Week 13 Reading Notes - The Faerie Queene A
This week, we continue with the British and Celtic mythological stories. While last week, I read a more traditional/canonical story with the tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, I turn this week to something closer to a fairy tale - that is, the story of the Faerie Queen. These tales of enchantment, magical trickery, and a characteristic of whimsy make up what many know and love as the classic fairy tale in the British descended world.
Britomart is a mystical being in European tales, originating in Greek mythology and appearing as something akin to Fae in Celtic myth. She is a female knight in our stories - a rarity in older mythology. Her legendary enchanted spear defeats Sir Guyon with ease, and the two form a fast friendship. Later in, Britomart displays knightly honor in assisting one knight who is being attacked by six, then fully defeating the six knights at once. Doing so, she won the hand of the lady of a castle. And what would a classic western tale be without some good old fashioned women-as-property story pieces? Either way, they attempt to betray her, so she leaves.
The character of Britomart as portrayed in the stories here is incredibly interesting. For this week's story, I will likely look to craft a similar tale of knightly valor and duty, staring either Britomart herself, or another non-male knight, if only to just try to mix it up from my largely "male" dominated storybook. Many of the stories portray some sort of knightly quality, such as honor, fairness, respect, chastity, or courage. The later stories of this unit should help me to decide which quality I want to consider in my own story, and how best to expand therein. Only the next half of the stories will show!
Bibliography: Faerie Queene, Untextbook
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| Holiness defeats Error |
Britomart is a mystical being in European tales, originating in Greek mythology and appearing as something akin to Fae in Celtic myth. She is a female knight in our stories - a rarity in older mythology. Her legendary enchanted spear defeats Sir Guyon with ease, and the two form a fast friendship. Later in, Britomart displays knightly honor in assisting one knight who is being attacked by six, then fully defeating the six knights at once. Doing so, she won the hand of the lady of a castle. And what would a classic western tale be without some good old fashioned women-as-property story pieces? Either way, they attempt to betray her, so she leaves.
The character of Britomart as portrayed in the stories here is incredibly interesting. For this week's story, I will likely look to craft a similar tale of knightly valor and duty, staring either Britomart herself, or another non-male knight, if only to just try to mix it up from my largely "male" dominated storybook. Many of the stories portray some sort of knightly quality, such as honor, fairness, respect, chastity, or courage. The later stories of this unit should help me to decide which quality I want to consider in my own story, and how best to expand therein. Only the next half of the stories will show!
Bibliography: Faerie Queene, Untextbook
Gage,
ReplyDeleteI enjoy how you set up your reading notes. They're pleasant to read and sound more like a journal entry. I wish more people structured theirs like this--myself included. I also applaud your endeavor to write stories revolving around female knights.
Best of luck with finish off the semester strong! I'm sure this story you write will be pretty banger.
-Lance J.