By perserverence, the snail reached the ark. - Charles Spurgeon
KNIGHT VS. SNAIL: SWORD AGAINST SHELL!
My search for information on online archives started out poorly. I was planning to search for old documents of armor, perhaps a blacksmith's guide on making it, manuscripts on the common ideas and practices around armor. So, naturally, I searched armor in the big obvious search bar on the front page to get myself started! Unfortunately, 20 minutes of searching later, I found nothing but a small, uninteresting article on a horse wearing chain mail. I was disappointed, frustrated, and downright confused. It was getting late, and the library would soon close, and my work was yet unfinished! How would I return to my internet-less home and finish my research offline? Would I have to leave empty handed? Would I have wasted my time scouring the web? Was this the bitter end of it all? … No. I could not allow it. In fierce desperation, I thrust my mouse to the button border atop the screen and selected the “Collections” panel on the top of the page. To my surprise and blissful relief, I spotted “Medieval Manuscripts” and clicked fiercely upon it as quickly as one could, typing “Armour” frantically into the search bar, as a last ditch effort to salvage my work! Precious seconds ticked by as the page loaded, and I was presented with ugly, 1600’s drawings of what looked like deformed knights all over the page. Perfect. I was in business. It didn’t take much scrolling at all to discover the epitome of writing, the shining spectacle of research material, the holy grail of medieval manuscript. Glowing, angelically on the screen before me, I saw it: “Knight vs. Snail”. Without hesitation, I selected the article, and was overjoyed with what I had found!
My discovery harbored exactly what one would expect of a page with such a robust name: Old depictions of poorly drawn knights fighting snails! I know what you must be thinking, that I’m making this up and it’s completely ridiculous. On that assumption, you, my friend, would be incorrect. On a scroll from the 13th century that the author notes as Royal MS 14 B V, paintings of this event of intense combat were scattered among writing and paragraphs in old English. There were plenty of drawings here quite worth showing, with some of the most brilliant titles a writer could come up with. Some of my personally favorites were “Knight v Snail III: Extreme Jousting” and “Knight v Snail IV: The Snails Attack”, but who could forget the timeless classic: “Knight v Snails VI: The Gastropod Conqueror”! What’s shocking is that these depictions of knights combating snails are apparently very common in these old texts, especially in marginalia, according to the article. It’s also a surprise that in most of these drawings, the Knight (likely the brave and noble protagonist) is depicted as the loser, failing to combat the vicious snails despite his valiant efforts. Most of these stories and illustrations were dated in the 1300’s, and though they may seem ridiculous, some scholars have theorized that there’s rich symbolism and connections to issues of the time behind the bizarre tales. To quote the article, scholars suggest the daring battles represent a representation of the struggles of the poor against an oppressive aristocracy“, others suggesting that they “represent the resurrection”. Another interesting theory suggests that the snail was a symbol of the Lombards, a group vilified in the early middle ages for treasonous behavior, the sin of usury, and non-chivalrous comportment in general.” Given that Knights stand for valiance, chivalry and the utmost image of a gentleman or lady, this theory might make the most sense. It would make sense for a Knight to battle a snail if the snail represented what the noble considered poison to their society. One could connect tales such as this to modern day superheroes, where the protagonist stands for justice and thwarts evil villains. What doesn’t quite make as much sense and could disprove this theory, is that the knights are usually losing the fight, as I previously stated.
Though this may not directly connect to armor, it does connect to those who wore it: Knights, and the very concept of them in old English culture. Today, I’m willing to bet that if you were to look through a high school or college students notes or work, you would find plenty of doodles of characters or settings close to the artist’s heart. Maybe someone would draw Iron Man or Batman, but no matter what is sketched, there's a common idea here. Even centuries before we were born or those characters existed, people still had their heroes on their minds. There was still an romanticized concept that people would daydream about, getting themselves lost in fiction. For us in modern times, it’s Iron Man and Batman. For them, having lived and doodled so many many years ago, it was the Knights, it was heroes in armor. Knights were more just people, but a concept worth dreaming about. Knights were prominent enough in the imagination of students and working class citizens that they were drawn everywhere. Call it a stretch, but this silly little concept of knights combating snails is tangible evidence of how armor was romanticized. It’s reasons like this that the concept of heroes in armor still lives on in the media today, and hopefully it still will for decades to come and beyond.
My discovery harbored exactly what one would expect of a page with such a robust name: Old depictions of poorly drawn knights fighting snails! I know what you must be thinking, that I’m making this up and it’s completely ridiculous. On that assumption, you, my friend, would be incorrect. On a scroll from the 13th century that the author notes as Royal MS 14 B V, paintings of this event of intense combat were scattered among writing and paragraphs in old English. There were plenty of drawings here quite worth showing, with some of the most brilliant titles a writer could come up with. Some of my personally favorites were “Knight v Snail III: Extreme Jousting” and “Knight v Snail IV: The Snails Attack”, but who could forget the timeless classic: “Knight v Snails VI: The Gastropod Conqueror”! What’s shocking is that these depictions of knights combating snails are apparently very common in these old texts, especially in marginalia, according to the article. It’s also a surprise that in most of these drawings, the Knight (likely the brave and noble protagonist) is depicted as the loser, failing to combat the vicious snails despite his valiant efforts. Most of these stories and illustrations were dated in the 1300’s, and though they may seem ridiculous, some scholars have theorized that there’s rich symbolism and connections to issues of the time behind the bizarre tales. To quote the article, scholars suggest the daring battles represent a representation of the struggles of the poor against an oppressive aristocracy“, others suggesting that they “represent the resurrection”. Another interesting theory suggests that the snail was a symbol of the Lombards, a group vilified in the early middle ages for treasonous behavior, the sin of usury, and non-chivalrous comportment in general.” Given that Knights stand for valiance, chivalry and the utmost image of a gentleman or lady, this theory might make the most sense. It would make sense for a Knight to battle a snail if the snail represented what the noble considered poison to their society. One could connect tales such as this to modern day superheroes, where the protagonist stands for justice and thwarts evil villains. What doesn’t quite make as much sense and could disprove this theory, is that the knights are usually losing the fight, as I previously stated.
Though this may not directly connect to armor, it does connect to those who wore it: Knights, and the very concept of them in old English culture. Today, I’m willing to bet that if you were to look through a high school or college students notes or work, you would find plenty of doodles of characters or settings close to the artist’s heart. Maybe someone would draw Iron Man or Batman, but no matter what is sketched, there's a common idea here. Even centuries before we were born or those characters existed, people still had their heroes on their minds. There was still an romanticized concept that people would daydream about, getting themselves lost in fiction. For us in modern times, it’s Iron Man and Batman. For them, having lived and doodled so many many years ago, it was the Knights, it was heroes in armor. Knights were more just people, but a concept worth dreaming about. Knights were prominent enough in the imagination of students and working class citizens that they were drawn everywhere. Call it a stretch, but this silly little concept of knights combating snails is tangible evidence of how armor was romanticized. It’s reasons like this that the concept of heroes in armor still lives on in the media today, and hopefully it still will for decades to come and beyond.