For years I’ve loved a good joust. There’s something about them that gets the blood pumping, that almost have you falling out of your seat with excitement. Imagine it with me now: two knights sit atop their horses crowned with the colors of their homeland, and armed with their own lance. The wind picks up particles of dust in a silence barely broken by the stammering of hooves, and then… they’re off!
Arrows shoot straight, and knights are no different when closing the gap to crash against one another like an ocean’s waves; the lances shatter like glass against metal plates, splinters scattered to the sky. In a strange turn of events, they both fall with a thud. But this is not the end! Climbing to their feet, they draw their swords to begin their duel.
It’s powerful, it’s breathtaking, and it’s horribly overplayed.
Don’t get me wrong – the first time I saw the evil Blue Knight defeated by Sir Lawrence was wonderful. And I could hardly believe that Sir Lawrence would one day join forces with Lady Eriana in the fight for all that is good. I mean, it was a downright spectacle!
And then they joined with The Wanderer, and then the Red Knight, and Merlin, and Erik, and Miss Abbot, and then Sir Lawerence passed his title to his nephew, and The Wanderer left for a short time before coming back to the group, and I think Lady Eriana was entombed in amber… or maybe that was Josephine?
The expanding scope, despite how impressive it’s creation is, you see, is part of the issue: There’s too much to cover. Years of jousts and duels to cover if you want to start now; aspiring squires mantling the titles of their knights; knights taking on serfs to serve alongside them; crossovers that form teams which dissolve within the next tournament.
A joust or two a year isn’t bad – I’d even say it’s good – but two jousts, three duels, and a tournament year after year tends to wear down one’s spirit on what to look forward to. Especially when it’s all been plotted out on the town square’s next four calendars. We’ll be drowning in knights who quip by the end of the era. I think it’d do me well to take a break from visiting the jousts for a bit. Perhaps you too feel the same…
“The Goblin Cave” weaves vivid imagery and prose with reflections and commentary on the world around us. Written by Ethan Reisler, “The Goblin Cave” looks at society, reality and culture from a far away land not unlike our own.