King Arthur's Legend Continues
When I was still a kid, every summer I would get to spend an entire week just me and my grandma. She was a typical (amazing) grandma and loved to spoil me (and my siblings when they had their weeks) rotten.
For me, I wanted to see movies. Lots and lots of movies.
That's how I found King Arthur!
One summer, there weren't many good titles to choose from, so we stumbled into a flick starring Sean Connery, Richard Gere, and Julia Ormond. Things have never been the same since. I wasn't familiar with Arthurian legend at that point (and, let's be honest, that movie didn't really teach me jack about true Arthur lore), but "First Knight" got me hooked.
How could you not love it with awesome '90s sword fights like this gem:
Like I said, there weren't many other movies to choose from in theaters that week, so two or three days later when my grandma asked me if I wanted to go to the movies again, I said, "Yes. And I want to see 'First Knight' again."
Watching it the second time, I remember thinking that I wanted to be a part of some legend like that. I assumed I wanted to create something on my own, but the more I learned about King Arthur, his noble knights, the origins of the Round Table, the epic love affairs, the beasts and magical swords, the more I wanted to be a part of that world.
And that's where my latest adventures have taken me.
I'll be honest, especially now, this world feels like a lot to handle. So many people don't see eye-to-eye on even the most basic things. We're quick to turn on one another. People we look up to as heroes are called villains by other people that we thought were our friends. It's all so confusing sometimes...
I take refuge in King Arthur.
Now that I know so much more about the legends, I realize that even the Arthurian stories are far from black and white - there are murders and deceptions and betrayals - but at their core I always find struggling, imperfect heroes (Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin, Morgan le Fey, Gawain, Galahad, Tristam and Iseult, and more...) who are striving for a better world.
They try to do right by each other, even though they fail sometimes. They love passionately, even though they hurt others sometimes. They live by the highest ideals, even though they fall short sometimes. It sounds like a pretty good way to live, and I try to live my life that way.
What started as a childhood interest has turned into my lifelong dream.
Long live King Arthur!
#KingArthur #Lancelot #Merlin #Guinevere #KnightsoftheRoundTable