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4. A sense of justice

Go to Intro 1. Epic heroes 2. Modern Sagas 3. Medieval Mysteries 5. Medieval Japan

Feudalism and a very hierarchised religion combined to keep together pretty conservative systems, where even commerce was looked upon with suspicion. But religion also has higher standards. In many churches, specially after the plague, death was seen as the great egalitarian: princes and bishops are going to their death together with the poor. The image above comes from Gutenberg.org. My preferred dance of death is a fresco in a small church of Meslay-le-Grenet, very close to the place where Proust visited his grandmother, Illiers-Combray. I often went there, wondering if Proust had seen it and how it might have changed him, but I do know it did not. When I last saw the painting, it badly needed restoration, and the community was too poor for that.

And of course there is Robin Hood and all the heroes defending the little guys. This is a permanent theme in European popular literature. Close to where I am born, in Belgium. the legend of Colon, a thief of 18th century whose only title of glory was to be smarter than the police, is still told with admiration. Colon did hide in the caves of Folx-les-Caves, a unique network of underground limestone caves, entirely created by men, which covers over 15 acres.

Robin Hood: I do not want people to tell me that Robin Hood had no green tights and did not live under king Richard. It is like being told that Santa did not grow a beard before 1850. The best book is still the old Pyle version The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (essential book). Nobody seems to mind the medieval flair of the writing, on the contrary. You can see it on DVD with Errol Flynn or with Kevin Costner unless you prefer an animated version

On the funny side, you might enjoy Mel Brook's Robin Hood - Men in Tights . My peferred funny-Hollywood-medieval movie of all times is The court's jester, with Danny Kaye, Angela Lansbury, Basil Rathbone.It is a gem.

In the same family of claiming justice for the weak come all the tales of the smart fox who beats stronger than him: le roman de renart. I could not find this in English the way I wanted it (I found too specialized and too childish or too poorly translated). My fault: I am sure the perfect English version of the fox stories does exist. But we do not need that, because the perfect equivalent exists in the American black folklore. If you remember The Complete Tales of Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris you will find the same type of underdog stories and for the same reasons. And just in case you did not know, Harris was not a racist. He was rightfully convinced that the accent and the way of speaking and the pauses were all part of the tradition of the stories. Harris has been met with prejudice of the same kind as Patrick Kennedy, who collected Irish stories in 1891: English speaking people thought that it was a minor work, and Irish speaking people could not forgive him for writing in English.

Right! You now deserve a good time, so you can read the subtle story of The Pedlar of Swaffham