I was recently scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed and saw a quote a friend had posted reading, "I hope my knight rides in wearing dented, beat up, and scratched armor. Because if its shiny, they obviously didn't fight for me." I've seen this around before and it's always bothered me a bit. I mean, sure he fought for me, but if the way he treats his armor - something that should be very precious to him - is any indication of how he will treat me, I want nothing to do with him. If he will fight for me, but ultimately leave me to rot along with his formerly shiny armor, then what is the point?
Now, I see nothing wrong with the idea of a knight who has fought for me instead of some untried nincompoop who thinks he's All That because of his cool horse and nice shiny armor. You know, the one who expects all the ladies to waltz into his arms simply because of his status as a knight. In fact, this second idea would bother me almost more than the first. Sure, his armor looks nice, but when it comes down to it, he can't do much but look pretty as he struggles not to fall off his horse.
Luckily though, these aren't the only two types of knights out there. There's a third, one who possesses the better qualities of both former types. He rides in looking weary, but his armor shines as though it's never been worn. This knight has fought numerous battles to protect those he is loyal to and cares about, but still makes sure he keeps his armor polished and sword sharpened. This is the man who will not only fight for me, but care for me. This is a real Knight in Shining Armor.
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So apparently all my good blogging ideas come late at night... This is fun. Anyway, just a thought I had regarding this particular idea that your "armor" has to look scrappy to mean you fought, and that if it doesn't, you obviously didn't work for anything. I firmly believes that this applies to more areas than just relationships, but since the original post took it that way, that's the direction I took it.
Photo Credit: http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Knight+in+shining+armor+one+of+the+best+quotes+i_41c4f0_4416998.jpg
If the knight has just come out of battle, where would he have found the time to un-dent, reshape, or re-smith if need be, polish and buff? I understand your overall logic, but would you rather wait even longer, not even knowing if there was someone fighting for you? Someone fighting the good fight, out there, for you. I say NAY dear Madam, possibly allow for a brief respite after bowing to you?
ReplyDeleteJulio: I think the way I was viewing it was not necessarily that the instant my knight approaches me, I expect his armor to be shiny and perfect, rather that as soon as he can, he takes care to repair it. (Though as a maiden of 19 years who has still not found her knight, or ever given one a token, I'd be perfectly content to wait a bit longer for him to gather his bearings if he needed to. :)
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