HONOR'S DOMAIN
Mere mortals, of flesh and blood we be,
Passing through this portal, do we really feel?,
An impassioned spirit for all to see,
Of life's demanding, or a loss of zeal?
A medieval spirit prevails our midst,
A darkness is allowed to enter our domain,
The dragon's breath has put us to risk,
Leaving us in anguish, a virtual drain.
Now comes a knight of honor, so factually,
To right the wrongs, in this churning world,
In search of a quest dealt out exactly,
Substance of courage is now unfurled.
Note the time of appointed task,
As the dragon rears its demon head,
Deep inside our champion must ask,
Of who this day will end up dead.
The struggle begins with both swords drawn,
Dragons are smart and this one no less,
Amazing the quiet before the dawn,
Soon ending with a sudden violence.
"Come to me and end our pain",
The knight has spoken this aloud,
The dragon thrusts but in vain,
Both combatants are thus avowed.
The beast is now wounded mortally,
As the gray of morning subsides,
The knight fulfills his duty to be,
A victor who chose not to hide.
The animal now settles, breathing it's last,
"Knight!!" it states, in throws of death,
"My existence does cease and I am past",
It's red eyes close, after the final breath.
This knight of honor salutes his foe,
By kneeling and sending a prayer,
Into the morning sun it goes,
Wishing for a final peace to be there.
No winners in the vile of death's grip,
As reality rears its' ugly head,
Merely a passion and quenchless sip,
Of life's moments and anxieties said.
The goodness in all of us, must surely rest,
In those precious moments, cherished memories send,
Into that knight's honor and all it's pristine best,
The strength of courage, to meet our own end.
....S.E.Rice.."phantom"
THANK YOU PHANTOM FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION ON MY HOMEPAGE!
It's time to bring forth the dragonslayers at this time, so I have created a page just for them. There are many tales of gallant and fearless knights doing battle with the ferocious dragons...so, without further adieu, here are some of those tales of....The Dragonslayers!
1) In centuries past, people loved to tell the tale of the Hebrew prophet Daniel and how he bested a dragon. Although he was of a different religion, Daniel was once a trusted confidant of Astyages, King of Babylon. To Daniel's dismay...the people of Babylon, in their ignorance, worshipped a dragon at that time. To put an end to this evil idolatry, Daniel told Astyages that he would slay the sacred dragon without the aid of a sword or staff. Daniel boiled pitch (tar). fat and hair together and shaped them into solid balls. These he forced down the dragons throat. The balls exploded in the heat of the beast's belly and the dragon burst on the spot.
2) The winged shoes of Perseus took him high over Ethiopia. As he flew, he spied far below him the shore of the Red Sea and, bound to a rock at the very edge of the waves, a maiden. Perseus decended and saw that she was beautiful. She told him a piteous tale. She was Andromeda, daughter of the rulers of the country, Cepheus and his wife Cassiopeia. On the advice of an oracle, Cepheus had set his daughter by the shore to serve as a sacrifice to a sea dragon that was ravaging his kingdom. In an instant, Perseus sped to the King and said that he would slay the dragon in return for the hand of Andromeda. The king agreed to this. By the time Perseus returned to the place where he had left Andromeda, the beast had appeared. Screaming, it broke the surface of the water and cut through the foaming sea toward the maiden. With a stamp of his winged feet, Perseus rose into the air, hovered above the dragon's back and attacked it with his sword. The sea dragon lunged at him, but Perseus darted and stabbed like a wasp, always out reach. The sword began to penetrate the thick hide here and there, and blood stained the water. At last the dragon heaved an awful sigh and sank beneath the waves. Perseus took Andromeda for his own that day.
3) In the poem Heorot, the palace of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, is visited nightly by a monster named Grendel. It devours the king's thanes as they sleep. Beowulf, the nephew of Hygelac, king of the Geats, comes across the sea with 14 followers to free the Danes from this scourge. Grendel enters and devours one of the sleeping Geats. Though invulnerable to weapons, Grendel is seized by Beowulf and held in a mighty grip, for which he breaks free and flees into his cavern beneath the lake and dies. Grendels mother still lives and she comes to avenge the death of Grendel. Beowulf pursues the monster to the depths of the lake. She grapples with Beowulf and drags him into the cavern beneath the water. A desperate struggle ensues in which Beowulf loses his sword, but the hero finds a magic sword in the cave and kills Grendel's mother. He cuts off her head and returns to the shore. A long intervel ensues in which the kingdom is left to Beowulf, who rules it for 50 years. Then a dragon with a fiery breath devastates the kingdom. Going out with 12 followers to kill the monster, Beowulf is wounded and deserted by all but one of his comrades. He finally kills the dragon but at the cost of his own life. His body is burned by the Geats on a funeral pyre, and the ashes are enclosed in a barrow.
4) The field of conflict was the square plain called Vigridr, which stretched out before Valholl and measured, said the bards, a thousand leagues on every side. As the giants advanced on foot and on horseback, the sky cracked open and Bifrost, the rainbow bridge that linked Asgard to the earth, burst into flames and crumbled. The gods were led into battle by Odin, who wore a coat of mail and a golden helmet plumed with eagle's wings. He made straight for the Fenris wolf, but his strength could not avail against the worst of the monsters. The wolf opened its huge jaws, engulfed the father of the gods, and devoured him. Those of his troops who witnessed Odin's sudden and terrifying death were transfixed with horror, and became easy prey for the swinging battle axes of the giants. Odin's downfall was unseen by Thor, the god of thunder, who was grappling with the Midgard serpent. His thunderbolts glanced off the creature's scales with no visible effect. Then Thor raised his hammer and, expending his last strength, shattered the wedge-shaped head. The serpent had its revenge with its dying breath. It exhaled a cloud of venomous smoke that sent Thor choking down to Hel.
5) In the epic poem Enumu Elish, the sky was not yet named and the earth below was namelss. Only Apsu. the abyss, and Tiamat, or chaos existed. From the waters came forth Mummu and the monstrous serpents Lakhmu and Lakhamu. These two in turn gave birth to Anshar and Kishar, two primeval gods. They gave birth to the gods Anu, Ea and Marduk, the Igigi; a group of gods who took up their post in the heavens; and the Anunnake, another group of gods who took their position in the underworld. Shortly, this new creation angered the peace of Apsu and he complained to his wife. Their son Ea overheard the argument in which Apsu planned to destroy his offspring. Ea seized Apsu and Mummu with magic. Tiamat, angered at this move, gathered a group of gods and gave birth to a group of monsters to fight Ea. Ea went to his father, Anshar, to tell of Tiamat's plans to destroy them all. He gave Anu a message to give to Tiamat. But he got scared and never gave the message, so Anshar instructed Ea to give the message. But he wasn't courageous enough. Anshar instructed Marduk to deliver the message. Marduk told his father that he was ready to have a contest with Tiamat and would come out the victor. Marduk then took his weapon, the thunderbolt, went to confront Tiamat. Marduk summoned the wind and blew it into the face of Tiamat as it opened it's mouth. He forced the wind into the mouth of Tiamat to keep it open and the wind inflated Tiamat's stomach. Tiamat opened it's mouth wider to catch it's breath but Marduk took his spear and pierced it into her stomach. He pierced her entrails, and then killed her with a blow to the heart. Finished, he cut her into two halves. One half was used to create the heavens, the other half was used to create the earth, and the blood was used to create the first man.
6) At the dawn of time, a dwarf King dwelled in a northern land at the top of the world. He was ruled entirely by greed. By evil means, he amassed a hoard of elf gold in his hall, for which his son, equally greedy, murdered him. That son was named Fafnir, and he had a brother, Regin. Regin lusted for the bloodied gold also, but when confronted by Fafnir, he became a coward and fled away. Fafnir retired with his precious gold to a desolate place called Gnita Heath. He kept clear of all mortals in order to stay by his gold. He gradually changed into a dragon. Meanwhile Regin retained all the training of being a smithy, a physician and harper. The land was now ruled by King Hialprek and Regin became the kings master blacksmith. The king had a wife, Hiordis, who gave birth to Sigurd. Regin gained a pupil in Sigurd so that he could pass on the trade to Sigurd. Regin talked with Sigurd and told him it was time for him to make a name for himself. He told him of how he was wronged. He told him about that he could become a lord if he killed the dragon. Sigurd told Regin that he would fight the dragon if Regin would make him a sword. The sheer strength of Sigurd was too much for the swords that Regin made and was told to see his mother. Sigurd's mother gave him a sword that his father used. It was a broken sword but Regin fixed it. With sword in hand, Regin and Sugurd went after the dragon. Regin told Sigurd that in order to kill the dragon, he had to kill it with the first blow..a blow to the belly. They dug a pit at the base of the dragon's trail. Sigurd layed on his back in the pit. Regin covered him with a cloak and a thin layer of earth. The dragon crossed over the pit when Sigurd attacked the dragon with a thrust from the pit. It scored a hit in the belly and he killed the dragon. He cut out the dragons heart and cooked it over a fire and tasted a little of it. It had special powers, it gave Sigurd the ability to understand animal language. The birds chirped about the true plan of Regin. Being tricked into killing the dragon for Regin's greed over the gold, Sigurd was angry and chopped off Regin's head because of the treachery.
Click here for "Beauty and the Beast"
