Month: October 2019

Last month I went on an East Coast tour. It started after flying into Boston, renting a small economy car and two thousand miles later and ten days later, ending in the same spot. This was one of the best trips ever! Though I missed the beauty of the leaving changing colors in Vermont and viewing moose in north Maine, this trip definitely did not disappoint. When asked what I saw on the trip, I always end saying the same thing: Salem was great! I did not think that I would like Salem as much as I did. It was the last stop before flying out of Boston and I did not get to spend much time there, only one day, but this little town was absolutely fantastic. The history of Salem attracted those interested in the rich history of this three hundred year old town. The witch and ghost history brought the Halloween fans, ghost fanatics and even Harry Potter addicts to stroll through the cobbled stoned streets on the cool nights.

This fall, I am taking one art course and so far, its a great one, Byzantine/Medieval Art! It is exactly what I thought it would be, full of fantastic stories of epic battles, cultural mingling and the best part of all, monstrous beasts, dragons. As I have enjoyed these dragon tales, I have decided to research the dragons I have read about. Though my paper does not have a proper title yet, I will be intensively researching the influence Christianity has imposed upon Medieval society, with its use of dragons as the antagonist. These creatures are much more abundant in the Middle Ages than I once realized. My research has led to many different cultures and religions, who all had the common belief in dragons.

The mystery and romance of the Middle Ages has inspired generations throughout the world with swaggering tales of brawny knights, beautiful princesses and hideous monsters lurking in dark spaces. The world, captivated by Game Thrones for almost a decade, can attest to this obsession with Medieval Age romantic knights and ladies.  The combination of mystery and romance in Medieval folklore most often always has a common ending: the dreadful monster slayed, the brawny hero prevails in full possession of his lovely princess bride and of course, the village is saved from death destruction and disaster. While our modern interpretation of the Middle Ages is often humorously romanticized, life was not romantic and usually it did not end with the characters trailing into the sunset to live happy carefree lives. Life for Medieval people was most often rough and unforgiving. 

Though we as modern people know so much more about history than ever before, the mystery that is still surrounding our ancestors is extraordinary.