History in Living Colour - Friday, Period 3 (Week 3)

[veryarthurdent.livejournal.com]

The Danger Shop was set up to look like the courtyard of a castle this week. The Doctor was leaning against a sword on the far side as he waited for the students to gather. When he was satisfied enough of the class was there, he started to talk. "Right! So this is the last week of the basics before we start wading into dealing with history itself. Recorded history isn't always reliable, especially considering that most of the records have been destroyed. Now you might say 'but there are plenty of historical records out there' and you're right. There are plenty, but there's plenty more where those came from except that they no longer exist. That's where you get into the murkier areas of history and historical fact becomes myth as the stories are told through the generations and changed with each telling, archaeological sites are lost and good ol' common sense tells people that the 'original' story they heard can't possibly have been real.

Most of the time, stories are just stories, but some times you end up with altered stories about people who did live, castles that did stand and deeds that did, in fact, happen.

I want you all to keep in mind that because we're in the unfortunate situation of having multiple universes converging on one spot, what's myth in one universe may be fact in another. Today and for the rest of this course, I'll be teaching you what I know to be fact. It's up to you to recognise what does and doesn't fit into your knowledge of your home universe.

Now, with that out of the way, welcome to the home of a man you might know as King Arthur. He's gone by Artorius, bear-man in Welsh, Arturus and the like, but let's stick with Arthur for now. Modern vernacular calls this place Camelot, so we'll run with that, although it's had plenty of names over the centuries like its owner. It's in a little place you might know as Wales," he said, glancing at Gwen if she was there as he spoke. "You won't find knights of the round table here for the moment, but there really is a round table and it's right up there." He pointed to a window. "For those of you who don't know Arthur, he was a great British leader around, oh, the 6th century, give or take, brought together legendary knights, performed great deeds, defeated a Saxon invasion, had an adviser by the name of Merlin and a very, very famous sword by the name of Excalibur. He became a great folklore hero and still is to this day. There are plenty of books about him in the library and information on the internet. I'll be encouraging you to do your own research to supplement the class because there's more out there than I can cover in an hour and not make your brain dribble out of your ears.

So with that, let's mix a little learning and fun, although I think they're one and the same, and have a discussion and then you can play with the swords."

[OOC: Apologies for the tl;dr.]

Comments

Sign In

[veryarthurdent.livejournal.com]

Looking noble or proud!

Re: Sign In

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

Amber Atkins

Talk Amongst Yourselves

[veryarthurdent.livejournal.com]

The Doctor doesn't mind as long as it's not while he's talking.

Re: Talk Amongst Yourselves

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

Jen had totally seen all the Arthurian movies she could get her hands on while she'd been in 2001. (Except for that one with Richard Gere because no.)

She was the one silently dorking all through the lecture.

Re: Talk Amongst Yourselves

[im-afrog.livejournal.com]

Adam was paying close attention to this class. Not that he hadn't with the others, it was just that the legend of King Arthur was one that intrigued him. There were a few others, too.

Re: Talk Amongst Yourselves

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

Joan was still getting used to all of this multi-dimensional stuff, but had to admit that this was cool.

Re: Talk Amongst Yourselves

[notafairmaiden.livejournal.com]

Gwynn was trying to pay attention, really, but after finding out she was fighting a sword duel today, she was a little distracted.

Re: Talk Amongst Yourselves

[makescherries.livejournal.com]

Cimorene was highly engrossed, almost to the point of forgetting to take notes.

Discussion

[veryarthurdent.livejournal.com]

"How do you think the story of Arthur came to be so big when most of the historical records about him haven't survived? How can you pick out facts from folklore in general?"

Re: Discussion

[ambassadorinara.livejournal.com]

"I think it has to do with oral history," Inara mused. "Even though the records didn't survive, the people who were alive to see the actual events told others, presumably, and the stories got handed down and passed on. As for picking out the facts...I have no idea. Maybe look at the stories and try to find the consistencies?"

Re: Discussion

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

Dick knew one of Arthur's knights personally. If he wanted to pick out the facts from the folklore, all he would have to do is call Jason Blood. But that didn't necessarily mean anything for this class thanks to alternate universes.

"Everyone likes a big hero," Dick said. "People didn't need records when they had stories about a pretty much invincible king who would return in the country's hour of need. Of course the flashy stuff was remembered over the truth."

Re: Discussion

[mrodneymckay.livejournal.com]

"It didn't become a big thing despite the lack of records so much as because of it," Rodney argued. "Without a definitive account of the actual events, people in later times couldn't say for sure what really happened. The story would've been exaggerated on each subsequent retelling with the particulars adjusted to better fit the period it was told in rather than the time it supposedly took place, thus the continuing popularity."

Re: Discussion

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

Jen didn't have the slightest clue where to start out separating facts from folklore, given the insane things that happened in her world.

"Sometimes," she ventured, "people find stories like that inspiring. It's not exactly propaganda, although sometimes I'd guess it could be, and then when stories get passed down, they just get bigger and more elaborate."

Re: Discussion

[ihaveniceteeth.livejournal.com]

"Because the Welsh are just that awesome," Gwen replied. It was impossible to tell if she was being serious or not.

Re: Discussion

[meg-powers.livejournal.com]

"Because what he did was a pretty big deal," Meg said. "It stands to reason that people would remember it and tell stories about it. As to figuring what parts of those stories are actually true, you'd need to compare the different versions. And then pick out what parts are consistent to all of them."

Re: Discussion

[likethegun]

"Word of mouth is a powerful thing," Sam said. "Especially the more fantastic a story is. It's hard to pick out the facts of stories like that, so you have to look at what's common in each one, and hope that those are the facts coming through."

Play With Swords

[veryarthurdent.livejournal.com]

"Can't bring you to a castle without letting you have a bit of fun," the Doctor said, leaning on his sword again. "I dub you all knights and ladies of the court. Well, I dub you all with no authority whatsoever to actually dub anyone anything, but...just go play with the swords. They'll feel real, so pair up and go at it, but you can't get hurt. The safety protocols are well in place."

Re: Play With Swords

[darkangelsawyer.livejournal.com]

Peyton thought the swords were actually pretty cool and looked around for someone to pair up with.

Re: Play With Swords

[ambassadorinara.livejournal.com]

Inara picked up a sword and swung it a few times, testing its weight and balance while she waited for a partner.

Re: Play With Swords

[laidanegg.livejournal.com]

Swords. Everyone was so big with swords around here. Why not staffs or throwing weapons? Stuff like that?

No, Dick wasn't just bitter that Bruce never really taught him how to swordfight. So he just did his best to look cool holding the sword until somebody partnered up with him.

Re: Play With Swords

[mrodneymckay.livejournal.com]

Rodney lifted a sword and tried to swing it around. He ended up with the pointy end in the ground. These things were... heavy.

Re: Play With Swords

[time-flyer-5.livejournal.com]

Jen went immediately for a gigantic broadsword about the same size as one of her Chronosabers -- and nearly fell over when she tried to pick it up. Hoping nobody'd seen that, and realizing her Ranger suit must compensate for the Chronosabers' mass somehow, she sighed and found a slender hand-and-a-half sword that she actually could wield, instead.

In theory, anyway. She'd never had any formal fencing training, since knowing what to do with her Chronosabers pretty much came with the powers, and she'd never fought with a sword unmorphed, ever . . .

She took a few awkward practice swings with it, getting a sense of weight and balance. Her footwork was probably abysmal, but she wasn't even going to bother worrying about that right now.

Talk to the Doctor

[veryarthurdent.livejournal.com]

He's more content to look cool with the sword rather than swing it around. The safety protocols might be on, but you never know and he doesn't feel like losing another hand.

Talk to the TAs

[veryarthurdent.livejournal.com]

Once they ping in. If you don't have any questions for them, giving them a hard time is absolutely encouraged.

Re: Talk to the TAs

[darkangelsawyer.livejournal.com]

Peyton's here and available to be given a hard time. Though she may well give as good as she gets.

OOC

[veryarthurdent.livejournal.com]

Would you believe I don't actually have a sword icon?

If you can't make it to class for BDE reasons, please let me know.

Re: OOC

[pyroliz.livejournal.com]

Liz does not know it at this stage but she will sadly be missing out on class due to a run in with her nemesis, she would definitely much rather be in class.