Heraldry

Scalping at Avalon In my adult life, I have received a multitude of safety courses that I’ve never needed to use. In 2006, I became the Game Master of Avalon, a live action, fantasy, role-playing game also known as a LARP. My then husband was stepping back from his presidency and it fell to me to keep our company afloat. As one of my new duties, I scheduled a first aid and CPR training at the local fire station for my staff members and I, because minor injuries were fairly common in our…

friendship of Hermia and Helena. Not only are romantic relationships illogical, the love established in friendship can disappear with one quick word. Hermia and Helena grew up, “with two seeming bodies but one heart, two of the first, like coats in heraldry, due to one and crowned with one crest” (3.2.211-214). When romantic confusion abounds, Hermia curses Helena saying, “You juggler! You canker-blossom! You thief of love! What? Have you come by night and stol’n my love’s heart from him?”…

practice of political expediency, even if it somewhat contravenes the natural order. In contrast, Jackson portrays these actions as megalomania, with Gandalf laying the blame of Gondor’s disrepair upon “childless lords [sitting] in aged halls musing on heraldry”. Hence, while Shakespeare sees political ploys as a natural aspect of the enterprise, Jackson’s film represents Machiavellianism as a rejection of one’s political…

A deep self-conflict appears in her presentation as both mysterious and involved in the courtly love tradition. Malory’s work showed an English preference to steep the queen’s sexuality in mystery when he removed Guinevere’s explicit scenes from Le Morte D’Arthur and Vives’ aimed to erase women from society after the loss of virginity. Mystery implied innocence through ignorance, while the courtly love tradition acknowledged sex as the end goal of a Courtly flirtation. Capellanus’ argument that…

In the Shakespearean play, Hamlet, the theme of revenge revolves around the story. The play is difficult to understand without the knowledge of the use of foils. In literature, a foil is another character in a story who contrasts with the main character to highlight one of their attributes. Two characters that shares similarities and differences with Hamlet are Fortinbras and Laertes. Hamlet faces a tough decision when he learns King Claudius kills his father. Should he avenge his father’s death…

they both signed documents to give over the land if they were to die. “Dared to the combat; in which our valiant Hamlet/(For so this side of our known world esteemed him)/Did slay this Fortinbras, who by a sealed compact/Well ratified by law and heraldry/Did forfeit, with his life, all those lands/Which he stood seized of to the conqueror.” (1.1.83-88) This quote shows that over a small disagreement…

Throughout Hamlet, family ties have a tendency to cause a ruckus in the kingdom of Denmark as well as around the world. The relation between fathers and sons in Hamlet might prove to be the most disastrous of these family ties. The three prominent father-son duos in this story are Polonius-Laertes, Fortinbras-old Fortinbras, and Hamlet-old Hamlet. As all characters do, these pairings all had some similar features as well as other stark differences in character. One such similarity was that all…

Hamlet’s Character as a Tragic Hero Tragedy is one of the major and one of the most popular genres of theatre. It was basically popularized by the greatest playwright of all ages, William Shakespeare. Tragedies are a kind of plays based on human sufferings and audience feel pity for the characters as the play goes on. The protagonist of a tragedy or a revenge tragedy is a noble person, often called as ‘tragic hero’. Basically a tragic hero is someone who suffers a lot of mental and physical…

Plate Armor and The Hundred Years War One of the first well known conflicts where chainmail, hauberks, and counter-weaponry clashed is The Hundred Years War from 1337-1453, which pitted the French against the English. With limited protection from the chainmail, the advent of plate armor began during this long series of battles, and the weapon of choice became the crossbow, which by the 15th century was made entirely of steel, increasing its power and range significantly. While historical…

fought, primarily, between the newly created United States and Great Britain. The United States was seeking independence from Great Britain. The Battle of Trenton was part of the New York and New Jersey Campaign, though the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry identifies Trenton as a campaign. Study the Area of Operations…