WEEK 6 Lab: Storybook Research!

The Shield of Sir Gawain

I've been meaning to talk about this more, but the shield is a huge piece of "The Green Knight." Gawain looks at it constantly where there is a pentacle that represents Christ's five wounds. It also symbolizes the star of Bethlehem and the key attribute for being a knight: generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry, piety. They also refer to the virtues of Mary, whom Gawain has a picture of inside his shield. I've been reading on which meaning probably makes the most sense, but they probably all have equal meaning. I'd say that the last one has additional meaning because of the picture of Mary that he carries around. An article I read on Shmoop said this, "His five senses are very keen. His five fingers are dexterous. He devotes himself to the five wounds of Christ. He always thinks on the five joys Mary had in Jesus. Finally, he possesses five virtues: fellowship, generosity, chastity, courtesy, and charity. Basically, Gawain is the perfect knight."

I'm focusing so much on his shield because it really embodies his pursuit of perfection. It's why it makes his failure with the Green Knight so much more difficult. Arthur is able to forgive him. He sees Gawain as all of these characteristics. He values honesty in times of adversity. Gawain doesn't understand how, when he fell short of the characteristics that he actively practices, how his king could forgive and even celebrate him at the end.

Sword Terminology by Albion Swords

So, there's a few sword fighting scenes. I might need to know the words so I don't look like a huge fool. The link includes useful resources to the histories of different styles of sword fighting, and most importantly, the anatomy. I expect I'll refer to this a bit. I believe knights usually used longswords, so I'll need to find more information on those specifically.

I don't usually write action sequences, but I'm thinking it would be fun to do so with the perspective that I'm using. It could be fun and act as a way to see Gawain's dexterity in action. There's a lot of information to remember here. I'm realizing this is a huge poem to adapt, but I'm having fun. :)

A cool longsword (Wikimedia Commons)

Reading Notes: Wardrop's Georgian Folktales B

Source: Teeth and No-Teeth from Georgian Folktales by Marjory Wardrop

I chose this section not because it was the most interesting, but because it felt incredibly peculiar. I didn't expect the ending at all. It was quite jarring and kind of strange, which I liked? I think that memorable is the best word to describe this story.

The shah wanted to see who the hungriest man in his kingdom was and set out to find him. He also wanted to see how much of the "daintiest" food he could eat for some reason. I guess I don't really understand that part. He lets his people know that he wants to do this and its a big deal.

On the decided day, a bunch of people gather. The king has laid out a lot of really nice food and asks for the hungriest men to come forward. Two men who have not eaten in a long time, one who is twenty seven, and one who is very old, come forward. The younger one says that he cant find work and is ashamed to beg. The old man says that his children have died and he's exhausted. Both haven't eaten in three days.

The shah begins to bring out food on one plate and in small portions. I still don't understand why, but okay. They look at each other and start crying. The shah is confused and asks them what's wrong. The old man is having a hard time eating and the young man is eating everything up. The young man says the old man is lying and that he while he is chewing his meat, the old man is swallowing everything whole. I do not understand at all.

In terms of story potential, I would want to make it very clear what the point was or maybe even do something a little bit different. I would want to tweak it in some way that maybe strayed a bit from the original source material in some capacity.

Small Plates (Wikimedia Commons)

Reading Notes: Wardrop's Georgian Folktales A

Source: The Serpent and the Peasant from Georgian Folktales by Mary Wardrop

There once was a king from a nice kingdom with nice subjects. One night he had an odd dream in which a fox was suspended from the ceiling by his tail and no one knew what to make of this. Then he tried to find someone to figure out this strange dream's meaning and on the third day, common people showed up, including a poor peasant. While the peasant was trying to get there, they found a snake lying in their way. The snake and the peasant have a nice little chat and the peasant promises the snake some presents if it will help them out. The snake agrees. 

The snakes says that the fox is supposed to represent cunning, treachery, and hypocrisy in the kingdom. The peasant was given many gifts in exchange for this info and then the peasant left the palace or whatever a different way to avoid sharing with the snake... The king had another vision of a sword and asked the peasant to interpret. The peasant sought out the snake, who was mad and demanded payment. Oh, the snake said the sword meant war. The peasant chased the snake and cut off its tail, which is super rude, like it did this person a huge favor. 

The king has anoooother vision. The peasant finds the snake and begs forgiveness. The peasant brings it the treasures they owe the snake and the snake is cool. The peasant was sneaky in times of deceit. The peasant was ready to fight in times of war. Now, the peasant is peaceful in times of peace. It has a happy ending. 

I have to say that I kind of wanted the snake to get revenge a little bit. This person so took advantage of it, but I'm glad it ended things on its own terms. I think that this was fun and a nice change of pace. The Georgian folktales remind me a lot of the Jataka tales, which is nice! I really enjoy these kinds of stories. 

A very lovely Plains Hognose (Flickr)