A Hero's Journey

This Knight could always be depended on to be at the fore of battle in his service to his lord, in fact he does this so exceptionally well that he appears to have the talent for travelling with an impressive speed! He dared never to utter a word of rudeness and behaved meekly whilst in the company of those not engaged with him on the battlefield. In keeping true to the tradition of his profession, his dress was `nat gay', while his horse was considered good, however this is permitted, as it is essential to his success.

“ The Miller, very drunk and rather pale, Was straddled on his horse half-on half-off And in mood for manners or to doff His hood or hat, or wait on any man, But in a voice like a Pilate’s he began To huff and swear. “By blood and bones and belly, I’ve got a noble story I can tell ‘ee, I’ll pay the knight his wages, not the

Christmas day and King Arthur hosts a feast with his loyal knights, as the celebration took place a large, mysterious man busts through the door. This man was a knight but not a normal night his skin was green as grass on a spring’s morning and his horse shined a green pearlescent as if it was made out of emerald. This Green Knight offered the king a challenge that consisted of severing each other’s head. When none of the king’s knights step in for him a loyal citizen to the king accepted the challenge on behalf of the king. King Arthur grew furious on how his knights disrespected their code of chivalry by not challenging the green knight.

Another trumpet blast rang out, and the men to be knighted proceeded out on the field, all eight of them. Rion stood at the end of the line, his shoulders back, standing tall, with his long, dark hair tied back in a leather thong. At seventeen, he had grown more strapping and taller than Percival had ever thought possible. This strong, broad-shouldered young man before him had once been a skinny and frightened child after his mother and sister’s deaths, but look at him now. He was everything a knight should be, deliberate, smart, bold, and kind. And Rion handled a sword better than any man Percival knew.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” he told his guards before wandering a down the corridor, then up a flight of stairs to Mithian’s guest chamber. When he arrived, heart banging against his ribcage with hard and relentless thumps, he came face-to-face with one of Mithian’s knights. He’d never taken a moment to consider the fact her chambers would be guarded, even though that was customary. Arthur reminded himself he was the king, and others would find it acceptable for him to bed any woman he chose. He stood before the young knight.

The Duke’s informality is shown as he has a discussion, about the matter of his late Duchess, with, possibly, a messenger.

“The first time was the worst. It was so sudden and awful, I scarcely knew what had happened. I was seventeen and had been knighted just days earlier. I was on a routine patrol in the Wild Wood with Lionel when we came upon two Saxons… assaulting a woman. We called out for them to stop, but

Aunt Sarah rolled her eyes and clucked haughtily, “Oh really.” She then returned to her business of checking the barn floor for seeds. Her two chicks looked inquisitively at their cousin, but did not dare go near him. The knight—his needle-sword flashing through the air, his feed bag cape flapping behind him, his tin shield firmly grasped in his wing, and his chipped teacup helmet perched precariously upon his head—was not done.

“Oh! Oui, Monsieur! The Baron was very upset. You see, Sir! When he questioned me about it, he said something which at the time, didn’t mean much to me, but now… Now, I wish I had never heard it, Sir…”

The knights remained in the Hall for a short time, discussing their ideas and concerns, but most didn’t want to linger. Only a few hours of freedom were left, and the men planned to make good use of each and every moment, Perceval included. He had to get to Joan.

In the prologue the Knight is at the front of the procession and his story the first of the sequence. The narrator and the host both admire the Knight. They remember his chivalry fidelity, honor, generosity and refinement. He fought in the Crusades. Yet, he is noted as meek, gentle and well mannered.

Merlin went to the wedding party and brought them a very important gift from the King. It was an enormous round table. Around the table there were chairs with knight’s names on the back. Merlin told the couple that when a knight died, his name disappeared from the table until a new knight replaced him. Arthur saw that a seat had no name. Merlin explained him that this seat was ‘The Dangerous Seat’ and it was reserved for the best knight in the world. “Any ordinary person who tries to sit there, dies.” he said.

When Beaumains requests food, it falls upon the shoulders of Sir Kay to feed him like a noble. Sir Kay, however, has other plans in mind. Beaumains is fed like a simple kitchen knave and is treated him like a servant by Sir Kay. When Beaumains requests to help the damsel, Sir Kay mocks him, feeling that this filthy servant boy should not go on such a noble quest. So it is that when King Arthur grants Beaumains his request. This disgusts Sir Kay. The supposedly noble knight challenges Beaumains by attempting to joust with him. Beaumains, who had no equipment and no training not only defeats Sir Kay, he humiliates him. It is Kay’s misjudgment and mistreatment of Beaumains that ultimately makes him look like the fool. Misjudgment is a mistake that many people in today’s world are very fond of making. Sir Kay teaches that these people are the

Poor Sir Andrew spends his energy trying to live up to the false picture he has of himself. As a knight, he believes he should be skilled in all the courtly virtues. He claims to be a good dancer, but his attempts to execute even the simplest steps are laughable. A courtier should speak different languages. Sir Andrew only makes a fool of himself when he tries to use the few phrases of French he has managed to learn.

Still, as we perfectly understand, social realities, beliefs, values, and tastes change and something in The Canterbury Tales have probably got outdated since the 14th century. Due to this reason, I decided to modernize “The Knight’s Tale” for my final assignment.