[…] These many quotations from English heroic texts – Jabberwocky can be considered as a kind of mock-heroic poem – suggest that Philippe Sellier’s comment on the importance of the sword in the French medieval literature can be extended to the English medieval literature. He writes: “Au Moyen-Age c’est surtout l’épée qui compte: de l’Excalibor du roi Arthur, de la Joyeuse de Charlemagne à l’épée de Jeanne d’Arc“. Moreover he himself establishes that sword and heroism are not a feature limited to the Middle Ages but common to all heroic literatures of all times – this implies naturally texts involving the use of swords ; one can not imagine Buffalo Bill hunting with a sword. Sellier illustrates his definition of heroism with texts as old as an account of Cyrus’ life by Herodotus (Vth cy b.C.) and as recent as a poem by St John Perse (XXth cy)…
THONART : Tolkien or the Fictitious Compiler (ULiège, 1984) – 04 – The Sword
