Everybody's Doing It!

               After having written about courtly love and how it conflicts with the marriage vows during this time period for the position paper, I have plenty to say about The Saga of the Mantle. This text was my primary example of the issues brought about by these conflicting systems.

                In one corner we have marriage. At this time marriages were typically arranged by the parents, with the man occasionally having some part in the selection, and this marriage was for either economic or political gain. Love was not at all a priority when it came to who someone chose to wed.

                In the other corner is courtly love: a list of rules to abide by when showing love and affection. To follow these rules was to be noble and chivalrous. However, a number of these rules conflict directly with how marriage went back then. Rule number one for example: “Marriage should not be a deterrent to love”. Really? How these two systems could ever coincide is mind-boggling!

                In comes this story about a man and his mantle, here to exploit the flaws in how this society conducted. I thought that using a “magic” mantle was actually a really great example to use for this story. The women (not the men) in the court all try on this mantle one by one, with it never fitting one properly. So now all of the women in this court, including the queen herself, are found guilty of adultery and shamed by this stranger. One woman, however, asks permission from her man. His reply that he will love her either way and that she doesn’t need to put it on is really what this story is about; love, faith, and trust. These are all values that all marriages need to be successful, and to try and fit into a mantle to claim purity isn’t going to solve anything.

                My take on this story, as was my position for the position paper, are that the marriage rules needed to change. Well, more of an update. In modern society we marry for love. Although with a 50% divorce rate I am starting to wonder how much that’s still occurring. I think that reading this story in this time period gave me a chance to see how the world has evolved and that even back then; people saw those flaws and the need for a change. It just wasn’t time yet.

my brain hurts about this mantle stuff

As i was studying for the midterm I was re-reading some of The Saga of the Mantle and it got me thinking. Why aren't the guys ever put in these situations? Yes I know I'm a guy and I should be happy this isn't the case, but it bugs me.

Not at all am I bashing the story but I'm just sitting here as I'm reading, I want to know the guy's side as well. Is there not a piece of armor or anything that the guys could wear and do the same test? Am i the only one wondering if the guys were actually unfaithful? What if only one of the guys was going around sleeping with all the other knights beloveds? I am truly distraught. For all we know, Karadin could have slept with every single one of the other maidens, but his beloved was faithful to him so the mantle fit her.

Please, someone out there tell me that they thought about this and I'm not losing my mind here.

Also, Are we to believe that after this, the knights and maidens just go back to like this never happened? Were the knights that drunk that they had no recollection of any of this even happening? Okay, that very well may be, but i still can't wrap my head around the fact that we know nothing about anything after this. I can't be the only person out there who would just forget about finding out that my beloved was unfaithful.

Okay, my rant is over. I leave you with this wonderful meme of how i feel right now.

You Can Call Me Al

Ever seen something that you find so humorous, but then you rethink what makes it funny and realize how sad it truly is? The first thing that comes to mind for me is the demon spawn show, Jersey Shore. I once watched fifteen minutes of that show (my other option was watching paint dry), and chuckled inwardly at the stupidity of everybody on that show. However, I soon became disturbed at the fact that people who are so influential in the world are also so ignorant.  
 

Why is this popular? At all.

The Saga of the Mantle was also like this for me. The true corruptness of the characters are what makes it humorous, and at the same this humor is an indicator of the cultural anxieties of the time. The fact that "well respected" people in Arthur's kingdom are full of disloyalty and adultery makes me wonder how much better other kingdoms are (and according to the mysterious visitor who brings the mantle, not by much). It also makes me question the successful-ness of courtly love.

Is Guinevere's affair with Lancelot a reflection of marital problems with Arthur, or is she just greedy with her love? I'm not sure yet.

Let's look at one couple, however, the one who ended up getting the mantle: Karadin and [insert name here]. Did anyone notice how Karadin treats his beloved...can we call her Betty? (A high five for anyone who gets that Paul Simon reference.) When she is asked to put on the mantle he says, "...I love you so profoundly that I don't want to lose your love- not for all the gold in the world, even though I were to be aware of any misdeed of yours." See, unlike the other couples, this mantle is merely a material object, less important than their love. His beloved answers, "...If my beloved does not take it amiss, then I will put on the mantle." The mantle ends up fitting her, and it is safe to say that neither one of them have been cheating on the other. Their love (a two-way street) reminds me of Odysseus and Penelope from The Odyssey. 
 

Odusseus and Penelope by Francesco Primaticco

Odysseus is gone for twenty years on a voyage, and Penelope stays faithful to him, after he is thought of as dead, after suitors enter her home and demand she marry one, after she is bullied time and time again. Odysseus returns, disguised as an old man, and beats Penelope's suitors in an arrow-shooting contest that only he could win. Returning to his normal form, Odysseus remains happily for the rest of his life with Penelope. It is stories like The Odyssey and The Saga of the Mantle that emphasize the importance of loyalty to the one you are betrothed to, and the troubles it can save you from. 

This makes me think...is courtly love good or bad? It gave Lancelot the strength of ten men, but humiliation to the women loved by such men.

Have a good day, fellow Arthurians! And if you never got my reference, this title will be 100% awkward.

Hilarious saga of the mantle story

I wanted to write this before class today, but ran out of time. I really enjoyed reading about the Saga of the Mantle. I noted a couple of quotes while reading this that I found to be hilarious. The first is the beginning of the story, when King Arthur is described. "He was the most valiant man at arms, the most generous with gifts, the gentlest in words, the cleverest in his designs, the most benevolent in mercy, the most polished in good manners, the noblest in all kingly craft, godfearing in his undertakings, gentle to the good, harsh to the wicked, merciful to the needy, hospitable to the companionable, so perfect in his entire authority that neither ill will nor malice was found in him..." This quote is so dramatized, that there is no way this is describing ONE person. It seems as if the original author is describing GOD. This is absolutely hilarious to me. However, this is King Arthur and everything about these stories are over the top.

The next quote I thought was even more funny was when Kay wants his beloved to try on the mantle. He was so much faith in her loyalty to him that he doesn't even think twice about the mantle not fitting her. Low and behold, "the mantle became so short for her in back that it hardly reached the hollow of her knees; in front, however, it did not even reach the knee." Kay was absolutely embarrassed by the others, but took happiness when the other knight's beloveds did not have a victory. Kay goes on to talk about the other women stating, "I  shall not be the only one to be disgraced today because of my beloved...I can easily interpret what that means: this beautiful maiden has raised up her right leg but the left leg she let lie quietly while she allowed the man she liked to do what she wished him to do...I shall lead you a seat beside my beloved because there are no two women more alike than you two are." Once I read this, I had to stop and laugh. Kay calls her a beautiful woman, then he embarrasses her in front of everyone as if they could not see what the cloak had revealed for themselves.

At the end of the story, Karadin and his beloved triumph over everyone. He really shows the reader and the other knights what a real man is. He treated his woman with respect and loyalty. I believe this contributed to her not wandering astray from him. Although King Arthur ordered all the woman try on the mantle, she would not until she received Karadin's permission. The other knights of the court, especially Kay, embarrassed all of the women (with the exception of the last) and disrespected them. This is not one of the 31 rules of courtly love. Respect is a part of love, to me, and it goes both ways. These beloved women are stepping outside of their relationships probably because their men do not treat them the way they ought to be treated. King Arthur should set an example because in every story so far, Guinevere has cheated on Arthur. Although it does not specify in what way in this story.

I really enjoyed this story. It was short and humorous at the same time. I hope we read more stories like this one, as far as length is concerned. Many King Arthur stories are way too long for my taste. But entertaining. I also added the picture below because it reminded me of the elf who wove the mantle. 

A Mantle, A Maiden, and An Outrage

"The Saga of the Mantle" challenges the rules of courtly love, in my opinion. The rules of courtly love are generally directed at men, not women. These rules also imply, if not explicitly direct lovers not to have contact. This story as well as Lancelot take it to a point where these rules are broken. "The Saga of the Mantle" also only calls women out on their infidelity which, in my opinion, is wrong. These women cannot be unfaithful to their husbands or their beloveds without another man to help them. Generally women are seen as those who are shamed but at the same time the men who they were in faithful with should also have been shamed or even better the beloveds, knights, who were so distraught at their women's infidelity should have been tested because there is little chance that they would come out as perfect as the final maiden had. On aspect I enjoyed was the reaction of the last knight, he loved his maiden far to much to know of any infidelity which is how I feel many couples act and feel today, I mean how often do men or women deny infidelity by their significant other due to the fact that they love them too much to accept it or believe it. I was greatly bothered by Arthur's response to the mantle in the first place, immediately calling for his wife to try it on, like does he not trust her or is it just because she is indeed the queen and should be allowed to go first. Also it was not revealed his reaction to his wife's unfaithfulness as some of the other knights' feelings were revealed. I feel that Arthur's feelings on Guinevere's infidelity is crucial to the overall Arthur legend. Lastly, Guinevere lost some points in my book by getting so enraged then having the "brilliant" idea to then humiliate all of her ladies, who she probably had some knowledge or inclination that they were just as unfaithful as she.

The Mantle of Relationship Doom

So as I was reading The Saga of the Mantle I couldn't help but laugh as all the knights put their girlfriends up on pedestals. Like "I'm absolutely certain that my girl is totally faithful!" and then...well...nope. One by one all these women failed to be faithful and yet the knights were still all convinced that their 'lady love' would be the one who got to keep the mantle. Then they all started getting pissy when things didn't go their way. They started giving each other crap and then they started throwing shade at the women. My personal favourite on that count has to go to Sir Kay who while leading another unfaithful women to the growing circle said: "I know for certain that there will soon be a large and fine gathering here." Like, damn son. Have you no faith? Although I guess he was right not to.
I also kept laughing at the last knight, Karadin, who told his lady not to do it because he loved her too much. The one guy who really really didn't want his girlfriend trying on the cloak is the only one who came out unscathed. Good job sir.
So between this mantle of relationship doom and the horn from the Lai du cor (as mentioned in the intro) there is a lot of public hating on unfaithful women. Can we have a story about knights being useless cheating jerks and publicly shamed? Because I would be all over that fresh change of pace. Why are the women the horrible flawed parts of the relationship? And why do all these knights get offended that their 'lady loves' are cheating on them? Like yeah, get offended, but look around too. Your girl has to be cheating with someone and more likely than not it's one of your bros (Just ask Arthur, he's an expert on this one).

Anyway, that's my ramblings.