Spring break 1170

It is Easter and everyone is together in the town, Cardigan. Undoubtedly there is beautiful springtime weather, and it appears to be making everyone go wild.

We are taking a particular interest in everyone's physical appearance. For example, Erec the knight is described as incredibly handsome and brave.
Additionally, the narrative voice in the story is devoting extra time to describe the physical appearance of women in the story. Essentially, it feels as though everyone is checking each other out and flirting with each other due to the number of ways that we hear them called beautiful and noble.

Of course, Erec is still a knight and when he encounters an enemy that he wishes to fight, he will do so in the most chivalrous way. This is unlike modern times, we have lost our chivalry, and people today would have likely started a fight immediately rather than offering respect.

Let's Fight

"Behold Erec was in the forest, and the others had paused over those lying in the field. They declared their intentions and swore at the top of their voices to spur in pursuit of him for two days or three rather than fail to capture and kill him. The count heard their words. Seriously wounded in the side, he raised himself a little and opened his eyes slightly."

He realized the number of men he brought vastly outnumbered Erec. He demanded one of his knights tend to his wound so he could finish off Erec and take the lady back to his town so she could become his beloved. The count ordered the knights to pursue Erec as he took shelter in the forest. They knew a hundred of them could outlast just one man and woman for three days. Panicking, Erec and Enide scrambled to find shelter from the knights coming their way. Eventually, they found a cave large enough to hide the two of them plus the horses. 

Enide was frightened - she felt like this was entirely her fault. If she never told her beloved what the other knights were saying about him, then they would not be in a cold, dark shelter that is not suitable for either of them. She turned to her beloved to speak but quickly regretted doing so. Erec yelled with anger "why do you continue to disrespect me! This is your fault we are here. You have disrespected me too many times."

Just then, one of the count's knights galloped by. He signaled to the count as he found the location of the targets. All hundred of the knights gathered around awaiting the signal to ambush. The count dropped his hand, and all the knights rushed in taking both refugees by surprise. Half of the knights took Erec away to his impending doom. The other half followed the count home with Enide by his side.

A Worthy Suitor

Why did the Vavasor give his daughter to Erec after denying other suitors? What makes Erec worthy of her love?

The Power of Beauty

Why is Erec the knight referred to as the most handsome, noble, and brave, rather than being referred to as average looking or even ugly? How might it change the story if he wasn't so admired because of his looks?

Chivalry and Respect Today

Chivalry is something that is always talked about whenever the medieval time periods are brought up. Pertaining to this story, it refers to the common respect between two people. Erec makes it no secret that he has hate towards the knight named Yder when they fight for the sparrowhawk. Despite this hatred, there is a common respect Erec has for the knight. He accepts the proposal to take a break between battle, and does not commit murder against the knight he so hates. Erec hated this man for pretty much little to no reason except for the fact that they had different viewpoints (and his dwarf companion, but regardless). Erec thought his beloved deserved the sparrowhawk, just as Yder believed his beloved did. However despite this difference, the two showed a common form or respect towards each other; something that we are seriously lacking in our society today.

Today, it seems that people are more split than ever thanks to beliefs, politics, and many other views others differ from. We have lost out chivalry; our common respect for one another. The two knights in our story disagreed with each other’s views, but they still showed respect for one another. Perhaps we should try and look back at these stories to see just how much our human decency for one another has changed, and try to reform a respect for one another’s views and beliefs; whether we agree with them or not.

The biggest fear ends up comming after us

         "This jealous old man, who is he afraid of, who keeps me in such a strong prison? he is completely mad and foolish, he is constantly afraid of being betrayed." (line 71 to 74). The Lord was so protective of his young wife that he wouldn't let talk to anybody but just his sister. he locked her up in his tower to make sure that she was all his. by being so afraid of sharing his love,  he killed ended up killing the knight. The Lord was so afraid by the other men so he protected her from everyone but his most fear was realized. He ended up sharing his wife with someone which lead him to even lose her.

To Love is to Suffer

In Deus Amanz, the actions of the King, the boy, and the princess portray the message of “to love is to suffer”. In the beginning, the King is faced with a dilemma of possibly losing his most beloved and treasured daughter to some man, so he creates a challenge: for anyone who seeks the princess’ hand in marriage, “he must carry her in his arms without resting” (Marie 37-38). This challenge posed to be impossible for many suitors of the princess, portraying the king’s insurmountable love for his daughter, as well as illustrating the message that one must go through great lengths to achieve love. The same message resonated with the boy as he struggled to gain the approval to marry the princess. For example, the he went through the trouble of retrieving a stamina potion to cheat his way through the challenge but ended up not using it and “reached the summit; exhausting himself [to death]” (Marie 203). In a similar way, the princess aided the boy to accomplish the task by starving herself to become easier to carry, but in the end, she dies due to the loss of her beloved. Thus, just as the king suffered from the possibility of losing his daughter, the boy and the princess suffered to accomplish the king’s task all for the sake of love. 

Are You Freaking Kidding Me?!?!

Love Kills. Deus Amanz, Significant quote

"Beautiful one, I feel my heart quite strong: I would not by any means stop long enough to drink, for I could go three steps in that time. These people would cry out to us, they would stun me with their noise; they could easily upset me. I do not want to stop here." (Marie, 189-195)

This quote seems important because he didn't stop out of fear for two reasons. He feared that stopping to drink would be considered resting or he would get tired and wouldn't be able to continue. He felt he had to continue and prove his love.