The Savage Damsel

I was talking to my mother and sister on the phone the other day as I went on a walk. I wish I could say I had been on a run but if I’m being honest my body doesn’t really tolerate me running. Maybe if I practiced more it would… And my mother was looking through one of her many bookshelves to find something to read.

She came across a book that I have loved since childhood called the Savage Damsel and the Dwarf. The book is one of many in a series about different round table knights from King Arthur’s Court. They are filled with magic, intrigue, and although it’s written by a man, a lot of strong female characters.

In the Savage Damsel and the Dwarf, Lady Lynet’s castle is under siege and so she escapes to journey to King Arthur’s court to ask for help. She makes a lot of mistakes and is actually kind of useless in the woods, or really at doing anything, and she’s not always very nice. If it wasn’t for her dwarf who ends up actually being a handsome knight she would have definitely died. So Lynet isn’t the perfect feminist hero. She can’t save her world on her own, or even without the help of a man. But that’s life. We need people. All kinds of people. And even though Lynet can’t do it on her own she goes ahead and tries to do everything that she can, and be as brave as she knows how and fight for her family, reaching out of her comfort zone. She is a failing feminist.

I want to be like Lynet. I want to be bold enough to try. To say the hard things and do the hard things, even if I end up making a mess of things and need my friends to come in and save me. I want to be a savage damsel. I want to be fierce in my loyalty and honesty. I want to be proactive in using my voice and my abilities to advocate for others. I want to be brave. Maybe on here I finally will be.