Sir Galahad
As we grew so did our grasp on the Human Condition, from bloody and warring clans of duty and loyalty a new kind of class emerged.
The Knight of Virtue.
Internal influences are as just as powerful at changing a human, as the external ones. To internalize Knightly Virtues, to live by them, to triumph by them, became a sure way to become a hero.
Forbearance, Hardihood, Largesse, Benevolence, and Honour.
Sir Galahad
Alfred Lord Tennyson
My good blade carves the casques of men,
My tough lance thrusteth sure,
My strength is as the strength of ten,
Because my heart is pure.
Men of Pure Heart
Superheroes like Galahad carried a message that put servitude second. For one cannot uphold the Knightly Virtues whilst blindly following orders issued by someone who does not strive to uphold them.
Knight's Oath
The right can never die, If one man still recalls, The words are not forgot, If one voice speaks them clear, The code forever shines, If one heart holds it bright.
The knight is sworn to valor, His heart knows only virtue, His blade defends the helpless, His might upholds the weak, His words speak only truth, His wrath undoes the wicked.
Authenticity
A code of conduct that aimed to revolve around Authenticity, was born.
Quote by Walter Scott
Chivalry! - why, maiden, she is the nurse of pure and high affection, - the stay of the oppressed, the redresser of grievances, the curb of the power of the tyrant - Nobility were but an empty name without her, and liberty finds the best protection in her lance and her sword.
Pursuits of Excellence
What we know of the superheroes of middle ages comes from poems and recreations of the lost arts.
King Arthur's Origins
Swordplay and the Lost Art of Knighthood
Above the Common Levels
By subtle analogy to high pursuits in modern era, we can estimate that to aim for greatness, to climb the highest of mountains built Hardihood, enabled Largesse, taught Benevolence, and helped with Honour.
The stories of Virtuous Knights are journeys of pursuit of knowledge, and self discovery, of trials and tribulations, of overcoming and rising, of triumph and disaster.
To search for the Grail, or Arthur, Percival, or Galahad, and the others; was to find the Knightly Virtues and Wisdom set to timeless songs and poems.