Essay: The Lost Heroine

This week I read about Britomart, a woman of Arthurian legends.  I was so impressed with her because she seemed like such a modern heroine.  Britomart was a princess who disguised herself as a knight and went on many epic adventures. 

The thing I was most surprised about was how I have NEVER heard of this heroine until this class.  Especially nowadays when there are cries for strong, independent female roles, how did this awesome character become so overlooked?  Guinevere and Morgana are much better known than Britomart but now I can't seem to understand why. 

I can't even think of a character that is more of a feminist.  She held her ground with King Arthur himself, competed in tournaments and rescued villagers.  I know that Morgana was King Arthur's villain but she never suited up as a knight and took on King Arthur herself.  She mainly just used sorcery and trickery to mess with him and had others do her fighting.  Guinevere was always more of a damsel in distress than an actual fully-fledged out character. 

I feel like Britomart had a lot of qualities that are generally reserved for men, especially in Arthurian Legends.  She is a true equal and a qualified knight.  Britomart does set on a quest to meet the man who is supposed to be the love of her life, so it can be argued that she's centered around a man.  But I would argue that this is a very common theme in Arthurian legends as most knights have sought out the women to be there wives.  I really hope someone makes her story into an HBO show or an epic movie.  We need more characters like her in the main stream media!!!

(Britomart 1900 Walter Crane | Oil Painting Reproduction | 1st-Art-Gallery.com from Pinterest.)

Bibliography: This story is part of the Fairie Queen: Britomart unit. Story source: Stories from the Faerie Queene by Mary Macleod, with drawings by A. G. Walker (1916).