Friday

The Damosel Savauge



If you haven't gotten around to reading the actual Le Morte D'Arthur, relying instead on the paltry substitution of a child's picture book...hop to it. Honestly, it is one of the funniest and most entertaining pieces of literature I have ever read, and also has helped me correct my uninformed views on many of the knights of that Table Round. For instance: Gawaine used to be my favorite (not sure there was any particular reason), but now I find that he is a particularly disingenuous, whiny, and annoying specimen and am thoroughly disenchanted. On the other hand we have Launcelot, whom I have always dimly regarded as a disreputable and unsavory ladies' man (again, can't say why, exactly). Turns out that he is crazy good at being a knight errant, no power in the 'verse can stop him when it comes to jousting; far from being a ladies' man, he is currently the only one who consistently leads a chaste life (Galahad has yet to show up); and he is the only one who fully understands the obligations of marriage! He's kind of matter of fact about being in love with Guenevere...just something he lives with. He's majorly cool.

The picture is of a knight named Beaumains and his awesome travelling companion, Linet. She cracks me up, and for her caustic wit was given the soubriquet "Savauge Damosel". She kind of spent a lot of time making fun of Beaumains, but I was okay with that, seeing as he was annoyingly full of himself, and none too virtuous. Linet also happens to be one those rare damosels who actually has a personality and isn't in a state of distress 24/7. Refreshing...since most of the rest of the non distressed damosels were up to no good.

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