2025, Art, books, Fantasy

Galahad, Gawain and Me!

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The legend of King Arthur has always appealed to me.  From an early age I loved the Prince Valiant comic strip (and Robert Wagner in the movie) and when Camelot came out in 1967 I managed to get my folks to take me a couple of times.  I’ve read Mary Stewart’s Crystal Cave series more than once and while the 2011 series isn’t quite to my taste, I have watched it – Joseph Fiennes playing Merlin was fascinating.

Had I lived in the legend, I could not have been a good Guinevere or lady-in-waiting.  Although I’m not crazy about the violence part, I would have loved to be a knight.  Fancy armor, horses, swords, cool knight friends and quests.

I am all about quests.  Set me a quest and I am all in.  So when the Hennepin County Library debuted their passport this summer, I had to play.  The passport is free for all who want to participate, with a page for each of the 41 libraries in the system.  There is a photo of the library and short description and each library has their own passport stamp.  There is also a few blank lines if you want to add any notes.

You know I had to make a spreadsheet of the libraries that I can sort by how far they from my house and their hours.  Don’t want to show up at a library that isn’t open yet!  And of course once I’ve visited a particular library, I can highlight it!  Quests and spreadsheets – I’m in heaven.

It’s been a joy to visit the various libraries (I’m about half way through).  They are each unique, with so many different programs.  Language classes, Lego Labs, chess tournaments, jigsaw puzzles (yes, every time I found one in progress, I had to find a piece or two), even community seed libraries.  And the artwork is wonderful.  There must certainly at some kind of art curator on the library staff.  Whoever it is has done a masterful job. 

Wall in Children’s section of Champlin Library

There isn’t a timetable on my library quest, although I’d like to be done some time in September.  Once it’s cooler, I have lots of indoor projects.  Also, I like stretching it out a bit!

Any quests that you’ve enjoyed?  Any you’re looking forward to?

48 thoughts on “Galahad, Gawain and Me!”

      1. I have read it twice and listened to the audiobook on CD (around 25 CDs) and loved it. The other day I was playing with the idea that I would listen to it again.

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        1. If your library card includes a free subscription to Hoopla or Kanopy, you can find a LOT of stuff there and ditch all the annoying CDs or streaming services like Netflix. You’ll have to learn how to cast things from your computer to the TV, but once you’ve done that, you’re livin’ free ‘n easy.

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      1. I read it when it first came out. Then I got to read it again in my King Arthur in English and American Lit class at Metro state. You gotta love a college class that assigns Mists of Avalon.

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        2. That trumpet fanfare brought up a long lost memory. My best friend Pete and I both played trumpets. Somehow we were asked to be “heralds“ for some outdoor festival and walk around and play trumpet fanfares.
          We practiced for a couple of weeks coming up with several short little fanfares. My mom made us each a tunic and a cap and we arrived at place on the appointed day, and whoever was leading this parade pretty much took off on a jog across the meadow. It was all we could do to keep up, let alone try to play while chasing this guy around. I don’t think we played very many fanfares. I kind of feel like we dropped out early and went home.
          I had forgotten about that.

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  3. Lots of little quests – for the perfect Slow Cooker Ratatouille recipe, and other perfect, easy things like this… found a good one for Slow Cooker Mulligatawny the other day.

    And for something that grabs us without too much violence on Netflix – we just discovered The Crown, which may fill the bill for a while. (I know, we’re way late to this…) And it will last for a while!

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    1. Have I mentioned The Residence? I found it on Netflix, not violent, quite intelligent and absolutely hysterical.

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    2. As much as I ignore the British monarchy, I really enjoyed that series because it highlighted the human struggles. I found the position of now King Charles to be nearly impossible to endure. And then there was Diana and boys the situation ofwhich I found entrapping. Harry’s response to the monarchy (run away and live in California) is the only response I understand at all.

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      1. I only watched about a season and a half of the Crown. A little too much fiction mixed in for me. So I don’t know how they portrayed Charles, but I do absolutely agree that he’s been in an untenable situation most of his life. I can’t imagine being the vice president of a company for 80 years, in the broad shadow of your boss before you get a chance to do the job.

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  4. Rise and Ride Off on Your Steed, Baboons,

    Presently I am on a quest to navigate the Minnesota Veterans’ Home system. I got Lou’s name submitted, and he now awaits an evaluation. Once that is passed, the waiting list is 15-18 mos. I do not feel ready for him to go there yet, but I can see the need at some point and want to be ready. This system is a quest, but the facility is really beautiful and the care is excellent. Lou’s uncle was there for a year. We visited him a number of times. Lou voluntarily said to me, “If I need to go somewhere, I want to go here!”

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    2. Ha! When I was in high school, we were required to memorize the Danish monarchs in order, starting with Gorm den Gamle – Gorm the Old – complete with the years of their reign. In Gorm’s case that was from approximately 936 to his death in 958 or 963. Dates from that early history are a bit sketchy.

      Other stuff that we were required to memorize were the Ten Commandments (this was not at the Catholic boarding school, but in the Lutheran public schools), the multiplication tables, and assorted verses from old Danish hymns. Small wonder some of us ran out of storage space in the brain somewhere along the line.

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  6. Wow. WP just ate a very long entry, so you all have been spared.

    I have a shelf of Arthurian accounts— T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, Steinbeck’s The Acts of King Arthur and vintage illustrated versions, one by Howard Pyle and one edited by Elizabeth Merchant and illustrated by Frank Godwin. We have a copy of The Mists of Avalon but that’s on another shelf. At some point in the distant past I’ve read the White and the Steinbeck and also Mary Stewart’s Crystal Cave series.

    I like quests, especially ones that require research. At the turn of the millennium I began collecting material related to nineteenth century theater, especially books by and about the principal actors as well as photographic images of them.
    I still have those books and images but my quest has shifted to collecting nineteenth century humor. It’s a quixotic quest in that almost no one else seems to be engaged in it and almost nobody—book dealers included—knows anything about those books and their authors. I’ve had to inform myself.

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    1. I read the Howard Pyle in my junior high years. I had forgotten that until now. Once and Future King delights me. The Lady of Shallot is like Hiawatha a poem of arresting unusual rhythm full of cringe-worthy lines. But I re-read it periodically for the rhythm and for the few striking lines. “The mirror cracked from side to side.” I also enjoy it for its part in Anne of Green Gables, a favorite book of mine.
      The several series you mention on TV never appeal to me. Not sure why
      Clyde

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      1. Hiawatha’s rhythm, not to mention some of its content, was an invitation to burlesque. One of my other subcollections is parodies of Hiawatha, such as The Song of Milkanwatha, Pluri-bus-tah, a history of the U.S. (up to the mid 1850s) and Lewis Carrol’s Hiawatha Photographing.

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  7. I’m beginning my quest to watch all of the Best Picture Academy Awards winners in order. I’ve already watched most. Some multiple times.
    Wings.

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    1. If your library card includes a free subscription to Hoopla or Kanopy, you can find a LOT of stuff there and ditch all the annoying CDs or streaming services like Netflix. You’ll have to learn how to cast things from your computer to the TV, but once you’ve done that, you’re livin’ free ‘n easy.

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  9. I’ve been on a quest to find an affordable one-level townhome or condo in Northfield. I put in an offer on one the day before yesterday, but they accepted another offer. These places go within 48 hours. It’s discouraging. After a break to lick my wounds, the quest will continue.

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  10. I remember checking out a very thick book on knights sometime in Jr. High. The librarian wasn’t sure I could handle it. I guess I didn’t, as I don’t remember anything about it, but I bet it was interesting.

    My quest this week is oat harvest!

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  11. Our library in Moorhead, Minnesota set up a display with knights ascending to a castle. Read a certain number of books and you graduated your personally identified knight from copper to silver to gold. Easy peasy.

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  13. I read The Once and Future King and The Mists of Avalon decades ago.

    When I was about ten a friend and I went to a movie that was loosely based on the Arthurian legend. It was rather strange and somewhat disturbing. I have tried to find info about it since then without success. Uther Pendragon was a major character, I recall.

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