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Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 6:18 am
by Sir Erathor
I thought this could be an interesting topic for discussion ;)
My hero is Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, who pretty much saved his land from the Viking invasion and introduced good laws to the country. Admittedly, he did not do this single-handedly, as many seem to think he did, but he did have a huge part to play.

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:19 am
by Maedhros
Hmm, talk of heroes always makes me a bit nervous, especially regarding big leaders and especially when discussing ages so different from ours. Oh well, just for fun eh?

Myself I'm quite fascinated by Het'oum II of Cilicia/Armenia, as the sole Christian ruler in the Middle East once the crusader states were gone, trying to balance mongols and mamluks, who actually abdicated more than once to become a franciscan friar but reluctantly returned to the throne when things went awry.

When speaking of monasticism and rulers I must also of course mention the bulgarian Symeon who also reluctantly left his life in a monastery to become king at the request of his father, after his older brother had messed up. In the end he became the most powerful bulgarian* ruler there ever was, still a sort of national hero there, and actually had himself crowned emperor by the patriarch of Constantinople. All that aside he was a very important sponsor of culture and writing (mostly translation from Greek), and quite instrumental in the development of slavonic literature. He also would not hesitate to mutilate the khazar allies of the byzantines or ravage the whole countryside of Constantinople when he didn't get his way though. So there goes hero, I assume, as with most medieval rulers.


*Exactly how bulgarian he was is a slightly more complicated discussion..

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 1:59 pm
by mpoh98
Hmm, I have never really studied medieval times yet, so I don't know a lot of famous people from that time period.

Does your answer have to be non-fiction? Can it be a made up character from a book in medieval times?

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 4:27 pm
by Sir Erathor
Maedhros wrote:Hmm, talk of heroes always makes me a bit nervous, especially regarding big leaders and especially when discussing ages so different from ours. Oh well, just for fun eh?
Yep, just for fun ;)
I need to put some research in there, both off those guys sound pretty interesting!

mpoh98 wrote:Hmm, I have never really studied medieval times yet, so I don't know a lot of famous people from that time period.

Does your answer have to be non-fiction? Can it be a made up character from a book in medieval times?
I guess we could include fictional heroes too ;)
You need to get studying by the sounds of things!

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 4:53 pm
by mpoh98
Ooh, fictional count! :) Well then, Will/Halt/Horace from RANGER'S APPRENTICE FTW! :D

True, I should research that in my free time...oh wait...that's now. ;)

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 7:13 pm
by Sir Erathor
I need to read those books, I saw you liked them on your MOCpage!
What are you waiting for?!

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 7:35 pm
by SSchmidt
Bilbo Baggins!
He is honest, simple, and very pleasant. He's not a warrior, or a hero, he's just a hobbit. He's the best :wink:

On a more serious level, I have always found it fascinating to read about Richard during the crusades. Not really a hero, but interesting enough to grasp my attention!

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 8:35 pm
by Sir Erathor
Lol, yes! Richard the Lionheart is a very interesting character, I agree. The Crusades have always interested me, there was so much going on!

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2013 11:00 pm
by mpoh98
[quote="SSchmidt"][/quote]

Hoho, lord of the rings is it? :D Legolas all the way, bold daring elf prince, with a superb eye, master of archery and double knife fighting, courageous, courteous, and cannot get drunk! :lol: :wink:

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:10 am
by Sir Erathor
mpoh98 wrote:
Hoho, lord of the rings is it? :D Legolas all the way, bold daring elf prince, with a superb eye, master of archery and double knife fighting, courageous, courteous, and cannot get drunk! :lol: :wink:
Lol! I much prefer Aragorn, he's an extremely all-rounded character, even if many people would say he was their hero automatically. Bilbo is also brilliant, but when I was younger Peter from Narnia was my hero :)

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 3:51 pm
by Tedward
I would say Robin Hood. Probably more to do with Errol Flynn's version than any actual historical figure ... :wink:

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 4:16 pm
by Sir Erathor
Tedward wrote:I would say Robin Hood. Probably more to do with Errol Flynn's version than any actual historical figure ... :wink:
LOL! Robin Hood's awesome!

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 4:37 am
by Aeridian
I really like Drizzt the Dark Elf from the Forgotten Realms series, and he's based on Aragorn... I've read quite a bit of fantasy, so I kinda find it hard to narrow down the list, ya know? So I might update my choice sometime... who knows?

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 5:52 am
by Sir Erathor
Aeridian wrote:I really like Drizzt the Dark Elf from the Forgotten Realms series, and he's based on Aragorn... I've read quite a bit of fantasy, so I kinda find it hard to narrow down the list, ya know? So I might update my choice sometime... who knows?
Yeah, I read a lot of fantasy too, it seems like each book has a really cool character you grow to love, and then you realise you have about twenty favourite characters ;)

Re: Do you have a medieval hero?

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 3:31 pm
by mpoh98
Sir Erathor wrote: Lol! I much prefer Aragorn, he's an extremely all-rounded character, even if many people would say he was their hero automatically. Bilbo is also brilliant, but when I was younger Peter from Narnia was my hero :)
Very cool. I do like Aragorn, but archery is my thing, and Legolas just trumps them all. :) He is definitely my favorite, but Aragorn is a close second. Legolas has so much more physical abilities than Aragorn as well as having amazing skills in battle. (Aragorn gets close to dying numerous times, but not Legolas, he is just that good. ;)

And of course, more realistically I like the Rangers from Ranger's Apprentice. ;)