Update on my Blog

For those of you who have have followed my blog since January 2019, you all know quite well that I post about the Middle Ages, English Literature, Shakespeare, World Literature...just to name the main topics of this blog. However, while I usually have posted a blog post on average for every week, such posts will now be more limited than they have previously been, as I will be enrolling through Liberty University online. Thus, blog posts here maybe fewer. Currently, I have twenty-four college credits in, so I got a while to go before completing my undergraduate and want to work hard to make the best of it. 

I wouldn't say this is a bad thing. Sometimes I have edited just to quickly to publish something for the week. Blog posts maybe expected to be longer, while more on a monthly basis now. You can know for certain that I will be putting harder work at editing my posts as well! 

I wanted  to be a double major through LU's Creative Writing and English Education, but the School of Education forbids this. Thus, I will be getting my degree now in the school of education rather than the school of arts and sciences {which includes the department of English].  Through the latter program, I will be certified to teach in the state of Virginia.  

I will no longer be working on a minor in history but put all courses towards my undergraduatein English Education. 

Why Everyman needs to read Everyman

 Everyman: 

Death, if I should this pilgrimage take, 

And my reckoning surely make, 

Show me, for Saint Charity,

Should I not come again shortly?

I remember reading Everyman back in late Middle School {or early high school, I'm not sure which one} with my Mama. We had never heard of the story before but I loved it instantly upon reading it. I found it clever in its dialogue and religious in its allegorical themes. 

I always have compared Everyman to Pilgrim's Progress. Both are great allegorical stories of Christian themes of sin and salvation, though Everyman was written before the Protestant Reformation whereas Pilgrim's Progress was written after it. As I plan to analyze and interpret Everyman shortly from now, now would be a good time for my readers to read this classic work of drama so that they can better understand not only good literature, but the future judgement of all mankind. 

Now is the judgement of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 

-John 12: 31

A Review of English Literature by Benjamin W. Griffith

Today, I want to recommend a helpful textbook for anyone seeking to have a basic knowledge of English Literature. I hope that it will be helpful for those part of and not part of academia.


There are a number of great textbooks that I would recommend for English majors so that they can have a broad understanding of English Literature.  After all, English Literature is a wide ranging subject. From poetic stories of the Anglo-Saxons, to the plays of William Shakespeare, and all the ways to the present, English Literature finds itself spanning over many centuries of British history.


While reading the actual works of English Literature are ideal, English Literature by Benjamin W. Griffith is a great place to start. I truly believe it is the best summary of the subject. The book is about one hundred-fifty pages long, making it an easy reference to know key writers of the past and their works. We also learn about the literary history of these eras by studying the most literary works of the past.


I have read Griffith's English Literature like six times, and there is a reason why. For a book so small, it is condensed  with loads of useful information about the given subject. It even includes some passages from specific works of British Literature such as a Psalm reading in The King James Bible. This is particularly important, as English majors will most likely be tested on their knowledge of passages and where these passages are from. 


English Literature by Benjamin W. Griffith is a good place to start for any English major. The book will prepare you for more in depth studies of the subject. For those wanting a broad analysis of English Literature, as well as the classic works to read, I recommend any of the anthologies of English Literature from Nortan, Longham, or Broadview. I personally, prefer The Nortan Anthology of English Literature.  The best place to start however, is Griffith's book on the subject.

The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge. -Proverbs 18:15

A Review of Quest for the Grail Part IV

It has been a while since I have posted about this literary work. For my previous thoughts on The Quest of the Holy Grail, check out the following links:  https://themedievalist.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-review-of-quest-of-holy-grail-part-i.html

https://themedievalist.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-review-of-quest-of-grail-part-ii.html

https://themedievalist.blogspot.com/2020/01/a-review-of-quest-of-holy-grail-part-iii.html

Upon leaving the castle of the maidens, Galahad continued on his journey until he came to to the Waste Forest. Here, he met ways with Lancelot and Percival, knights that did not not know him. In fact, both Lancelot and Percival attacked Galahad as neither did recognize Galahad's coat of arms. In return, Galahad knocked Lancelot from his horse. Percival too was knocked down in battle by Galahad.

This joust scene had taken place in front of a house. As soon as Galahad had won the fight, the lady of the home urged him on with encouragement and did say that had these knights truly known him, they would have never attacked him. As Galahad rode off, the defeated knights mounted again to their steeds to pursue him though their efforts failed to do so quite unsuccessfully. 

The Holy Grail appeared to Lancelot shortly thereafter. However, Lancelot did not pursue it either due to his exhaustion, or to his weight of sin that was a burden to him. How realistic this is indeed, for oftentimes, when we are in sin, we don't pursue the holy things of God either due to lack of interest, or often, because we feel guilty proclaiming what is holy if we are not living it. Lancelot though, did not remain in this estate of gullible guilt. In him, we do not find the characteristics of self pity by which he blames all else for his mistakes. No in fact, Lancelot is mature enough to know that the consequences of his sin are due to his own decisions.  

Throughout the chapter, we find Lancelot seeking forgiveness for his sins. While guilt maybe an occasional focus of morality in literature today, repentance rarely is. But Lancelot wants to be free from the weight of mortal sin on his soul and so he desires true penance. While Lancelot was not always the pure and undefiled knight that Galahad had always been, we do find that Lancelot comes to regret, and even turn away from his sin as a mark of a true Christian. Lancelot particularly confesses and receives absolution for his lust of Guinevere. His character is gradually reformed thereafter, and Lancelot experiences a true reformation of his character to the subordination of God's decrees of holiness.  

One aspect I truly enjoy about this work of Medieval French Literature is its simplicity to read and understand. I find it a much easier read than The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, for instance. The story is written in prose, which is usually an easier read of language than is poetry. The Lancelot-Grail may not have the rhyme or humor of The Canterbury Tales, but it does surpass The Canterbury Tales in my view, concerning themes of Christian allegory. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the Lancelot-Grail is one of the best works of Medieval Literature. 

Sometimes I go back and forth on whether or not I like this literary work or The Canterbury Tales better. The Lancelot-Grail is a must read for any who find interest in Medieval Literature. Whether we read literature for a hobby, or for theological and historical purposes, or for some other cause, literature allows us to imagine stories as great writers well knew it long ago. Literature also allows us to see Christian themes and characteristics that we would not normally notice from a sermon or a theology book. In literature, we find a painting of the good and the evil that exists in all men. 

The Lancelot-Grail is more than another work of Medieval Literature.  It is about one of the greatest artifacts in the history of mankind: the holy grail. This cup of salvation, this cup said to have been used by Christ as the Last Supper, is a symbolic image of the immorality desired for in all of us. The holy grail is also a picture to us that no matter how magical or mystical it may seem to us, that the mortality of this life is not the end of our eternity. Yes, each and every one of us, whether or not we admit it, will experience either eternal life or eternal damnation from God forever and ever. Ultimately then, the quest for the holy grail is the quest for salvation itself, which is the major theme of this story. This theme is quite recurring throughout the given text.  

We don't have to here sermons by pastors or look for books by Saint Augustine of Hippo to learn about theology. Theology is found all over the works of some of the most prominent works of Western Civilization. Simply by reading the literature of the past, whether it be Paradise Lost by John Milton, or The Confessions by Saint Augustine, we learn from the great works of Christian literature about sin, the fall, salvation, and redemption. The Lancelot-Grail, is no exception in its depiction of these traits throughout its texts. From this work of Medieval French Literature, we learn such spiritual attributes that can add to our own theology of God our Creator.