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The noir hero is a knight in blood caked armor. He's dirty and he does his best to deny the fact that he's a hero the whole time.
Frank Miller
http://www.brainyquote.com/...
Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.
Kurt Vonnegut
http://www.brainyquote.com/...
What do we expect of ideal knights medieval or modern?
They treat women right through chivalry and courtly love.
They ride up in the nick of time to rescue the lady.
They are willing to go on quests that may lead them into terrible danger.
They ride in tournaments for gain and glory.
Wiki mentions the origin of knights errant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Many knights-errant fit the ideal of the "knight in shining armor". To modern day readers, the figure of the knight-errant suggests a sort of lawful or righteous vigilante. A knight-errant typically performed all his deeds in the name of a lady, and invoked her name before performing an exploit. In more sublimated forms of knight-errantry, pure metaphysical idealism rather than romantic inspiration motivated the knight-errant (as in the case of Sir Galahad).
Such a knight might well be outside the structure of feudalism, wandering solely to perform noble exploits (and perhaps to find a lord to give his service to), but might also be in service to a king or lord, traveling either in pursuit of a specific duty that his overlord charged him with, or to put down evildoers in general. This quest sends a knight on adventures much like the ones of a knight in search of them, as he happens on the same marvels. In The Faerie Queen, St. George is sent to rescue Una's parents' kingdom from a dragon, and Guyon has no such quest, but both knights encounter perils and adventures.
Chivalry
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
In English, the word is first attested in 1292, as a loan from Old French chevalerie "knighthood", an abstract noun formed in the 11th century based on chevalier "knight", ultimately from Medieval Latin caballarius "horseman"; cavalry is from the Italian form of the same word, loaned via Middle French into English around 1540.
Between the 11th century and 15th centuries medieval writers often used the word chivalry, in meanings that changed over time, generally moving from the concrete meaning of "status or fee associated with military follower owning a war horse" towards the moral ideal of the Christian warrior ethos propagated in the Romance genre which became popular in the 12th century, and the ideal of courtly love propagated in the contemporary Minnesang and related genres. By the 15th century, the term had become mostly detached from its military origins, not least because the rise of infantry in the 14th century had essentially confined knightly horsemanship to the tournament grounds, and essentially expressed a literary ideal of moral and courteous behaviour.
When examining medieval literature, chivalry can be classified into three basic but overlapping areas:
1. Duties to countrymen and fellow Christians: this contains virtues such as mercy, courage, valor, fairness, protection of the weak and the poor, and in the servant-hood of the knight to his lord. This also brings with it the idea of being willing to give one’s life for another’s; whether he would be giving his life for a poor man or his lord.
2. Duties to God: this would contain being faithful to God, protecting the innocent, being faithful to the church, being the champion of good against evil, being generous and obeying God above the feudal lord.
3. Duties to women: this is probably the most familiar aspect of chivalry. This would contain what is often called courtly love, the idea that the knight is to serve a lady, and after her all other ladies. Most especially in this category is a general gentleness and graciousness to all women.
These three areas obviously overlap quite frequently in chivalry, and are often indistinguishable.
Different weight given to different areas produced different strands of chivalry:
1. warrior chivalry, in which a knight's chief duty is to his lord, as exemplified by Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle.
2. religious chivalry, in which a knight's chief duty is to protect the innocent and serve God, as exemplified by Sir Galahad or Sir Percival in the Grail legends.
3. courtly love chivalry, in which a knight's chief duty is to his own lady, and after her, all ladies, as exemplified by Sir Lancelot in his love for Queen Guinevere or Sir Tristan in his love for Iseult.
Knight’s Rules of Chivalry
http://www.angelfire.com/...
The Laws of Chivalry:
http://www.angelfire.com/...
Chaucer’s Knight is one of the few decent people who is not skewered in The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.
http://www.fordham.edu/...
THE KNIGHT
43: A knyght ther was, and that a worthy man,
44: That fro the tyme that he first bigan
45: To riden out, he loved chivalrie,
46: Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisie.
47: Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre,
48: And therto hadde he riden, no man ferre,
49: As wel in cristendom as in hethenesse,
50: And evere honoured for his worthynesse.
51: At alisaundre he was whan it was wonne.
52: Ful ofte tyme he hadde the bord bigonne
53: Aboven alle nacions in pruce;
54: In lettow hadde he reysed and in ruce,
55: No cristen man so ofte of his degree.
56: In gernade at the seege eek hadde he be
57: Of algezir, and riden in belmarye.
58: At lyeys was he and at satalye,
59: Whan they were wonne; and in the grete see
60: At many a noble armee hadde he be.
61: At mortal batailles hadde he been fiftene,
62: And foughten for oure feith at tramyssene
63: In lystes thries, and ay slayn his foo.
64: This ilke worthy knyght hadde been also
65: Somtyme with the lord of palatye
66: Agayn another hethen in turkye.
67: And everemoore he hadde a sovereyn prys;
68: And though that he were worthy, he was wys,
69: And of his port as meeke as is a mayde.
70: He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde
71: In al his lyf unto no maner wight.
72: He was a verray, parfit gentil knyght.
73: But, for to tellen yow of his array,
74: His hors were goode, but he was nat gay.
75: Of fustian he wered a gypon
76: Al bismotered with his habergeon,
77: For he was late ycome from his viage,
78: And wente for to doon his pilgrymage.
A knight there was, and he a worthy man,
Who, from the moment that he first began
To ride about the world, loved chivalry,
Truth, honour, freedom and all courtesy.
Full worthy was he in his liege-lord's war,
And therein had he ridden (none more far)
As well in Christendom as heathenesse,
And honoured everywhere for worthiness.
At Alexandria, he, when it was won;
Full oft the table's roster he'd begun
Above all nations' knights in Prussia.
In Latvia raided he, and Russia,
No christened man so oft of his degree.
In far Granada at the siege was he
Of Algeciras, and in Belmarie.
At Ayas was he and at Satalye
When they were won; and on the Middle Sea
At many a noble meeting chanced to be.
Of mortal battles he had fought fifteen,
And he'd fought for our faith at Tramissene
Three times in lists, and each time slain his foe.
This self-same worthy knight had been also
At one time with the lord of Palatye
Against another heathen in Turkey:
And always won he sovereign fame for prize.
Though so illustrious, he was very wise
And bore himself as meekly as a maid.
He never yet had any vileness said,
In all his life, to whatsoever wight.
He was a truly perfect, gentle knight.
But now, to tell you all of his array,
His steeds were good, but yet he was not gay.
Of simple fustian wore he a jupon
Sadly discoloured by his habergeon;
For he had lately come from his voyage
And now was going on this pilgrimage.
The Knight’s Tale is here:
http://classiclit.about.com/...
There are sad knights such as Don Quixote.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Part Two
Although the two parts are now normally published as a single work, Don Quixote, Part Two was a sequel published ten years after the original novel. While Part One was mostly farcical, the second half is more serious and philosophical about the theme of deception.
As Part Two begins, it is assumed that the literate classes of Spain have all read the first part of the history of Don Quixote and his squire. When they encounter the duo in person, the young scholar Samson Carrasco, an unnamed "duke and duchess," and others, seize the opportunity to amuse themselves by playing on Don Quixote's imaginings. The result is a series of cruel practical jokes that put Don Quixote's sense of chivalry and his devotion to Dulcinea through many humiliating tests.
Even Sancho deceives him at one point. Pressured into finding Dulcinea, Sancho brings back three dirty and ragged peasant girls, and tells Don Quixote that they are Dulcinea and her ladies-in-waiting. When Don Quixote only sees the peasant girls, Sancho pretends that their derelict appearance results from an enchantment. Sancho later gets his comeuppance for this when, as part of one of the duke and duchess's pranks, the two are led to believe that the only method to release Dulcinea from her spell is for Sancho to give himself three thousand lashes. Sancho naturally resists this course of action, leading to serious friction with his master. Under the duke's patronage, Sancho eventually gets an imaginary governorship, and unexpectedly proves to be wise and practical; though this, too, ends in humiliation…
DON QUIXOTE
Complete
by Miguel de Cervantes [Saavedra]
Translated by John Ormsby
http://www.gutenberg.org/...
There are the knights in the stories about King Arthur and I love them.
Kay, Guy Gavriel
The Fionavar Tapestry
Steinbeck, John
The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights
Stewart, Mary
The Crystal Cave (1970)
The Hollow Hills (1973)
The Last Enchantment (1979)
The Wicked Day (1983)
Keneally-Morrison, Patricia
The Copper Crown (1984)
The Throne of Scone (1986)
The Silver Branch (1988)
Tales of Arthur
The Hawk's Grey Feather (1990)
The Oak Above the Kings (1994)
The Hedge of Mist (1996)
Lawhead, Stephen
The Pendragon Cycle:
Taliesin (1987)
Merlin (1988)
Arthur (1989)
Pendragon (1994)
Grail (1997) (this one is new to me, too)
White, T. H.
The Once and Future King
Whyte, Jack
Camulod Chronicles series
Bradley, Marion Zimmer
The Mists of Avalon
A list of the Knights of the Round Table is here:
http://www.legendofkingarthur.co.uk/...
My favorites from the list:
King Arthur
Bors
Ector Ector (foster Father)
Gaheris
Galahad
Gareth
Geraint
Gawain
http://www.legendofkingarthur.co.uk/...
Kay
Lancelot
Lionel
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Sir Lionel is the younger son of King Bors of Gaunnes (or Gaul) and Evaine and brother of Bors the Younger in Arthurian legend. He is a double cousin of Lancelot and cousin of Lancelot's younger half-brother Ector de Maris (not to be confused with the older Sir Ector, who was King Arthur's foster-father). When their father dies in battle against King Claudas, Lionel and Bors are rescued by the Lady of the Lake and raised in her underwater kingdom alongside her foster-son Lancelot. Like all his family, Lionel becomes a Knight of the Round Table.
Child Ballads 18
Lionel
http://www.sacred-texts.com/...
SIR EGRABELL had sonnes three,
Blow thy horne, good hunter
Sir Lyonell was one of these.
As I am a gentle hunter
Sir Lyonell wold on hunting ryde,
Vntill the forrest him beside.
And as he rode thorrow the wood,
Where trees and harts and all were good,
And as he rode over the plaine,
There he saw a knight lay slaine.
And as he rode still on the plaine,
He saw a lady sitt in a graine.
‘Say thou, lady, and tell thou me,
What blood shedd heere has bee.’
‘Of this blood shedd we may all rew,
Both wife and childe and man alsoe.
‘For it is not past 3 days right
Since Sir Broninge was mad a knight.
‘Nor it is not more than 3 dayes agoe
Since the wild bore did him sloe.’
‘Say thou, lady, and tell thou mee,
How long thou wilt sitt in that tree.’
She said, ‘I will sitt in this tree
Till my friends doe feitch me.’
‘Tell me, lady, and doe not misse,
Where that your friends dwellings is.’
‘Downe,’ shee said, ’in yonder towne,
There dwells my freinds of great renowne.’
Says, ‘Lady, Ile ryde into yonder towne
And see wether your friends beene bowne.
‘I my self wilbe the formost man
That shall come, lady, to feitch you home.’
But as he rode then by the way,
He thought it shame to goe away;
And vmbethought him of a wile,
How he might that wilde bore beguile.
‘Sir Egrabell,’ he said, ’My father was;
He neuer left lady in such a case;
‘Noe more will I’ . . .
* * * * *
‘And a[fter] that thou shalt doe mee
Thy hawkes and thy lease alsoe.
‘Soe shalt thou doe at my command
The litle fingar on thy right hand.’
‘Ere I wold leaue all this with thee,
Vpoon this ground I rather dyee.’
The gyant gaue Sir Lyonell such a blow,
The fyer out of his eyen did throw.
He said then, ’if I were saffe and sound,
As with-in this hower I was in the ground,
‘It shold be in the next towne told
How deare thy buffett it was sold;
‘And it shold haue beene in the next towne said
How well thy buffett it were paid.’
‘Take 40 daies into spite,
To heale thy wounds that beene soe wide.
‘When 40 dayes beene at an end,
Heere meete thou me both safe and sound.
And till thou come to me againe,
With me thoust leaue thy lady alone.’
When 40 dayes was at an end,
Sir Lyonell of his wounds was healed sound.
He tooke with him a litle page,
He gaue to him good yeomans wage.
And as he rode by one hawthorne,
Even there did hang his hunting horne.
He sett his bugle to his mouth,
And blew his bugle still full south.
He blew his bugle lowde and shrill;
The lady heard, and came him till.
Sayes, ’The gyant lyes vnder yond low,
And well he heares your bugle blow.
‘And bidds me of good cheere be,
This night heele supp with you and me.’
Hee sett that lady vppon a steede,
And a litle boy before her yeede.
And said, ’lady, if you see that I must dye,
As euer you loued me, from me flye.
‘But, lady, if you see that I must liue,’
Percival
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Chrétien de Troyes wrote the first story of Percival; Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, and the now lost Perceval of Robert de Boron are other famous accounts of his adventures.
There are many versions of Percival's birth. In most accounts he is of noble birth; his father is either King Pellinore or another worthy knight. His mother is usually unnamed but plays a significant role in the stories. His sister is the bearer of the Holy Grail, she is sometimes named Dindrane. In tales where he is Pellinore's son his brothers are Sir Aglovale, Sir Lamorak and Sir Dornar, and he also has a half-brother, by his father's affair with a peasant woman, named Sir Tor.
After the death of his father, Percival's mother takes him to the Welsh forests where she raises him ignorant to the ways of men until the age of 15. Eventually, however, a group of knights passes through his wood, and Percival is struck by their heroic bearing. Wanting to be a knight himself, the boy travels to King Arthur's court, and after proving his worthiness as a warrior he is knighted and invited to join the Knights of the Round Table.
Pelleas
Pelinore Pellinor
Urien of Gore
Valadon
Yvain ( Owain, Owen)
Tristan
There are the knights in other novels that are gallant and try to help people.
There is Lymond in the Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett who does his best to save the little Princess Mary Stewart and others throughout the series.
There is Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott who takes on combat to save an endangered lady who had helped him buy armor to take on Prince John’s boasting champions.
There is Inigo Montoya in Goldman’s The Princess Bride, though you may prefer to choose Westley.
Which character are you in The Princess Bride?
http://www.selectsmart.com/...
There is Atticus in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird.
Then there are the real knights in history such as William Marshal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Guillaume le Maréchal), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He was described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" by Stephen Langton. He served four kings — Henry II, Richard the Lionheart, John and Henry III — and rose from obscurity to become a regent of England for the last of the four, and so one of the most powerful men in Europe. Before him, the hereditary title of "Marshal" designated head of household security for the king of England; by the time he died, people throughout Europe (not just England) referred to him simply as "the Marshal"…
After his death, his eldest son, also named William, commissioned a biography of his father to be written called L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechal. This book, written so soon after his death, has preserved (and probably enhanced) the legend of William Marshal for posterity. While his knightly achievements may be debatable, there is no doubt of his impact on the history and politics of England, from his stalwart defence of the realm to his support of the Magna Carta.
The Three Musketeers by Dumas is a kind of knight’s tale as is his The Last Cavalier.
There are dragon knights in the Dragonlance series:
Weis, Margaret and Hickman, Tracy
Dragon Lance Chronicles
Dragons of Autumn Twilight
Dragons of Winter Night
Dragons of Spring Dawning
Favorite Movies:
King Arthur and Lancelot
First Knight with Sean Connery and Richard Gere
Based on William Marshal perhaps:
A Knight’s Tale with Heath Ledger
Ivanhoe with Elizabeth Taylor
Who are your favorite knights ancient and modern?
Diaries of the Week
Write On! could we have a flaw, please?
by SensibleShoes
http://www.dailykos.com/...
plf515 has a book talk on Wednesday mornings early.
sarahnity’s list of DKos authors
http://www.dailykos.com/...