 |
| Emperor Charles the Great by Albrecht Dürer |
 |
| Roland, the most famous of Charlemagne's Paladins. |
And you thought I was done after blogging about
Knight Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table! Not when Charlemagne had his Twelve Peers, who were also known as Paladins (literally, "of the Palace"). But the term paladin has come to have special freight in our day. It started with
this guy, seen below.
The titular character of Have Gun--Will Travel was simply known as "Paladin." The connection between the Western hero (or cowboy) and the Knight (chevalier or cavalier) is made explicit with his calling card. Not convinced? Give the
ballad a listen.
It's no surprise that the hero on the white horse moved from Medieval Western Europe to the 19th C. Western United States. The translation will also be made back and forth with the Samurai in Japanese movies, particularly those of the great Akira Kurosawa. Then along came the Dungeons & Dragons phenomena in the 70s and 80s. Little boys who'd never heard of Charlemagne were suddenly pretending to be warriors who were not only noble, but even holy and righteous. It was Lawful Good or bust!
 |
| A Paladin in Hell by David Sutherland |
This iconic hero thus spread throughout everything touched by D&D, including the
MMORPG behemoth World of Warcraft, and children's cartoons. Behold
today's paladin, adventuring weekly on
Cartoon Network! (If you've been following me previously, you know he's one of my current favorites.)
 |
| "I'm a righteous boy! I can't do that, it's against my alignment!" |
The way we picture the righteous, noble warrior may change, but this iconic hero is here to stay. Let's close with Paizo Publishing's take on the
paladin. Though clearly within the tradition, in this case it's no stretch to say...
 |
| Illustration by Alex Aparin. |
You've come a long way, baby.
EDIT: Just found
this site. Hopefully it will be expanded.
