thing as chivalry. Europe was in darkness, plague ravaged the people, and war was found everywhere. The prime rule of thumb during this time was that might was right; and the only rule that was effective was rule by the sword. Barons, lords, knights and kings took by force what they could take.

But, Europe slowly came out of this darkness in the centuries leading up to the Renaissance. The plague disappeared, Kings consolidated their lands (which caused stability) and the Church exercised power over a significant portion of the continent.

 So what happened?

What happens when stability occurs and food once again becomes a reliable resource? People turn to new ways of doing things. They gain the freedom to examine themselves and their lives.  They search for meaning in new ways, and it is from this stability that the Renaissance was born and the ideals of chivalry were born.

Chivalry is a natural development of the need for structure and organization in any large culture or society. As a society grows in size and complexity it needs a set of rules of behavior for its people and chivalry was exactly this. A set of rules that laid out how a knight could manage himself, his people, his affairs and also how he could better himself.

So among other things the code of chivalry was the first self-help program! See that, chivarly is so much more than just holding a door open!

It is a fascinating topic and there were books written about chivalry going back more than 500 years - and some of them are still in print. Here are two seminal works on chivalry:

• A Knight’s Own Book Of Chivalry (Middle Ages)
• Book of Knighthood and Chivalry: With the Anonymous Ordene De Chevalerie

And here is an interesting book and program about Raising a Modern Day Knight. It is aimed at fathers who want to teach their sons the values of knighthood and chivalry in the modern world. They also have a nice website.

 Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father’s Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood

Today is the day of the Summer Solstice. It is the longest day of the year, and the shortest night.

Some 24,000 people gathered today at Stonehenge to mark this occasion and you can read a news article about it here Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

So What is the solstice? Here is a quote from ReligiousTolerance.org

“Solstice” is derived from two Latin words: “sol” meaning sun, and “sistere,” to cause to stand still. This is because, as the summer solstice approaches, the noonday sun rises higher and higher in the sky on each successive day. On the day of the solstice, it rises an imperceptible amount, compared to the day before. In this sense, it “stands still.”

In Medieval Times, and well, even way before medieval times people were connected with the earth and the world around them. They had a perspective on things that we seem to have lost today. For them, summer was a beautiful time of plentiful sunlight, long days, and plenty of food growing in the fields. For us it’s a time for a jaunt to the beach or a weeks vacation! Maybe a couple of good three day weekends.

Many ancient cultures celebrated the Summer solstice in a variety of ways ranging from feasts to bonfires and the event had many interesting names including The Feast of Epona and the Light of the Shore. And even though we are not as connected to the world around us as the people of the middle ages were we still can feel many of their thoughts and beliefs to this day - The solstice celebration at stonehenge is a good example of that.

 You can learn more about the summer solstice here The Summer Solstice

 Sidebar: Tomorrow I will be posting an essay about knights and how their influence still remains with us today

 Anyway, I recommend you throw open the windows and let down the screens of your little castle and enjoy the summer solstice. And just think about the amazing heritage of philosophy, art, tradition and lore that has been passed down to us from the people of the past.

Disney is releasing a new movie in November called Enchanted. It is a romantic comedy and it looks absolutely hilarious. It takes a tongue in cheek look at the whole genre of the Fairy Tale and of course disney pokes a little bit of fun at itself. They have after all created the lion’s share of movies with a Fairy Tale theme.

The movie is supposed to start out with 14 minutes of animation and then transition into traditional filming. The premises is about a fairy tale princess who gets thrust into our world. - thus the transition from animation to film.

Anyway the beginning of this trailer really kills me. Going to be great fun for Medieval fans of all ages! Probably a great date movie too! Here is the Trailer:

 The Bestiary by Nicholas Christoper: Book Review 

This is a Chimera of a book - Read on to understand what I mean

For me there are two kinds of fantasy books. The first kind is the book you read because its just a lot of fun. You know, there is a grand adventure, damsels in distress, knights and dragons and of course a big and exciting new world to explore. Big, in this type of novel, means epic on a grand scale.

The second type of fantasy book, for me, is the meaning of life type. This is the kind of book that is really big in a different way. You travel along with the main character in his or her quest to figure out the meaning of things. His is a strange world with strange creatures (very  Kafkaesque) and of course, he can never really figure any ultimate answers to the big questions (classic Kafka), he can only come up with his solutions. The real joy is in the questing. So big, in this type of novel, means big questions and a big search to answer them.

Upon first impression this book fits into neither one of these categories. Let me explain. It is a book about a man who develops an obsession with finding a book that may or may not exist. It’s called the Caravan Bestiary. It is said to be an encyclopedia of the beasts that were denied entry onto Noah’s Ark.

There are no massive battles and there is no grand search for the meaning of life. It is just one man trying to figure out something about himself. And well, when you stop to think about it, you have to admit that it really doesn’t get much bigger than that. When it comes down to it this is all we really can do; try to figure out our little place. So this book fits very well into my second category of fantasy.

And this obsession does get even bigger because it is wrapped in a deeper meaning.

The main character has a real love for the creatures of the earth both past, present, mythical or not. It adds a really nice dimension to this book. His quest becomes a “If I could just accomplish one little thing that really means something” quality.

And this reverence and love for the beasts of the earth makes a transition to you the reader. You start to really get a sense of the beauty of the creatures of the earth and you feel it.

While reading you are going to realize that this book itself creates a new entry into the Bestiary. It is a Chimera of sorts. The front of this new Chimera is a lamb and the back is a lion. - The lamb is a fun fantasy story about the chase for a mythical book. The Lion is the passion for the mystery and the beauty of all the creatures on this earth whether they be mythical or not.

It is an enjoyable and thought provoking book and I recommend you give it a try if you are looking for something more than just fantasy. And it comes with an extra little bonus. It has a glossary of Mythical creatures appended to it which is just wonderful.

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The Caravan Bestiary is not a real book, it is a creation of the authors mind so if you want to do some sleuthing you are going to be out of luck but here are some links and books you might find interesting.

LINKS

• Author’s Homepage: NicholasChristopher.com
• Pre-order the book at Amazon.com - The Bestiary
• Dave’s Mythical Creatures (website)

BOOKS

• The True Story of Noah’s Ark (with audio CD and pull-out spread)
• Treasury of Fantastic and Mythological Creatures: 1,087 Renderings from Historic Sources (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)