Just as there were tourneys and tournaments in Narnia, surely there were jousts, which were part of King Lune’s future plans for Corin as relayed by Mr. Tumnus. I quoted the passage in last week’s Worldbuilding Wednesday, then realized Tumnus didn’t mention a tourney, only tilting and jousting. But these skills were honed and practiced at tourneys, or more likely behourds, which was a tourney meant just for knights-in-training and squires.
Jousting was undoubtedly the most exciting event at a tourney. Fully armored knights, dressed in their finest tourney silks and armed with shields and lances, charged at each other down a long, straight course. At first the charge was freeform; later on combatants were separated by a tilt, which could be a fence, rope, or delineation of fabric of equal length so they didn’t wander off course. Lances hit helms or shields, and BOOM! anything could happen. Knights could be knocked off, shields and lances splintered, horses fallen and injured, and competitors maimed for life. King Henry VIII of England was famously unhorsed in a 1536 joust in an impact so violent his fully armored mount (likely a Percheron-type breed, ouch) fell on him too, crushing his legs and knocking him unconscious. The accident was catastrophic for the king. It caused painful ulcers on his legs and slowly declining health for the once-vigorous monarch, as well as personality changes that influenced later history for the worse.
The magnificent jousting armor of Carlos V of Spain. Rulers regularly participated in jousts despite the dangers. The horses’s trappings include the double-headed eagle of the Holy Roman Empire, small ram horns, and what look like mastiff faces.
I can’t imagine Narnian jousts being this violent and wasteful of life. But on the other hand, there was a pressing need for well-trained knights to stave off giants’ raids (as is mentioned in several books) and deal with bandits and outlaws, though where said bandits came from, and what folk comprised them, was never mentioned by Lewis. (That could be material for a future post.)
Calormen, too, was a constant threat according to Lewis in his guise as the stories’ narrator, though the only attack readers get to see is Rabadash’s desert foray depicted in The Horse and His Boy.
(Of course there’s the Calormen invasion of The Last Battle in which Cair Paravel falls to the heathens, but it happens offscreen and no knights are mentioned. Perhaps the Narnians got lazy by that time and upkeeping a defensive force fell out of favor. Or the knights were occupied elsewhere. Something of a mystery.)
There were no standardized set of jousting rules across Europe, but it’s safe to say the highest points were rewarded to participants who completely unhorsed their opponent. Points were also given to breaking opponents’ lances, shields, and hitting them in the helm. Sometimes the knight’s shield was built into the armor so they could have a hand, and some illustrations indicate the besagew was also a target.
The fluted rondels at the shoulder of this suit of armor were called besagews and were intended to protect the armpits. They also served as supports for the knight’s lance or spear in battle.
Disqualifications and demerits were given for hitting the opponent’s horse or someone who had lost his weapon. Judges were a council of knights who might or might not be the area’s rulers. They not only scored the competitors but ensured chivalrous conduct. As with football matches, often violence and hooliganism broke out, with the perpetrators ejected from further competition.
The 16th century was the height of tourneys and jousting. Knights had special armor and helmets made for these events and they were draped in colorful silks showcasing their standards. The costuming extended to their horses. All of this was a show of power, pride, and wealth. Indeed, the games themselves began to be overshadowed by the banquets, pageants and parades that surrounded them. Sometimes the whole event revolved around a preplanned story or allegory of the kind poet Edmund Spenser ( author of The Faerie Queen) would have loved.
Costumes representing the sun and moon for a tourney parade in the 1500s
How would the Narnians have handled these things? They are a simple folk, so knights’ armor and costuming wouldn’t be too elaborate, just enough to identify them to others. Their lances and other weapons would be blunted and I can’t see Narnian knights aiming for their opponent’s face, only their shield. Any pageants or parades would be home-brewed and rustic, made for fun, not prestige.
What I imagine for a Narnian knight
A bigger question is if Narnian knights rode Talking Horses or not, and if they rode regular horses, if the Talking Horses objected to their dumb brethren being used as such. Lewis didn’t talk about this. From the books it seemed dumb horses were kept for regular excursions, like trips to Archenland or hunting parties. On the other hand, a knight mounted on an intelligent Talking Horse, both with the same plan, would have been a battle weapon on another level entirely. I can see this combination being used only in duress though, with the agreement of both parties.
So, I’ll say there were jousts for both Talking and dumb horses and their knights, and a third one, for Talking Horses alone. These creatures would carry straw dummies armed with shields and lances, with the objective being the destruction of the opponent’s “knight.” Being as humans are not involved, these jousts could be more violent, the goal being to destroy the dummy completely.
Centaurs could also be jousters. In the books they are warriors, especially in Prince Caspian where they fight in the Telmarine Rebellion (this name is not canon, but I don’t know what else to call it.) This aspect was played up in the movie version, where they wore armor and wielded bows, swords and shields. It’s not too hard to see them tilting and jousting with each other, holding spears and shields.
Modern recreations of fanciful jousting helms from the 1500s.
Who were the knights who participated in Narnia’s jousts and tourneys? Lewis doesn’t tell us. In the Golden Age books (LWW and HHB) the human population seemed too small to support a knighthood, unless there had been a surge of immigration after the witch’s death. There could have been tourneys before witch’s era, of course. The surrounding countries of Archenland, Galma, Terebinthia, and The Seven Isles would have sent knights to participate as well as hosting versions of their own.
Post-Telmar, the custom would have been revived by Caspian X or Rilian.
During their reign the Telmarines could have had their own version of a tourney, and the fact of them being a martial race supports this. However it’s hard to imagine the backward, sour Telmarines practicing a code of chivalry. Perhaps the Narnian one had gone underground with the mythical beings and Talking Beasts, influencing a young Reepicheep in his cradle.
If you’d like some suggestions for the names of participating knights, look at this post.
And if you’d like less serious ones, here’s a few, see if you can figure out the puns.
Names for a Knight
| Sir Loin of Beef
Knight of White Satin Knight of D’livinded Sir Mond Onde-Mount Sir Zeke Reemchees Sir Serfullo d’Secretz Sir Ryllic |
Sir Cumfrence of the Round Table
Sir Finn Sfari Sir Cumspect Sir Atopsian Sir Tiff Fide-Leder Sir Jikulwing Knight O’Diaguana |
