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Conclusion

There are a few things I have gathered from this course about the medieval hero. The first is that, in my opinion, the heroes’ fall into 1 of 2 categories. The first category is the Rough, tough, cleave people in half, most likely a Viking, warrior - this includes texts like Beowulf, Grettir Saga, Volsunga, Nibelungenlied and with Song of Roland sitting on the edge of this category. The second category is the type of hero that I thought of when I read medieval hero; this is the chivalrous, courtly, quest obsessed, English, knight in shining armour from Arthur’s court. These are the texts like The Lais of Marie de France, Cretien's Arthurian Romances and Le Morte D'arthur.

 

The first category is one I had never associated with the word medieval, mainly because I only thought England when the word medieval came up in conversation. The texts in the first category had a heavy emphasis on unnatural strength, pride, fame and glory, and being so courageous it is on the brink of stupidity. These texts focused on a single warrior and followed him throughout his adventures, which was easy as these cultures were ones that moved around a lot or were forced to move around a lot for survival.

 

The second category is what I used to think of when I heard the word medieval and I am happy to have had my eyes forced open. I seriously had this stupid epiphany where I realized that other cultures could have a Medieval Era because it refers to the whole time period, not just a specific time period in one location (this is how you know I'm not a history major). In these texts the heroes had traits that focused on courtly love, unwavering loyalty, strength/skill over parentage and the chivalric code of conduct. In these texts we found ourselves confronted with a variety of different literary heroes, all displaying similar and yet at the same time different traits. This shift recognizes that there was a female audience that were in desperate need of entertainment - I mean hanging around a forest all day waiting for knights would be really boring I'm sure.

 

Although each category, and even each text, carries very different messages for its readers there are a few things all the heroes had in common. A hero must be someone who is willing to help those in need; even Grettir who seemed pretty lazy and selfish eventually got his shit together. A hero must have some form of superior strength or skill in order to give him a chance at the dangerous quests he goes on. A hero must be a figure to which the audience can look up to and try to emulate, because it is through these heroes that the culture tries to teach its people what traits they should value in themselves and others. The literary hero must be someone that is better than the people in reality so that they can use the hero as a vessel in which to convey these ideal behaviours to their society.

 

The most important thing I learned within this course is that by examining this literary hero and the traits he exemplifies or the themes that keep coming up within the text, you can actually gather the values a particular historical culture had. The literary hero then becomes a window into the past and you can see the full picture of what traits they valued and speculate on why they would need that trait to be encouraged in their citizens. However, without the literary hero you can't see the historical culture and without the historical culture the literary hero would never have existed. Thus, although it was heavily debated in class, we need both history and literature know how in order to gain a glimpse into a culture that has been long lost to the sands of time.

 

I didn't include certain texts because I felt that they were very similar to other texts I analyzed. The Volsunga and the Nibelungenlied were essentially the same story but different parts in it and I felt their literary heroes shared a lot in common with Grettir in terms of being brave, strong and tricked into a bad situation and The Lais for having that fated love aspect. I didn't include Cretien, although he is a good text to read for this course, because I felt between Malory and Marie most of the qualities those literary heroes exhibit are also very similar. In all the tales you have a Knight, a love, a quest, the chilvaric code and dishonour. Although all the texts display a literary hero that allows insight into that culture I didn't want to much overlap - don't want you to get bored!

 

What we can definitely deduce from this class though is that the most powerful warrior, with the most luscious locks, who rocks a horned helmet, is CALLIE THE AGGRESSOR! She rivals the courage of Beowulf, can knock Grettir out with a flick of her pinky, more valiant than Sir Gawain and destined like King Arthur himself. Just look at that mustache - if that doesn't scream fated for a great future I don't know what does!

Callie the Agressor

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