The Sword

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VS.


First and foremost, visit my brothers blog. It will make you grin (you will need it after you're done reading this post). Here we go...

Notice the above pictures. You will see four warriors. Two are fake (Mel Gibson as William Wallace and the Alexander of Macedon painting) while the other two are real (the US infantry and the US tank). So, my comparison is flawed, but I seek the symbols behind the pictures.

Let me cut straight to the point. We obviously do not have horse and sword armies any more. Therefore we must remember them through art. Oftentimes, we forget that wars were not always won with the bigger, better guns. Wars were won with valor and hand-to-hand skill.

Now hear me out. I don't want to demean the excellent job that our soldiers are doing around the world in defense of freedom. But, to tell the truth, mankind fights a different kind of war altogether. As of five hundred years ago, warriors stood face to face against their enemies. In fact, Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front speaks of the brutal hand-to-hand combat occurring only eighty years ago in WW I.

However, in those ancient times, with the exception of range-limited bows and highly inaccurate catapults, death was literally within hands reach of every warrior. Imagine what that would have been like: standing face to face with someone who wanted to and/or had to maim or kill you. That's actually rather terrifying. Truly that would take either tremendous coercive power by the ruler to perform or great courage.

Similarly, the soldiers of the USA are encouraged to fight but usually not in a hand-to-hand situation. They place great trust in their commanders to create a scenario that favors them, and soldiers of ancient history likely held similar trust. Another aspect of this trust is training. American forces have the best technology of any in the world, so they must be prepared to use it appropriately.

Their ancient counterparts, however, were not trained in technological warfare but physical warfare. The US attacks with technology, but the ancients attacked a sword in hand. In that world only the most skilled will survive. One misplaced blow and you could be done for. Today, a random piece of flying shrapnel could end your life in seconds.

The difference lies in proximity--the distance between you and death. With this proximity comes the idea of glory. For instance, King David's Mighty Men are remembered in the book of I Samuel. Achilles is remembered in the Iliad for feats of combative prowess. William Wallace is remembered as a fierce warrior.

To sum up, in generasl terms...

• Today's way of war = valor + technology + distanced
• Yesterday's way of war = valor + skill + personal
  

Wow, that sounds like a rather calloused way of looking at it, but its true. This is why Miendur is based in "ye olde times." Plus it makes for a better story, and I don't have to base it on contemporary events.

Again, I say thank you to those in service of freedom, where ever you are in the world. My prayers are with you. Strength and Honor.

Why medieval fantasy?

Ah yes, my first substantive post. This shall be a joy to explain the seeming strangeness of my mind. For one to understand my mind, they must first look openly upon what I am doing. Am I living in an alternate reality? Am I finding a way to escape from the worries of daily life? Perhaps...Perhaps not. In my quest to reason myself with you, you hopefully will see what I am trying to accomplish.
"Why?" you may ask, "are you so fascinated with medieval fantasy?" The legends of King Arthur, the Lord of the Rings, Greek and Norse Mythology. These are my hobbies. I study them for fun. For one, I love ancient history, so obviously, like ancient peoples, I love the stories that they loved (save LOTR) and have modeled my own stories after these.
Two words sum up my rationality for this seemingly strange hobby. The Sword. Truly, I love swords. Those who know me personally will recall that I collect swords. Swords are to me as shrubberies are to Roger the Shrubber. It all began about four years ago when I saw a movie called Gladiator.
Anyways, in my next post you all shall know exactly why I love swords as I do. Please do not mistake my love for swords as a love for death or a love for war. Remember I just love swords. If you can't wait for a few days I suggest you go read Hebrews 4:12+13. It's best in the King James Version.

Greetings

Greetings and welcome to my chronicles. This page will be dedicated to journaling the progression of my created world, Miendur. I will discuss its origins, its many revisions, and its cultures that are entirely imaginary. Strength and honor.

An Unprecedented Punishment for an Unprecedented Crime

I'm sorry, but I must divert your attantion away from Miendur for a time. Some things of import demand attention regardless of audience. Besides Life is so much bigger than medieval fantasy, right?

For the majority of my life as a competent adult citizen (2 Years), I have been an avid critic of the NBA. Even though I am an ardent Pistons fan, I cannot stand the aura emitted from the NBA. Truth be told, I can’t stand watching any NBA game that does not feature the Pistons. I can’t even remember the last time I did so. The NBA is boring, slow, and saturated with ego.

However, now my deepest fears have been realized. Ron Artest. This man is the embodiment of all that I dislike about the NBA. This man has now not only marred the NBA but all of professional sports. Never before has an athlete been banned from his sport (save Pete Rose). Doing so to Artest would be an unprecedented move. But no athlete has ever declared war upon his sport either, or all sports for that matter. This is precisely what Artest has done. We can approach Artest’s World War III from several angles.

First of all, it is economic. Everyone knows that the NBA is a business. Making money is their top priority. By far. The teams are producers, and the fans are consumers. Let’s make an analogy here. Let’s say that I’m working the cashier at McDonald’s. A customer, for some strange reason, throws a fry at me, maybe a whole super-size fry (sorry, they don’t actually have super-size anymore, but let’s say they do). The greasy, hot fries burn my skin, and I go into survival mode. I jump over the counter and beat the snot out of the customer and the rest of his family. Do you think Mickey D’s would excuse my actions self-defense? NO!!! I would be fired, banned form the store, and likely prosecuted by the state. The same economic principle applies in Artest’s case. As a fan (consumer), Artest (producer) is no longer pleasing me. In fact, he is harming me. If the NBA does not ban him from the league, the Pacers, at the very least, should ban him from their team.

Now let’s look at a deeper, more sacred relationship: the professional athlete and the fan. This time-honored relationship is many-faceted. The athlete and the fan have many mutual obligations. Traditionally, respect between the two has been the norm, a sacred division between athlete and fan, which is only blurred during autograph signings and photo ops. However, fans (especially drunk ones) occasionally break with tradition. We can probably recall several examples from many sports where fans disrespect and abuse their close relationship to athletes. But never in the world of modern sports has an athlete struck back. In the stands. After Friday nights brawl, this norm and expectation has been shattered. Artest has now set a precedent where professional athletes can retaliate for disrespect, abandon reason for madness, and randomly assault fans in the stands. Why was Stephen Jackson in the stands? Because Artest was. Jackson was simply following Artest’s example.

In order to make sure that this “exception” stays the exception and not the norm, the NBA must take decisive and severe action. Kudos to Stern for the harsh suspensions, but, in the end, that solves nothing. Unprecedented crimes require unprecedented punishment. I call for banishment. Exile. Everything short of the death penalty. Not only has Artest compromised the integrity of his team in recent weeks but also the integrity of the game and all spectator sports. The man is a danger to the public and cannot be trusted as a competent citizen. Give him help, but do not let him play basketball. Ever. The brawl looked like a scene right out of a South American soccer match or, even worse, a Palestinian riot. We are incredibly fortunate that no one is dead, but, if this irrationality continues in professional sports, someone will be.

While the debate over Artest will assuredly continue well past the Christmas Day game, one fact remains steadfast and true: Joey Harrington is pretty darn happy that, because of Artest, his game on Sunday is receiving little press.