Week 13 Reading Notes: The Faerie Queene B

Britomart
Once again we return to the enchanting and strange tales of Britomart from the Faerie Queene, an epic poem of gallantry and knightly honor. Britomart is a lady raised as a knight of honor herself, choosing to disguise herself as man in some occasions (due to the culture of the time). She sees the face of her destined lover in the mirror of the magus Merlin, and goes to seek him out. As a (precarious) lover of Arthurian/Troubadour tales, I was happy to find these stories to be a refreshing, almost not misogynistic corner of the canon, featuring a valiant, strong female lead (who is unfortunately still on a goal that revolves around heterosexual love, but you can only get so much). Despite my complaints to this, Britomart maintains her royal air and strong demeanor throughout the story, and displays knightly qualities beyond even that of the legends Lancelot and Gawain. She even tries to maintain this in spite of her falling in love with Artegall, more and more as each day passes by, and tries to save face against even what she calls the crown of Knighthood - love. This ending to the tale wraps up many of the strings left throughout the story, minus the whole "sorry I lost your wife" kind of thing. That is conveyed in another story for another day, apparently. While Britomart tries hard to first remain with Artegall, then accompany him on his grand journey, she eventually realizes her duty is to secure the woman lost in the desert forest, and returns to the poor knight who has been waiting for her love to quiet down enough for her to complete a task she had promised. (That paragraph ended up a lot more cynical than I expected). Either way, my story will hopefully reflect a similar charm as Britomart, but maybe with the Troubadour love tuned down a bit.
Bibliography: Britomart, Untextbook Link

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Introduction to Some Nerd

Image
The first thing post people say after I tell them my major is some variant of "Why?". "Why would you do that to yourself?" is a common one I get. My major being Mathematics. The other most common thing I get is "Ew, I hate math." It's always nice and peachy to be told by someone you just met that they hate your entire field. Despite the multiple all-nighters, mind-meltingly difficult concepts, and multiple nearly failed classes, I still love my degree and math as a whole. The sheer beauty and connectedness of it all is unique and intricate, almost like getting to see the hidden truths of the universe. Of course, some days, it can be like trying to use a brick to turn a screw, but I try not to think too hard about those. Enough about math, more about me! I'm Gage Robelen, in my last semester of college here at OU, and a tremendous nerd for most things. I'm from Moore, Oklahoma, I'm 20 years old, and I can turn my feet around backwards. My i...
Read more

Week 7 Story: The Dragonfly and the Baobab Tree

Image
Prelude: I highly recommend listening to this song,  La Libellule et le Baobab , whose name and sound gave me the inspiration for this story. No really, I promise it improves the story.  A Great Baobab Tree At the center of a great, seemingly unending plain, there was a large lake at which many different animals came together to drink. Against the strain of the food chain, the animals here did not fight - the watering hole was not just an oasis against the elements, but against violence as well. No matter the day, no matter the rain, no matter the famine, no one dared to break the peace of the watering hole, lest they become the victim of its inhabitants in retaliation. Just a hair north of the lake was a great baobab tree, thousands of years older than any of the animals there. This baobab was no ordinary tree, but a spirit of unknowable wisdom and age. It was the symbol of peace at the lake, and told tales from eons before any of the lake's inhabitants were born. All ...
Read more