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| Gawain's Shield- front |
Somewhere in a students’ academic career, like Dr. Reichard’s Phil 200 ”Courage and Violence,” he or she might encounter Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried. I have frequently been reminded of essays of O’Brien’s essays and stories as I read about tales of valor and of violence in Arthurian legend. Soldiers, ancient or modern, bear particular truths greater than their actual stories. Humans often carry “good-luck” artifacts like: religious symbols and articles or relics, the cliché rabbit’s foot, a treasured love letter, a beloved’s trinket or item of clothing. Sir Gawain gives us several symbols.
The shield Gawain
carries into battle has a pentangle on the outward facing side and the image of
the Virgin Mary on the interior facing side.
While fighting, Gawain could draw strength and courage from the Blessed
Virgin’s image. The pentangle is a
symbol with pagan and Christian meanings.
It is often associated with the five joys of Mary, the five knightly
virtues, and the five wounds of Christ.
For protection, Gawain wears the sash into battle with the Green Knight. Later the fellow “Knights of the Round Table”
adopt the green sash too. Looking at the
box of Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies in my cupboard, I am reminded of a gang of
young girls that proudly wear a green sash. According to one of my classmates girls
“can be knights too.”
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| "Thin Mint"--yumm! |
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| Sir Galahad |
Malory’s Galahad carries a shield with significant
symbolism too. Malory tells us that
Galahad’s shield is white with a red cross. The shield descends from his
ancestor Joseph of Arimathea. Legend tells us that Joseph of Arimathea was the
soldier that removed Jesus from the cross. It is blood pouring from Joseph’s
nose that forms the red cross of Galahad’s shield (Le Morte d'Arthur).
What do people wear as
they face modern challenges? What symbols do they weave into the quests and campaigns
of their lives? Are we so different or more sophisticated than our forbearers? Our lives are filled with symbols and images. Look
at the ubiquitous tattoos! Gawain’s
religious symbolism pales by today’s religious tattoos. Arthur
wore an aegis of the Virgin Mary across his shoulders. What might Gawain’s or
Arthur’s Mary look like today? Many
tattoo artists have inked the Virgin Mary.
Tattoos and body scarification have been around for thousands of years. Several times, on assorted tattoo websites, I have read that knights during the Crusades would have the Jerusalem cross/Crusader’s cross tattooed on a hand or forearm to identify them for Christian burial. I’m not sure if it is factual but branding and tattoos have been used for ages for identification purposes--think animal identification, American slavery, and Nazi concentration camps. Mrs. Malcome, my fourth grade elementary school teacher, had a concentration camp tattoo. Full of quiet strength and courage, Mrs. Malcome was my childhood hero.
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| "Pastrix" Rev. Nadia Boltz-Weber Pastor of ELCA mission church House of All Sinners and Saints |
From gang members to Protestant ministers, tattoos are everywhere. Rev. Nadia Boltz-Weber is one of those tattooed pastors. What symbols or tattoos do you carry?
