Chivalry Today

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2009-10-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

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Saturday Jousting Report

2009-10-03T12:32:00.001-07:00

Saturday morning ... When I'm not rushing around on the weekends, I enjoy taking a few minutes to listen to the radio while the coffee is brewing. What a surprise when, this morning, the host of Weekend Edition said, "Now, we take you to Maryland for a report on the sport of jousting, which is making a comeback."
Even without coffee, my ears perked right up.
The report, by journalist Jacki Lyden, took an inside look at a company of jousters who do the "touring circuit" of several Renaissance Faires throughout the country every year, and both the dangers and rewards they face in preparing for, and putting on their shows.
The piece touched on several aspects of the values of chivalry - how the sense of honor that permeates this sport appeals to audiences who "spend their days sitting in a cubicle" and "want to escape the everyday mundane grind"; and also the degree of trust and respect this competitive sport builds among its participants.
Unfortunately, the story left the concept of chivalry within the confines of the Renaissance Faire - the reporter didn't explore whether the jousters or the spectators took away any sort of lasting ideals or different impression of a code of honor when the show was over.
Still, the report (free of the usual hokey pirate language and lame puns - they even resisted the urge to call the piece "Living the Knight Life") left listeners with the impression that there is something serious - even respectable - to be found among the athletes and performers who put on modern day jousting shows.

Let’s Go To Spamalot (Even Though It Is A Silly Place)

2009-09-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

By Scott Farrell

Regular listeners of the Chivalry Today Podcast know we’ve kicked off our fourth season with a show that included an interview with actor Christopher Gurr, who has just taken over the role of King Arthur in the touring company of the Tony award-winning musical Spamalot. The show is based on (or, as its creator, Eric Idle, says, “Lovingly ripped off from”) the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail (released, believe it or not, in 1975).

Last night (that’s “night” without a K) I got to see Spamalot, which, after my lengthy conversation with Gurr, gave me an opportunity to search for nuances and hidden messages within the show (as well as enjoying some classic bits and hilarious new material, of course).

Now, anyone attending Spamalot expecting a deep, thoughtful exploration of the values of chivalry and honor, or the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table is going to be sadly disappointed. (They’ve replaced the Winchester Round Table with a roulette wheel, for Pete’s sake!)

The show is all about bringing the visuals and jokes from the venerable film to life on stage — and in that, Spamalot succeeds delightfully. There are a variety of effects and production pieces that provide great visual humor — from the catapulted cow crushing Patsy to a pair of monks who provide “moving” scenery by rolling themselves in a backdrop. And there are also all the unforgettable scenes from the movie (“Bring out your dead,” and the knights who say “nee!”) that have been given just the right amount of updating.

Enjoyable as all that is, however, what keeps Spamalot from becoming nothing but a regurgitation of jokes that were getting old when President Obama was in high school are the performances, primarily those of Gurr and Merle Dandridge, who plays the Lady of the Lake.

Dandridge’s performance is rock-solid and her voice is stunning. The majority of the humor she brings to the stage comes from the vocal gymnastics she performs throughout the numbers — proving she is thoroughly capable of “over singing” any song. (You could easily imagine her as a finalist on “Camelot Idol.”)

Similarly, Gurr doesn’t mug for laughs or play Arthur as an empty-headed fop. While his knights find the humor in their roles, Gurr brings a sincerity and dignity to the character of Arthur — which, as he mentioned in the podcast, is the key to making the role, and the show, work. Even when Gurr is skipping about the stage with Patsy clopping coconut shells together to imitate hoofbeats, there’s an unmistakable regalness to Gurr’s carriage. He makes King Arthur the most emotionally engaging character in the show, and, even amid the wackiness, he makes the audience feel that King Arthur is the leader we all want to follow, and the ideal we all want to be.

It’s a metaphor that plays out very nicely in the first musical number of the second act, “Look On The Bright Side Of Life.” Arthur’s down in the dumps and feels his quest has failed. His knights all come out to cheer him up and, amid gloom and thunder, they all whip out their umbrellas and begin to sing, whistle and dance; suddenly the sun is shining all around them, even though it’s pouring rain up above.

It’s easy to miss if you’re tapping your toes to the music, but the heraldic symbol on King Arthur’s tabard in this show (just as in the original movie) is not the traditional lion, dragon or Virgin Mary … but a shining sun. And that symbol is perfectly mirrored on the surface of the umbrellas the knights twirl as they’re “singin’ in the rain.” The message is simple and nicely underplayed: Arthur is the sunshine on a rainy day.

Spamalot wasn’t created to reveal the emotional or moral depths of Arthurian legend, but this is just one of several moments in the show that demonstrate there is something thoughtful lurking under the jokes — a message that the image of King Arthur has been, is and always will be that ray of hope in an hour of darkness, the light of optimism and strength that glows even when the world seems cloaked in the clouds of doom.

Though he maybe galumphing across the stage, tap dancing on the Round Table or enduring the merciless taunts of the French soldiers, Gurr portrays King Arthur in a manner true to the chivalric ideals of the 13th century Spanish knight and author Ramon Llull, who observed that, “Hope is the principle instrument of the office of knighthood.” And whether it’s proving the power of hope and joy to overcome adversity, or just putting a smile on our faces, King Arthur and the cast of Spamalot succeed in their quest most nobly.

Spamalot runs in San Diego through Sept. 13; tickets are available through Broadway San Diego. The show also runs in San Jose, Tucson and Costa Mesa – more details are on the Spamalot website.

Summer Knight Surprises

2009-09-09T15:26:00.000-07:00

By Scott Farrell

www.ChivalryToday.com

The past three-day weekend marked the unofficial “end of summer.” Kids are all back in school, college campuses are bustling, and everyone’s returning to work and sharing pictures and tales of what they did and where they went over the summer.

Of course, I’d love to tell you I went on a lengthy tour of the castles and museums of Europe on a quest of discovery of the history and culture of knighthood … but for me (like many people this year) this was a summer for things a little closer to home. But, ironically, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t have a few pleasant, surprise (and completely serendipitous) encounters with the history of medieval knights.

Let me share them with you:

Meet Me (With Some Armor) In St. Louis

In August, I was traveling with a friend through the city of St. Louis, Missouri. We were on a quick business trip, and when I found myself with an hour to spare in the downtown area, I decided to take a stroll through the historic Forest Park, site of the 1904 World’s Fair.

Sadly, since I was there on a whim, I didn’t have nearly enough time to explore the many museums, gardens and activities that are housed in the park. But I was drawn to one very prominent feature: A bronze statue of a knight on horseback, which stands in front of a very impressive building on a hilltop overlooking the park.

The statue, it turns out, is a monument to the city’s namesake, St. Louis, also known as Louis IX, the famous crusader king of medieval France. The building, it turns out, is the celebrated St. Louis Art Museum, whose motto, “Dedicated to Art and Free to All,” is carved right above the front door.

Since the price was right, I decided to poke my nose in the door and ask one simple question: “Do you have any armor on display?” The docent directed me downstairs where I spent the half-hour I had to spare visiting the museum’s gallery of medieval armor — a small but respectable offering of late-medieval weaponry and knightly equipment, including a fine example of German “Maximilian” plate armor of the 16th century.

The armor gallery is obviously very popular with museum visitors — there’s even a “Family Guide To Arms & Armor” brochure available at the front desk that allows kids to properly identify every piece of a knight’s harness, from sallet to sabaton. Unfortunately, this very nice gallery of the armor-maker’s craft is tucked away in a remote corner of the basement, and is accompanied by relatively rudimentary historical information. The display is just ripe for an active interpretation to help visitors understand the craft, function and symbolism of medieval armor — and since there’s a beautiful patch of lawn right there under the gaze of the St. Louis statue, all the museum needs is the right person or group to coordinate a demonstration of arms and armor in action.

(And if anyone from the St. Louis Art Museum is reading this, please feel free to contact Chivalry Today!)

If you’re at all intrigued by medieval arms and armor and you’re in the St. Louis area – even for a few minutes! – be sure to stop by the Art Museum and visit the armor gallery (and enjoy a picnic lunch at the riverside in Forest Park).

A Cowboy’s Spurs Aren’t The Only Things Jingling

A few weeks later my wife and I decided to take a little “road trip” vacation before the start of school through the heart of California’s Gold Rush country. We spent several days driving along the back roads along both sides of the Sierra-Nevada mountain range, haunting the mining towns that the freeway system has bypassed. There are a lot of intriguing landmarks and historic monuments in this area, but when we got to the Calaveras County Historical Society & Museum (in the town made famous for the frog-jumping contest in Mark Twain’s short story) we were surprised to see a shirt of chain mail hanging in a display case at the back of the town museum. Medieval armor is not the sort of thing you expect to see in a quiet three-room museum upstairs from the Hall of Records (and town bookshop) in California’s prospecting country.

The story of the shirt of mail was displayed on a placard beneath the case: Apparently it was owned by the notorious outlaw George Washington Cox, who was arrested in Calaveras County and sentenced in the county courthouse (which is now part of the museum). The display said “armored protectors” like the one worn by Cox were not uncommon among men who spent time on the Western frontier, since the chain mail, worn underneath a shirt or coat, was essentially proof against arrows, tomahawks, Bowie knives and just about any other sort of weapon short of a sixgun. According to the museum, there was a relatively lucrative business being done in San Francisco crafting these shirts of mail for scouts, miners, homesteaders and anyone else heading out to the dangerous reaches of the Wild West.

It seems particularly ironic that the cowboys and gunslingers, sometimes called “knights of the Old West,” might, in fact, have been a little closer to their medieval counterparts in their equipment than anyone previously thought.

Of course, neither of these chance encounters with knightly arms and armor has anything to do with the principles of chivalry other than to serve as a reminder that references, artifacts and images of medieval culture sometimes pop up in the most unexpected of places. The more we study and understand the world of history — whether it’s armor and castles, or chivalry and the tales of the Round Table — the more we are prepared to understand the world we live in today.

A Taxing King Arthur Parabel

2009-08-07T15:52:00.000-07:00

We think of the tales of King Arthur as ancient tales of a long-ago fantasy world, but it's important to remember that, in their time, these stories were used as both political commentary and social satire. The tales of Camelot could be epic and romantic, but they could also be absurd and hilarious.

(Anyone who thinks the stories of the Knights of the Round Table are stuffy and serious should read the French tale Aucassin et Nicollette, in which the king gets pregnant and gives birth while the queen leads the knights in an epic food fight. Today's mindless, gross-out summer comedies are tame by comparison!)

In a recent episode of The Daily Show, however, viewers were treated to a taste of the lore of King Arthur as biting, contemporary political humor. It's not often that the fine points of the stories of Lancelot, St. George and Guenevere (as well as Aesop's Fables) are used to elicit laughter out of footage from C-SPAN - but maybe that's why fans of chivalry find this segment from a recent episode of Comedy Central's "news" show particularly funny.

Warning: The attached clip from The Daily Show contains "bleeped" adult language. Please use your discretion when viewing.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Chuck Grassley's Debt and Deficit Dragon

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Spinal Tap Performance

In Chivalry We Trust

2009-08-04T09:33:00.001-07:00

Time Magazine called him, The Man With America’s Trust — Walter Cronkite, of course. His recent death following his 70-year career in journalism and broadcasting has given the world an opportunity to examine, and even reassess, a value central to the Code of Chivalry: trust.

Cronkite was voted (in a 1972 public opinion poll) “the most trusted man in America.” The many obituaries and retrospectives that followed his death paint him as the very image of a modern knight: honest, brave, competitive and humble — implying that, on some level, it was the principles of chivalry that earned the trust of his listeners and viewers.

Yet amid the fond memories and professional analyses, there are commentators who regard “trust” (like “chivalry”) as a relic of a bygone age — something that has outlived its relevance, and would be best left in the era of automotive tailfins and big-band orchestras. Some see the very idea of a “most trusted” person in America as a reflection of bias, gullibility and naiveté among the public.

Slate Magazine, in a piece titled, Why I Didn’t Trust Cronkite, postulated that the age of journalistic trustworthiness stemmed from an FCC policy (discontinued in 1987) mandating that both sides of controversial issues had to be given equal time on the air. “One way around (the policy)” Slate explains, “was to tamp down controversy.” They dismissively speculate that Cronkite’s trustworthiness was a result of blandness rather than integrity.

Other news sources took a different angle in their critique of trust by seeking to quantify the concept in scientific terms, distilling trust to nothing more than a behavioral response to sensory stimuli. A symmetrical face and a deep, resonant voice are both indicators that elicit a sense of trust in most people, and perhaps there was no more to Cronkite’s trustworthiness than that (at least according to a report put out by PR firm Decker Communications, coaching business executives on how to polish their “brand” by looking and sounding trustworthy).

Of course, in today’s society, which seems to be weathering a veritable hailstorm of corruption and scandal, trust is (understandably) in short supply. But abandoning trust merely because the concept has been abused is a bit like junking your car just because it’s in need of a tune-up. The cynical voices calling for the obsolescence or commercialization of trust point to a critical misunderstanding of the concept: the difference between trust that is given and trust that is earned.

Trusting someone blindly — be it a reporter, an officer, a politician or a lending agent — can be a recipe for disaster. This is undoubtedly why writings about chivalry from medieval literature emphasize the importance of intelligence and discretion among the qualities of a knight. Knights were expected to be discerning and self-sufficient, not to merely take someone else’s word about what was right and wrong.

Yet at the same time a knight was expected to act in a manner that was faithful and reliable. There was hardly anyone more deplorable in medieval society than a knight who broke his word or swore a false oath.

Perhaps the greatest indication of the power of trust in the ideals of chivalry is the final words of the king in Sir Thomas Malory’s “Le Morte D’Arthur.” As Sir Bedevere laments the collapse of the Round Table, Arthur tells him:

“Do as well as thou mayest, for in me there is no trust to trust in.”

It is a very potent statement. Arthur doesn’t cite a lack of charity, justice or valor as the downfall of his knights. For him, it’s not until trust is eroded that the Round Table is finally doomed, and his words remind us that when there’s no one or nothing left to trust, it’s every man for himself.

Building trust, of course, takes time — and time like that isn’t easy to come by in today’s world. Trust is not a virtue of a single, grand gesture, but an ideal for the long haul. Yet, like chivalry, trust and trustworthiness are goals worth working for. Cronkite might have been the “most trusted person in America,” but he wasn’t the “last trusted person.” Even in a skeptical, cynical age, he stands tall as an example of trustworthiness, intelligence and chivalry that everyone can (and should) aspire to.

Read more by following the links below:
Time Magazine’s retrospective, The Man With America’s Trust
Slate Magazine’s article, Why I Didn’t Trust Walter Cronkite

A Little Touch Of Arthur On Sunday Night

2009-07-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

They say that every generation re-invents the legend of King Arthur to meet its own needs, and to reflect its own values. The Victorians had the nostalgic idealism of Tennyson’s Idylls of the King; in the 60’s there was Camelot as a spot for peaceful happ’ly ever-aftering; and ushering in the 70’s was the biting social satire of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

And now, fans of the Arthurian lore have another interpretation of the legends to consider: the series Merlin, which is airing on NBC Sunday nights. This show turns its focus backwards, exploring the “origin story” of Arthur (the young prince), Merlin (the budding wizard) and many of the other familiar characters in their formative years.

There are plenty of overviews and reviews of NBC’s Merlin on the web (including in The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter and the Boston Globe), so there’s no need to rehash the basic details of the premise here. More to the point might be some insight into how the concept of chivalry is treated in this series, and what the message of Merlin is for today’s world.

On one hand, Merlin falls into the realm of Arthurian stories founded on the premise that knights, quests, jousting and castles have to be “kid’s stuff.” As many reviewers have pointed out, the writing, acting and production of Merlin seems better suited for a Saturday morning adventure than for a prime-time network historical drama. Don’t look for any nuanced characterizations of heroes in the making, or subtle explorations of the challenges of following a code of honor (much less developing and establishing such a code – which could have been an intriguing subject in an “origin” story).

By making the world of Camelot a place of simplistic storylines and campy dialogue, perhaps Merlin is a not-too-flattering reflection of ethics in today’s society: Where children are taught to “play nice,” “be fair” and “do the right thing,” then turned loose in a world where those kinds of ideals are largely considered impediments to success. We might think of Merlin, on some level, as a cautionary reminder that in today’s world, decency, honor and chivalry are too often treated as “childish fantasies.”

On the other hand, perhaps the contemporary lesson of Merlin’s King Arthur can be found more in what isn’t there than in what is. For instance, don’t look for any foreshadowing of the sword in the stone in this tale — Arthur is already the acknowledged (and entitled) prince and heir of the realm. There won’t be any need for him to draw a magical sword to prove he’s next in line to be king.

Similarly, don’t expect Arthur’s prospective bride to be portrayed as a princess. Although Guenevere is traditionally characterized as the daughter of King Leodagrance, whose marriage to Arthur brings peace to the fractured realm (and, incidentally, a large, circular table to the halls of Camelot), in this version Gwen is a scullery maid to Morganna and daughter of a humble town blacksmith.

And along with the traditional story elements, another thing that seems to be missing in Merlin is a recognition of moral absolutes. In the course of the first few episodes, Merlin is told repeatedly: “There is no right and wrong, only what is.” (Another way of saying, “The ends justify the means.”) Is this most recent adaptation of the King Arthur legend a story that has been stripped of its foundational elements, thus reflecting a world at risk of being robbed of its core principles as well?

Ironically, there is one element of the traditional Arthurian storyline that does remain in Merlin: Beneath the palace of King Uther Pendragon, there is a cavern where “the great dragon” is imprisoned. (In the usual telling of the story, a pair of dragons resides beneath Uther’s tower, and their struggles cause an earthquake that topples the fortress — Merlin himself reveals the presence of these dragons to King Uther.)

In Merlin, when Merlin need advice and guidance, it is not to his mentor, Gaius the physician, he turns, but rather to this captive monster in its subterranean dungeon, last of the wise and powerful race of dragons that Uther exterminated by royal decree. Is this a subtle depiction of a society in which untrustworthy leaders have abandoned their sense of chivalry and honor in favor of tyranny and brute force? Where a young generation must grope in the darkness for tidbits of wisdom as their role models operate with little regard for the constraints of “right and wrong”? Where chivalry lies chained underground while amoral and self-centered rulers are given free rein in the sunlit world above?

Of course, this maybe focusing far too much philosophical analysis on a lighthearted action show. But if the legends of Camelot reflect cultural identity, then it seems the metaphor deserves consideration at least.

Only time will tell if Merlin has the depth to become a generational portrayal of the lore and ideals of Arthurian legend, or serves merely as a fun and campy (but ultimately forgettable) romp into the world of Camelot. But at least for now, anyone who enjoys the legends of chivalry, whether deeply thought or lighthearted, can enjoy a little touch of Arthur on Sunday nights.

Below: Anthony Head, who plays King Uther Pendragon in Merlin, talks about his role and the approach of the series.

Chivalry's Dirty Laundry

2009-06-29T16:16:00.000-07:00

The cover story of a recent issue of Maxim magazine sparked some interesting thoughts on the state of chivalry today. The piece was an interview with Moon Bloodgood, one of the stars of the summer action movie, “Terminator: Salvation.” Among a variety of questions, the reporter asked Ms. Bloodgood:

Q: How can a guy get your attention?

A: I’m into chivalry. As much as I’m a guy’s girl with a potty mouth, a polite man who opens the door is so refreshing.

Now, while it’s encouraging to see a popular model and actress (whose words command the attention of a lot of impressionable young men) mention chivalry, her comment isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of the concept. In fact, this backhanded compliment seems to reflect a general attitude toward chivalry in today’s world. Consider another example …

A few weeks ago, a mid-day AM radio talk show advertised a segment on chivalry. Women who tuned in got a 10-minute diatribe on the vanishing practice of chivalry in the world of dating and romance. Why don’t men dress nicely when they take a woman out to dinner? Why don’t they bring flowers to their dates? Why don’t they hold open doors for ladies? And, in general, why don’t men treat women with “class” anymore?

Ironically, immediately prior to the segment lamenting the lack of chivalry, there was a station-identification spot that featured, as background music, the song “Redneck Woman,” with lyrics such as:

I ain’t never been the Barbie doll type

I can’t drink that sweet champagne; I’d rather drink beer all night

I’m a redneck woman, I ain’t no high-class broad,

I’m just a product of my raisin’, and I say “hey y’all,” and “yee-haw!”

You might think I’m trashy, a little too hard-core

But get in my neck of the woods, I’m just the girl next door.

These days, our culture seems to have a conflicted relationship with chivalry (or at least the qualities of refinement and dignity that are sometimes defined as “chivalry”): People admonish others for a lack of propriety, consideration and etiquette, while simultaneously excusing themselves from any personal behavior that implies “formality” or “high class.”

In short, it seems there are a lot of people who expect others to go to the effort of being chivalrous, yet at the same time want to be exempt from that effort themselves.

Not surprisingly, this dichotomy is nothing new. Even back in the days of the 14th century, when Sir Geoffroi de Charny wrote Livre de Chevalerie (The Book of Chivalry), he recognized the difficulty of “practicing what you preach.” He noted that many young ladies tried to portray themselves as noble and “classy” through their rich dress (including wearing “coronetals, pearls, precious stones, rings, embroidery … and fine ornaments”), but failed to internalize the personal values that went along with nobility and chivalry.

But, as Charny observed, a lady who wanted to inspire a knight to chivalrous deeds (which, in his approach, meant courage and valor as much as dignity and courtesy) needed more than mere outward trappings. He said a lady needed to be:

“Wise, loyal, without arrogance, joyful, generous, courteous, expert … and of good conduct toward all others, without indulging in self praise. These qualities are the kinds of jewels you should use to adorn your garments … if you would everywhere be safeguarded, loved and esteemed.”

(Interestingly, Charny was progressively equal-opportunity in his expectations of gentle behavior. He said that the qualities he described were more “stylish” than the most expensive gown a lady could wear, and also more “elegant” than the finest armor a knight could put on.)

This isn’t to say that country folks and people of humble background can’t be dignified and courteous, nor that chivalrous people can never relax and be casual. But living by a code of honor — that includes dignity, nobility and the “good breeding” that was once reserved strictly for the knightly class — requires effort and dedication. Having a “potty mouth,” being “trashy” and “too hard core,” and then admonishing others for a lack of chivalry is a bit like showing up at a formal ball in a stained T-shirt and ragged jeans, then complaining about other people’s lack of fashion sense.

Before criticizing anyone for a lack of chivalry, perhaps we should all look to the garments of honor we dress ourselves in. The condition of our own wardrobe of knightly virtues may be the best indication of the fashions of chivalry we see in the world around us.

What Are We Up To Now?

2009-06-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

In an effort to keep all of our newsletter subscribers, blog followers, website visitors, podcast listeners, and other friends and supporters "in the know," we've added a new feature to the Chivalry Today website - a calendar of upcoming LIVE events. Want to find out where you and your young readers can SIEGE THE DAY with the Summer Reading Program? Curious to know which school, church or camp programs will let your children MEET KING ARTHUR? Ready to learn more about taking your business to the next level with the LEADERSHIP SECRETS OF THE CODE OF CHIVALRY? Now it's as easy as checking the "calendar of events" link in the Discover More section on the navigation bar at www.ChivalryToday.com
We hope this makes it easier for you to plan on joining us at the many talks and live presentations we give every month. Check back often and see what we're up to next!
(Of course, if you'd like to include one of our live presentations for your school, camp or youth group, this calendar will also give you an idea of what dates are still available. Contact us ASAP - we are already booking dates for school presentations in September 09.)

Come Join Us Live!

2009-05-15T17:07:00.000-07:00

Summer is just around the corner - and summer is one of the busiest times for us here at Chivalry Today. We provide many of our live chivalry-themed presentations for youth camps, summer schools, libraries and other organizations looking for an exciting and engaging activity for their young attendees ... and this summer will be no exception.
We want to invite Chivalry Today newsletter subscribers and podcast listeners to come and join us at some of the venues (open to the public - and best of all, free of charge) in the coming weeks where program director Scott Farrell will be sharing his knowledge and love of knighthood, medieval history and the values of chivalry with audiences of all ages:
DEED OF ARMS
May 17 - 2-3 pm at the Team Touche Fencing Center (10373 Roselle St. #120; San Diego, CA 92121). Team Touche is holding its yearly open house in preparation for its "fencing camp" programs. Scott Farrell will be giving a 30-minute lecture on arms and armor, and providing a demonstration of his Deed Of Arms presentation for attendees. Learn more about the Team Touche Fencing Center's programs at their website: http://www.teamtouche.com/TTFC/
SIEGE THE DAY
May 20 - 3:30-4:30 pm at the Santee Branch San Diego County Library (9225 Carlton Hills Boulevard #17; Santee, CA 92071-3192). Scott Farrell will be talking about castles, knights and the code of chivalry in his presentation "Get Creative and Siege the Day," part of the 2009 "Get Creative" Summer reading program. Children will get to see model catapults in operation, and will get to be "siege engineers" as they construct their own tabletop catapults out of craft sticks. The Siege The Day presentation will be given at other library branches throughout June, July and August - check the San Diego County Library website for more details and a schedule of events: http://www.sdcl.org/
ADVENTURES BY KNIGHT
June 16 - 10-11 am at the San Carlos Branch San Diego County Library (7265 Jackson Drive, San Diego, CA 92119-2314). Scott Farrell will present Adventures By Knight, a discussion of the themes of heroism and chivalry with young readers. The presentation will look at Jedi knights, superheroes, Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lord of the Rings and other popular books, TV shows and movies that harken back to the tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. A great way for kids (and adults too) to get a sense of the history and traditions behind the stories and characters they know and love - with lots of hands-on demonstrations of medieval arms and armor to keep things interesting.
Mark your calendars - JOUSTING!
October 23-25 at the Poway Rodeo Grounds (14336 Tierra Bonita Rd.; Poway, Ca. 92064). Our friends at Historic Enterprises and the Royal Armouries at Leeds are once again bringing the Tournament of the Phoenix to San Diego - the only jousting event in the United States sanctioned by England's prestigious Royal Armouries. Stop by and visit the Chivalry Today display booth, attend Scott Farrell's presentation on The History and Traditions of The Joust, and listen to Scott Farrell and Steve Lewandowski as they provide the live "color commentary" for the jousting. This year, at the request of the many educators who bring their students to this event, the organizers have added a education themed date on Friday (intended specifically for school field-trip coordinators) and have established the Festival of History Zone, where a variety of historical interpretative groups (from Rome to the Renaissance) will have "camps" set up to demonstrate authentic crafts, clothing and equipment for students - and everyone fascinated by the details of life in history!
Tickets to the Tournament of the Phoenix are now on sale through the event website, and you can also enjoy a video of the report done on the 2008 tournament by Showjumping Unplugged: http://www.worldjoust.com/

Great Expectations: Chivalry In Tomorrow's Knights

2009-04-30T09:56:00.001-07:00

Many people today lament society’s seeming lack of chivalry — especially in the “younger generation,” the 21-and-under set. They declare that “kids these days” have no sense of courtesy and respect, and are simply focused on themselves. These critics often seek to place the blame on a variety of sources — the Internet, feminism, reality TV, video games, or public education, just to name a few — for eroding the sense of chivalry and good manners that were once widespread in society.
There was a scene I witnessed in a local restaurant just the other day that depicted this sort of thing to a tee. The restaurant wasn’t a fine-dining establishment — it was one of those places where you order at the counter, then go pick up your meal on a tray when the attendant calls your name.
The scene in the restaurant was this: A family of five had come in for lunch. There was mom and dad, two children (middle school-age brother and a sister a year or two younger), and grandmother. They placed their order, then sat down at a table to wait. The adults carried on a conversation while the kids whipped out their high-tech gadgets — a video game for the boy, a text-messaging mobile phone for the girl.
Then, when the food came out, the kids sat playing with their electronic devices, while dad and grandma went to fetch the trays, along with all the necessary condiments and utensils. The children watched grandma (who was walking with a cane) carry their food to the table before she returned to the counter and picked up her own lunch. By the time grandma and dad sat down, the kids were already half-way through their meal.
“A perfect example of the lack of chivalry today!” you might say to yourself. Yes … but perhaps not in the way you might think.
Because the real chivalry-offenders in this tableau were not the two adolescents, but rather, the adults. In a situation like this, it is dad’s duty and responsibility (and mom’s as well) to become the “chivalry coach,” to lean over and discretely tell the young folks what’s expected of them. Learning to be of service is part of the education of adolescence — that transition from childhood to adult status. Recognizing that the responsibilities of duty and courtesy are part-and-parcel with the pleasures of liberty and privilege (such as, for example, having your own high-tech games and texting gadgets) is part of the rite of passage of a young man or woman into the modern “order of chivalry.”
The Spanish knight and author Ramon Llull, in his 13th century manuscript The Book of Knighthood and of Chivalry, recognized the duty a knight has in “passing of the torch” of the values of chivalry. He knew that a deliberate effort had to be made on the part of the knights of one generation to inculcate the values of chivalry into the next.
Llull said: “Every man who would come to knighthood should learn, in his youth, to carve at table, to serve, to arm and to attend a knight. The sons of knights must be instructed in the ways of chivalry, just carpenters must learn to hew, and clerks must learn the science of study. If a knight does not learn the ways of chivalry in youth, he will never learn them in his old age.”
One of the more noble aspects of human nature is that the more that’s expected of us, the more we tend to rise to meet those expectations. Tolerate discourtesy and inattentiveness, and you may find that that’s exactly what you get. But if you challenge your children to be thoughtful, compassionate and respectful of other’s needs, they’ll surely take up the gauntlet with pride. Passing the values and customs of chivalry to tomorrow’s generation is part of the duty of today’s knights in shining armor.

Knight vs. Pirate

2009-04-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

A new show called “Deadliest Warrior” has debuted recently on cable TV with an intriguing premise. The show proposes a weekly match-up between warriors from two different cultures and time periods (with the help of some modern forensic investigation and computer simulation) to see which will prove more effective in battle.
Ironically, one of the upcoming episodes of the show promises a “knight vs. pirate” encounter. As colorful and exciting as such a duel may sound, the concept has taken on a new sense of relevance in light of events in the news recently — events that give us a real look into the meaning of chivalry and the dynamic of “knight vs. pirate.”
In recent days, international attention has been focused on a drama that took place in the Indian Ocean near the Horn of Africa. There, a group of modern-day pirates from Somalia attempted to seize a container ship carrying food aid to needy countries in Africa, including Somalia itself. During the attempted takeover of the ship, the captain, Richard Phillips, turned himself over to the pirates in order to ensure the safety of his crew. Capt. Phillips was held for ransom under threat of execution for several tense days until the U.S. military intervened to secure his rescue and deliver the ship and its humanitarian cargo to its destination.
Capt. Phillips has been hailed by his crew, his family, the media and the public at large as a true hero, and rightfully so. And (without any intent to diminish his heroism) he is only one of several such heroes that have come to the attention of the public lately — ordinary men and women of extraordinary courage who have stood up, put themselves in harm’s way, done the right thing and acted with bravery and compassion in the face of danger and panic.
The number of stories that have been popping up in the media — from people who put themselves at risk in moments of crisis to rescue others, to those who simply dedicate themselves to work for charitable causes despite their own economic hardships — indicate that, far from being forgotten, the concept of chivalry lives on, and is valued and respected in today’s world.
The buccaneers of the 18th and 19th centuries provide colorful characters for exciting high-sea adventures, from the novels of Robert Lewis Stevenson to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies — but when danger lurks or duty calls, a pirate is a poor role model (romantic notions of “noble pirates” from Gilbert and Sullivan notwithstanding).
We all hope that, when faced with danger and violence, we would act with the grace and courage of a Capt. Phillips, rather than the conniving self-interest of oceangoing thieves hijacking food and medicine meant to ease the suffering of their neighbors. We hope that in a crisis we would reach out to help others, rather than threatening someone else to save our own skins. We would all hope that when faced with hardship or adversity, we would react with the valor and chivalry of a knight, rather than the selfishness and greed of a pirate.
In a real contest between a pirate and a knight in shining armor, there’s no doubt about who comes out the winner.

Up On Our Podcasts?

2009-04-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

Don't miss Episode 30 of our podcast, which was just posted:
Reclaiming the Code of the Sword
This episode features an interview with Daniel McNicoll, director of the new documentary Reclaiming The Blade, which looks at the growing fascination today with all things sword related - from movies and video games, to the growing field of Western martial arts. We'll consider the symbolism of swords and chivalry among today's heroes.
Plus: Who picks up the bill? A discussion of the "old fashioned" custom that a gentleman always pays the bill when taking a lady out to dinner? Can a gentleman let a lady pay for dinner and still be a knight in shining armor?
And - A conversation about the Islamic roots of chivalry with author, poet and activist Charles Upton.

Summer Is Knight Time

2009-04-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

Summer is just around the corner (again???), and once again I'm pleased to be working with the San Diego City/County Library System to be part of the 2009 Summer Reading Program. This summer, the theme will be something that every kid loves: Catapults!
We're going to start with a "virtual" tour of a real medieval castle - kids will get to see what a castle looks like, see the view from the ramparts, and understand the defensive function of such a fortress. Then, they'll see a few catapults in action as I demonstrate the mechanical principles of a few model siege engines - a true catapult, as well as an onager and a trebuchet too! Best of all, the kids in attendance will get to build their own mini-catapult (out of craft sticks) to take home with them. I'll give the kids a few soft balls to use as safe ammo. Will the kids use these "war machines" to shoot more dangerous ammo - peanuts, coins, pebbles - when they get home? Well parents, that's up to you!
How does this relate to the code of chivalry? You ask. We'll also take a bit of time to talk about some of the "rules of war" a knight would have been expected to observe when using a siege engine like a catapult. Once a machine like this was brought to bear, a knight was expected to give the enemy a chance to surrender honorably before he started bombarding the castle. Additionally, an honorable knight would have allowed the noncombatatants (merchants and servants living in the castle) a chance to evacuate before an attack. It's important to understand that even in war, there is a sense of honor and restraint that is part of the code of chivalry.
Interested in bringing our "create a catapult" presentation to your library or school? Just visit the Chivalry Today website for more information, or to contact us to add us to your schedule.

Next Season's Fun

2008-07-08T09:24:00.000-07:00

Summer is a busy time for me - I'm usually involved in our local library's Summer Reading Program, and many of the extended educational services at some of the nearby school districts have me come in and talk to the kids during the summer months - which means the website and podcast tend to get put "on hold" during that time. I do apologize, but rest assured that I'm lining some things up for the next season of the podcast that are going to be very interesting:

• The author of the book Monty Python & Philosophy (Open Court Books) will be joining us to talk about what we can learn about the "philosophy" of chivalry from Spamalot and The Holy Grail;

• We'll be going to Maryland to talk with practitioners of that state's official sport - jousting! - and learn how the culture of chivalry came to American shores;

• Prof. Richard Scott Nokes will be with us to talk about villains, dragons and monsters in the legends of King Arthur - and how we can learn about the ideals of chivalry by studying "the bad guys";

• We'll visit Camlann medieval village in Washington state, where the 14th century and the ideals of chivalry come to life;

• We'll have a conversation with Prof. LJ Swain, editor of The Heroic Age journal, to explore the early developments in culture and literature that led to the Code of Chivalry;

Plus - some other topics on the table include falconry and modern birds-of-prey conservation efforts, knightly table manners (no, they didn't throw bones around the dining room), Gothic warrior women, X-treme sports and the ideals of Don Quixote, and King Arthur's knights at the Opera! And maybe - maybe! - we'll even score an interview with none other than Frank Miller, creator of Sin City, The Spirit and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. (Who, in a recent interview in Maxim magazine, had some very insightful and powerful things to say about heroes and chivalry. This is a guy who takes the image of knighthood very, very seriously!)

Can you tell I'm a little excited about all of this? (I get to interview world-renowned experts and scholars about cutting-edge investigations into the ideals of chivalry ... This is the greatest job in the world!) If you haven't subscribed through Apple's iTunes or one of the other "podcatching" services, be sure to do so - and tell your friends, co-workers and teachers about it too. Episode 23 will be available the first week in September!

By the way - just so you don't think I'm being completely negligent, we will have a few podcast offerings during the summer. We recently replayed my conversation with Prof. Susan Aronstein, author of "Hollywood Knights," in conjunction with the opening of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," and we'll revisit my interview with Prof. Will Brooker about the chivalric ideals of Batman just in time for the opening of The Dark Knight later this month. Be sure to check your iPod!

A Trip To ATM

2008-06-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

Take a quick trip to ATM ... No, not the cash machine at the bank. I'm talking about a very enjoyable podcast called All Things Medieval - or ATM. Formatted along the lines of NPR's popular "All Things Considered," ATM focuses on any and all things having to do with the Middle Ages. Historical news, book reviews, interviews, and happenings in the field of historical reenactment.

ATM is produced about once a month by a host named Justyn Webbe. The show is currently airing its fifth episode, and I certainly wish them well. Considering "all things medieval" is a big job - but listeners are sure to always get something new and interesting.

Jedi Knights

2008-06-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

A quick teaser for the next season of the Chivalry Today podcast ... Our first new episode of the third season (episode 23) will be posted at the beginning of September. In conjunction with the opening of the new Clone Wars/Star Wars animated movie, our featured topic will be Jedi knights and the code of chivalry.

We've just gotten word that our guest on the show will be none other than Hugo-winning sci-fi author David Brin, one of the principle editors of the book Star Wars On Trial. David is going to bring some very thought-provoking concepts about the Jedi knights and the code of chivalry - I'm not going to spoil anything, other than to say it's going to be an episode full of surprises.

Until then - check the podcast page next week (6/16) for an quick update with Prof. Susan Aronstein about Arthurian images and themes in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and next month we'll replay my interview with Prof. Will Brooker, author of Batman Unmasked, just in time for the opening of The Dark Knight!

Chival-oution

2008-05-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

"Chivalry Is Dead!" It's a proclamation I hear frequently (as you might imagine) from parents and teachers bemoaning the lack of what they perceive as "chivalrous manners" in today's young folks. With Mother's Day just past, there were several articles and blogs lamenting the fact that young men are falling down on the chivalry job by not pulling out chairs, bringing flowers or opening doors for their mommies - and therefore, by extension, not being prepared to offer this sort of treatment to their prospective dating partners and spouses.

It's true - we want to (and need to) teach good, respectful manners to kids. That is (as those ignorant, illiterate medieval knights knew) a way of getting children to look outside themselves and see the rewards of doing something nice for others. It is the antidote to the "it's all about me" mentality.

But just because young men don't stand when a lady enters the room, tip their hats or walk on the outside of the road, does that mean chivalry is dead? Actually ... I think not. All that really means is that the social etiquette from another generation is falling by the wayside. Standing when a lady enters the room might have been practical when social gatherings took place in parlor rooms, or even when families entertained callers in their living rooms in the 50s and 60s. But today - how are you going to stand when a lady enters the room at a crowded Starbucks, or in an office full of cubicles?

The fact is - chivalry isn't dead, it's just changing to meet today's needs. You can still find plenty of chivalry on the freeway, for example, when a driver lets another car merge graciously; in the supermarket, when a shopper finishes a cell phone conversation before speaking with the check-out clerk; or in the office, when someone stands to greet a client or visitor. (Yes, there are plenty of people who don't do any or all of those - that doesn't mean chivalry is dead ... it just means people still aren't perfect. That hasn't changed since the Middle Ages.)

If you look for chivalry in the social customs of 50 years ago (or more) it will seem as dead as rotary phones, vinyl records and cars with tailfins. Chivalry evolves with the times.

Girly Sportsmanship

2008-05-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

I recently posted a blog piece (on May 8) about Sara Tulchosky and a very notable incident in a college softball playoff game - an act so definitively "sportsmanlike" or "chivalrous" that it was picked up by pretty much every national media source you can imagine. With so much focus on a simple act of decent behavior, it seemed like a good indication of just how hungry the public is for an uplifting story from the world of sports - rather than another "police blotter" piece about the latest athlete to get arrested for rape, drug possession or animal cruelty.

Still, even as this story was being covered in papers from the LA Times to the NY Times, there were plenty of people scoffing that this wasn't a real sports story - because something like this could only happen in a girls' league, and only girls would be soft enough actually do something nice for an opponent.

Stephen Colbert gave us a great satire of this sort of attitude when he claimed that girls' softball, with its inherent decency and chivalry, was the fourth largest threat to national security in his regular "Threatdown" on Monday, May 12. (Of course, "bears" were number one.) Take a listen to the audio of Colbert's Threatdown.

It was a marvelous comedic jab at the ridiculous notion that only little girls are capable of being decent to each other on the playing field.

Visit the Colbert Report Website to enjoy more of his biting satire!

Iron Clad Chivalry

2008-05-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

I got to see the new movie Iron Man this weekend. It's a fun show - and, in many ways, just another example (in my opinion) of how some of the best storytelling venues these days are packaged as "kid's stuff." (Although this - like a lot of the recent comic-book hero movies - isn't really appropriate for young children.)

Apart from the usual themes of adventure and the hero's journey, Iron Man did bring one interesting element to the screen: It highlighted the fact that a hero has to have a greater purpose beyond merely making war.

In some ways, the movie's protagonist was reminiscent of a medieval knight in the fact that "he never met a war he didn't like." From the writings of the period, it's clear that many knights of the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries saw battle as a noble cause in its own right, and romanticized the practice of warfare. While the doctrine of "just war" had been established in the 11th century, the concept had yet to be fully realized by warriors and rulers of the period - and much damage (physical, social, economic) was done due to the aristocracy's eagerness to go to war as proof of their dominance, or virility, or (ironically) piety. The Crusades, the Hundred Years War, the Wars of the Roses ... etc.

While Iron Man was certainly full of FX and comic book violence (exactly how did that millimeter-thin suit protect Tony Stark from 20mm cannons, missile explosions and hitting the ground at mach 2?), it did present an intriguing message about the fact that it takes more than violence to make someone a knight in shining armor - or a hero in a gold and red suit.

Tragedy, Leadership and Chivalry

2008-05-10T11:52:00.000-07:00

One of the basic tenets of chivalry is to provide help for the needy and to protect those in peril.

With that in mind, news reports indicating that the government in Myanmar is denying aid for a quarter-million people left homeless and hungry due to national disaster seemed appalling enough. Even worse - according to today's news - is that the government is taking food, medicine and water provided by international relief efforts and "redirecting" it - so that it will appear to the people of the country that the help is coming from the military government.

Using tragedy and suffering to score political points seems about as far from the ideals of chivalry as you can get.

But it's worth remembering, whenever we think that chivalry is obsolete or unnecessary in today's world, that there are still leaders who'll do such things.

Read more here: Military Junta Hands Out Aid in Myanmar

Pushing The Pram A Lot

2008-05-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the opportunity to give a presentation for students at CSU Long Beach on a delightful subject: Arthurian legend and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. (The on-campus branch of the SCA [a historical reenactment club] was hosting a screening of the movie.)

Not wanting to get in the way of the movie ('cuz MP is far more enjoyable and entertaining than me) I tried to keep my comments brief - I just talked (mainly) about the symbolism in one scene of the movie: the famous "black knight" skit.

In the movie, King Arthur comes to a bridge, and is challenged by an anonymous Black Knight to a duel in order to cross the bridge. A common enough occurrence in most traditional Arthurian myths - but THG isn't about "tradition" ... it's focus is on deconstructing and undermining the traditional themes of Arthurian legends, as a way of deconstructing and undermining the symbols and presumptions of traditional politics and social values. In this regard, THG is very much a product and a reflection of its time period - the early 70s, when Watergate and Vietnam were still very much "current events."

So - back to the Black Knight. In traditional Arthurian narrative, the Round Table hero (in this case, Arthur) would have fought the challenger, dealt him a "grievous wound," and knelt down and prayed for his recovery - and as a result the Black Knight would have been beholden to King Arthur, and might even have subsequently been dubbed as a Knight of the Round Table. In this regard, Arthur would have demonstrated the rightness of his cause (chivalric virtue) through military might (the duel) and indoctrinated an otherwise violent interloper (the Black Knight) into his civilized court (Camelot/the Round Table).

But not in Monty Python ...

Here, after delivering a grievous wound ("I've cut your bloody leg off" ... "no you haven't!"), Arthur kneels down to pray, but the knight continues taunting and physically assaulting the king. Arthur proceeds to chop away at every other appendage, but none of these wounds seem to have any effect on the Black Knight's ability to continue fighting. Even when the Black Knight is nothing but a limbless torso, he continues to tell Arthur he'll "bite (his) kneecaps off" as the king shakes his head and trots away.

A uniquely hilarious scene, to be sure, but the comedy becomes all the more brilliant when you look at this as a metaphor for the American experience in Vietnam. A superior military force deals a series of debilitating wounds to its adversary, but becomes increasingly frustrated and baffled when the enemy won't quit the field. Finally the "winning" force tromps away in confusion, not quite sure how they could be successful in every engagement, and still have victory essentially denied to them.

There are lots of other wonderful metaphors in the film - Bedevere as a critique of the assumption that science and technology can solve every problem; Zoot and the damsels of Castle Anthrax as an emblem of the sexual revolution - but at its heart, THG brings to light a new approach to assumptions about established authority. It's no coincidence that this movie is a product of a time period that rattled long-held beliefs about the benevolent intentions of unchecked authority. More than three decades later, pretty much everyone has come to believe that even the most noble and honest leaders need oversight and transparency in order to achieve trust and respect.

And in that regard, the humor of Monty Python and the Holy Grail helped to add a new chapter and a deeper understanding to the value of chivalry today.

Look for more on this topic in a future edition of our podcast, when Prof. Gary Hardcastle, editor of the book "Monty Python and Philosophy" joins us to talk about the Pythonian take on the Code of Chivalry.

Chivalry Rounds the Bases

2008-05-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

When I suggest that "chivalry" can be used in (and might actually improve) athletic competition, I often hear snickers. But a recent event demonstrates, I think, the power that real chivalry can have - the power to elevate competition above a simple contest for trophies or titles, to something that touches our hearts and raises our spirits.

Here's what happened: When a player in an otherwise-routine girls' college softball game sustained a debilitating knee blow-out during a home-run lap and collapsed on the baseline, the officials told her team members that an article of the rules stated her run would be invalidated if anyone from her own team made contact with her before she completed the run. Noting that the umpire didn't say anything about the opposing team's members, the first-baseman and the shortstop picked her up, and carried her around the field to score her run.

The story must have hit a nerve. It was picked up by CNN, The New York Times, ESPN, the Associated Press, and darned near every major print and broadcast media source in the country.

There has been debate as to whether this was a real act of athletic excellence, or just a nice little oddity that would never have occurred at the level of professional sports. (And, predictably, there were several comments implying that this might be something that would only happen in girls' sports - that guys (the "real athletes" - grrr!) would never be so naive or sentimental as to let honor and respect get in the way of winning a game. ... sigh ... )

In my opinion, however, this act of chivalry, and the tidal wave of coverage it set off, really speaks to the hunger we have to see this sort of thing. Would the "majors" have done such a thing in a World Series playoff game? Maybe not. If a professional player did do something like this in a nationally televised playoff game, would it go down, not just in the record books, but in the history books? You bet! That's what sports are all about, and that's what makes the difference between a winning season and a memorable career - too bad many coaches and athletes lose sight of that.

I'm hoping to cover this incident in more depth in a future article on the website, or possibly even get one of the players as an interview on the podcast.

Read the report about the Sara Tulchosky incident in the April 30 edition of the New York Times.

Prince Caspian & Chivalry - Podcast 21

2008-05-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

Greetings,

Episode 21 is now available on the website (and through Apple iTunes and other services). In it, I have a wonderful interview with Prof. Devin Brown, author of "Inside Narnia" and "Inside Prince Caspian" about the ideals of knighthood and chivalry inside the writing of CS Lewis. Of course, we talked a lot about Prince Caspian - that being an upcoming summer blockbuster and all! Most interesting to me was his thoughts on the Order of the Lion and the Order of the Table - the two Narinian orders of chivalry mentioned by Lewis in Prince Caspian. But he also had some interesting views on why Lewis (a combat veteran from the trenches of WWI) saw chivalry as a necessary military principle - and how Lewis's ideal of chivalry can (and - ahem - should) still be employed in military doctrine today. I don't think CS Lewis would have had any question about whether or not torture or terrorism should be considered "acceptable" means of winning a war.

Also, I had a great talk with Jennifer Lynn Jordan (who - for some odd reason - I keep trying to call Jennifer Lynn Jones ... ) about some very enjoyable graduate-study projects she's done using sock puppet theater (just like you remember from first grade!) to bring authentic romances of chivalry to modern audiences. You can see versions of Yvain and Aucassin et Nicolette in "sock puppet theater" format on the website!

What's upcoming? Well, I'm working on a post-event report on the American Sword of Chivalry tournament - an ESPN style sports report about a real jousting tournament. (I've even got a locker-room interview with Arne Koets, the winner of the tournament!)

For future productions - I'm hoping to do a report focusing on Monty Python's take on King Arthur and the Code of Chivalry. Not just "Holy Grail," but also "The Fisher King" (done by Terry Gilliam - one of the Python alum) and "Spamalot." I think it might give some interesting insights on how these ancient legends are viewed today.

Also ... I'm thinking about doing something about "chivalry in the opera." Did you know there's an opera about King Arthur? Not just that, but of course, many of those Wagnerian operas involve Round Table knights and the Grail Quest. Right now, I'm looking for an expert in the field of opera and Arthurian legend. Anyone with any ideas? ... feel free to contact me.