What we have here, ladies and
gentlemen, is a tale from yesteryear re-plated, re-seasoned, and served up with
steaming hot newness.
In all seriousness, though, “Emaré”
strongly reminds the reader of stories he or she may have heard in his or her
childhood. Perhaps the Perseus myth rings a bell? Here, a woman is cast to sea
for disobeying her lord, only to be cast away with her son a second time due to
the deceit of another woman. Those two qualities, with a few details
rearranged, almost perfectly align with the beginning of Perseus’ story.
Moreover, Perseus’ stepfather is named “Arcrisius,” while the grandfather of
Segramore, Emaré’s son, is “Artyus.” The writer definitely knew what he or she
was doing there.
The thing that sets this story apart,
though, is its inherent Christian quality, and not just because its primary
characters are Christians.
Although many of the characters in
the story are Christian, their actions are not. Artyus tries to wed and bed his
daughter, with whom he falls passionately in love after his wife dies, and the Pope permits it. That’s the part
that surprised me the most, and I’ll come back to that later. On top of their
deeds, the King of Wales marries Emaré and disobeys his mother, who in turn
attempts to have Emaré and Segramore killed. (We can debate whether the Welsh
are Christians in this story, but the fact that the king assists France with
defending against the Saracens hints at a shared faith, which would be
Christianity. It also hints at a totally Moor-dominated Spain, which sets this
story soundly in the 700s to 900s A.D., when Wales was Christian.) It’s clear
many of the characters start off pretty lousy.
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| The benefits of also getting a B.A. in History... |
They are saved, first, by their
desire to repent and, second, by their reconciliation to one another without
external persuasion. When the King of Wales decides to repent and go to Rome to
do penance, it’s crucial that he never actually sees the Pope. Instead, he
lodges with a man named Jordan, where his long-lost wife and son, Emaré and
Segramore, are staying. Around the same time, Artyus comes to do penance for
(he believes) killing Emaré by exiling her the first time, but he also never
sees the Pope. He, too, ends up lodging with Jordan, Wales, Emaré, and
Segramore, with all but Emaré unaware of their relationships.
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| This is what happens when you approve of incest. |
Salvation comes when they discover
each other and Artyus and Wales apologize for how Emaré was wronged because of
them. Importantly, they don’t need the Pope to repent, showing that they don’t
need a legalistic doctrine to seek salvation, which is a crucial concept in
Christianity: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will
be saved” (Romans 10.9). This
is how Perseus’ myth becomes reframed and more Christian. “Religion” and
“being good” don’t save the characters, but rather a desire to repent brings
redemption. Interestingly, the host’s name is also Jordan, reminiscent of the
River Jordan that the Israelites crossed to reach the Promised Land. Like it,
he is a facilitator to happiness, peace, and redemption.
In the end, there is no killing or
vengeance, as in Perseus’ myth. The characters’ love for one another is
restored, and they continue in perfect happiness. It’s like the bliss of heaven
has come to them, similar to the arrival of the Holy Spirit in Christian
tradition.
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| "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth..." |
***
Additional Works Cited
The
New King James Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson
Publishers, 1982. Print.
