Also, while I am on this topic, let us not forget my main man Othello....
Although not a medieval knight, Othello, if you read the story properly, goes down in history as being one the greatest knights of all time, not only being a warrior of great reknown but even having been a ruler and having his own epic sword, the likes of other great romantic knights such as Roland (and I believe that it might in fact actually be the fallen Roland's sword). A warrior and leader of men of all color, only felled by the jealousy of a man he befriended who did not achieve that which Othello was able to achieve, which was greatness.
If you read the story of Othello from Othello's perspective you will get really mad LOL. But I read it from the perspective of a guy who likes epic warriors and for me, these lines say it all....
"I have another weapon in this chamber; It is a sword of Spain, the ice-brook's temper:-- (like Excalibur maybe?) O, here it is. Uncle, I must come forth."
"Behold, I have a weapon; A better never did itself sustain Upon a soldier's thigh: I have seen the day, That, with this little arm and this good sword, I have made my way through more impediments Than twenty times your stop:"
"Man but a rush against Othello's breast, And he retires."
That's some heavy stuff right there. Just saying. But no one ever picks up and writes out "The Adventures of Othello". and so maybe that's why we don't think that there are enough representations out there to justify including black people into these kinds of stories.
Not to pound on a week old topic but while I have this teaching moment I figured I'd just put this out there. Did you know that the entire mythos of the dragon slayer may have in fact been predicated on a mixed kid?
I give you St. George, the dragonslayer.
Christian Saint and Martyr, dragon slayer of antiquity, and most importantly (even if the dragon slaying thing was just a tall tail) a REAL dude. (I believe the image on the right is the oldest known painting and if that ain't an afro I don't know what is).
Pretty much the basis for all dragon slaying tails (save for Beowulf, who is more like an ogre slayer) St. George, born in Palestine to a Roman soldier and a local woman, was probably, for all intents and purposes, at the very least of a mixture of both African and European blood. He is venerated by both Muslims and Christians, and completely the inspiration for any knight in shining armor killing any dragon that you have ever seen.
So there you go for representations of people of color in the fantasy setting. Every excuse you ever heard was BS. If we aren't there its because somebody was not looking hard enough to find out how we fit.
And again, I understand given the circumstances of a lot of people's upbringing. But if I can find all of this and I am just some dude on the internet, I really don't want to hear anyone who is getting paid for feeding this stuff to the public's lame excuses.
Comments
Also, while I am on this topic, let us not forget my main man Othello....
Although not a medieval knight, Othello, if you read the story properly, goes down in history as being one the greatest knights of all time, not only being a warrior of great reknown but even having been a ruler and having his own epic sword, the likes of other great romantic knights such as Roland (and I believe that it might in fact actually be the fallen Roland's sword). A warrior and leader of men of all color, only felled by the jealousy of a man he befriended who did not achieve that which Othello was able to achieve, which was greatness.
If you read the story of Othello from Othello's perspective you will get really mad LOL. But I read it from the perspective of a guy who likes epic warriors and for me, these lines say it all....
"I have another weapon in this chamber;
It is a sword of Spain, the ice-brook's temper:-- (like Excalibur maybe?)
O, here it is. Uncle, I must come forth."
"Behold, I have a weapon;
A better never did itself sustain
Upon a soldier's thigh: I have seen the day,
That, with this little arm and this good sword,
I have made my way through more impediments
Than twenty times your stop:"
"Man but a rush against Othello's breast,
And he retires."
That's some heavy stuff right there. Just saying. But no one ever picks up and writes out "The Adventures of Othello". and so maybe that's why we don't think that there are enough representations out there to justify including black people into these kinds of stories.
As I stated earlier though, it's not really true.
Not to pound on a week old topic but while I have this teaching moment I figured I'd just put this out there. Did you know that the entire mythos of the dragon slayer may have in fact been predicated on a mixed kid?
I give you St. George, the dragonslayer.
Christian Saint and Martyr, dragon slayer of antiquity, and most importantly (even if the dragon slaying thing was just a tall tail) a REAL dude. (I believe the image on the right is the oldest known painting and if that ain't an afro I don't know what is).
Pretty much the basis for all dragon slaying tails (save for Beowulf, who is more like an ogre slayer) St. George, born in Palestine to a Roman soldier and a local woman, was probably, for all intents and purposes, at the very least of a mixture of both African and European blood. He is venerated by both Muslims and Christians, and completely the inspiration for any knight in shining armor killing any dragon that you have ever seen.
So there you go for representations of people of color in the fantasy setting. Every excuse you ever heard was BS. If we aren't there its because somebody was not looking hard enough to find out how we fit.
And again, I understand given the circumstances of a lot of people's upbringing. But if I can find all of this and I am just some dude on the internet, I really don't want to hear anyone who is getting paid for feeding this stuff to the public's lame excuses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonslayers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon