When I
read Malory’s Le Morte
D’Arthur for the first time in junior high school, I knew I’d found
the heroes lacking in my life. I think that’s
one of the reasons Arthuriana has lasted so long.
Everyone
has times when they need a hero. This first
reading of stories about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table was long
enough ago that heroic figures were still supposed to be men, and I hadn’t seen
enough of the world to realize that heroism can be a feminine characteristic as
well. More about that later.
At that time in my life, I knew I was smarter
than the football stars in school that my c
lassmate worshipped and lusted after. To me that made these heroes less than
ideal. I knew that my teachers were ordinary
people doing their job and going home to their families, like everyone else. I knew that my father had a bunch of military
medals, but he kept those in the safe and didn’t talk about them. He was away from home serving his country so
much in my early years that I had trouble identifying him with heroes. Later I knew better.
lassmate worshipped and lusted after. To me that made these heroes less than
ideal. I knew that my teachers were ordinary
people doing their job and going home to their families, like everyone else. I knew that my father had a bunch of military
medals, but he kept those in the safe and didn’t talk about them. He was away from home serving his country so
much in my early years that I had trouble identifying him with heroes. Later I knew better.
I was hungry
for someone to look up to, someone who could solve the world’s problems and still
have time to nurture the love of his life.
I still appreciated the great Romance in heroic stories.
