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Knight, Castles and Dragons

Knight, Castles and Dragons

One of the core fantasies in our lives stems from the Arthurian legends.  This is where we have our code of honor, our knight in shining armor, brave men standing up against undefeatable dragons and a mystical quest for the Holy Grail which is the inner spiritual quest in all of us.  Well...some of us.  And regardless of the importance of these stories in how they have shaped Western culture, they certainly are fun to read, watch and role play.

King Arthur

There needs to be a section on King Arthur and the men of the round table here.  Perhaps more in the future.  Perhaps I'll just provide a nice link or book title.

People and Concepts to understand:

Dwarves, Elves, and other Things

Much of the fantasy stories we have now are based in a fantasy world with Dwarves swinging axes, Elves shooting arrows and Orcs causing havoc.  Today's concept of these mystical creatures are an evolution of stories that have originated from many sources.  But a good deal of its foundation was influenced by the pre-Christian Germanic Nibelungenlied in the 5th and 6th century and later by the Lord of the Rings Trilogy in the mid 20th Century.

Feudal System

To get a far more realistic idea of what kings and knight had to go through to live in a nice castle, you will also need to understand a little about the social-political aspects of feudal life and what it took to become a knight.

Wiki  Feudal

Library.thinkquest.org/10949

Wiki  Knight

Swashbucklers

Knights ruled the land from around the High (c. 1000–1200) to Late (c. 1300–1500) Middle Ages.  What followed in Europe was the Early Modern Era which included the Renaissance movement and the Age of Exploration.  This may be in part due to the wide spread use of the Muskets in the in the 16th century, which could pierce through a knight's armor which ultimately changed they way wars were fought and who could fight them.

With the Age of the Knights over, wars didn't end, nor did the use of swords.  There were still kings, and princes and knights of sorts and plenty to bicker about and fight over.  The only real change was that rich men and kingdoms couldn't rely on hardened steel armor to protect them in battle as firearms were the great equalizer.  And with the obsolescence of armor, the large and heavy swords and hammers required to overcome hardened steel armor would need to be replaced with lighter swords which were quicker at slashing and stabbing.  It was now the quicker swordsman who could win a fight.  Thus, the knight is replaced with the Swashbuckler. 

Unfortunately, it seems that the musket and the swashbuckler not only ran out the knight, but also the Elves, Dwarves and Dragons.  This left us with Renaissance metrosexual men in flamboyant fancy dress boasting, drinking and dueling each other without the grander dreams of the romantic knights of old.  Their only redeeming quality is that their sword play is fast paced and entertaining.

Wiki  High_middle_ages

Wiki  Late_Middle_Ages

Wiki  Early_modern_era

Wiki  Renaissance

Wiki  Age_of_exploration

Wiki  Swashbuckler

Age of Exploration

Europe was getting smaller while its hunger for spices, gold and power was growing larger.  And inevitably, it was time to grow, expand and explore.  Routes to China would have to be found and along the way, they discover lost civilizations, magical foods and spices and gold.

What does this have to do with knights and dragons?  Other than swords, a bit of armor and greedy royal families, not much.  But at least you have a few adventures to read up on and contemplate.

Wiki  Age_of_exploration

Reading

There is plenty to read about regarding Knight, Castles and Dragons.

Children's Books

Classics:

• The Sword in the Stone

• Hobbit

• Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Booklists:

• wilmette.lib.il.us/kids/lists/bib.php?bib_title_id=124

• polenth.com/mod/esskid.html  Modern books on Dragons

• kids.bcls.lib.nj.us/readinglists/dragons.shtml

Serious Knights Books

For those looking into the serious historical aspect of knights:

• Wiki  List_of_books_about_King_Arthur

• lib.rochester.edu/camelot/acpbibs/genbib.htm

• web.clas.ufl.edu/users/jshoaf/Arthurbook.htm

• maryjones.us/jce/appendix10.html

Movies

There are a good many Knight type movies out there.  Some are worth watching and some are even worth watching for children.  The following is a basic list of what is available.  In no ways does the entry here signify that a movie is worth watching or appropriate for your children.

See our Knight, Castle and Dragon Movies Page for more information.

Castles

Castles are quite romantic for so many reasons, they are beautiful and symbols of power and security.  They are where grand royal functions take place, where our Kings and Queens reside, where princesses meet knights in shiny armor.  They are also where epic medieval battles take place, and where dragons attack.

See our Castles portions of this web site for more information on Castles.

Weapons

Knights had a large assortment of weapons, which evolved as more and more people had armor and as the effectiveness of armor and fighting techniques both improved.

See our Knight Weapons Page for more information.

Code of Honor

It's the code which makes Knights special.  Without one, they are just a bunch of savages with state of the art weapons of their time.

See our Knights' code of Honor Page for more on this important topic.

Please feel free to link to this site so that others can find it.  It's easy to link to this site, just copy one of the texts below onto your web page:

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