Meritorious Knights of the Medieval Period

            Sir Torre, Chaucer's Knight, and Sir Galahad all share distinctive qualities. Of these qualities, chivalry is essential and shown often throughout "Sir Galahad", The Canterbury Tales, and Sir Torre's short quest in John Steinbeck's "The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights." Another trait that is illuminated within the three short exerts is the continual questing that many of these stories are focalized on that varied between small hunts completed by request of a King, great battles , and hunting for a holy relic. For many knights, religion was part of their daily lives through regular prayer, battles in defense of their religious beliefs such as the Crusades, and the hunt for the famed Holy Grail. The three stories allot themes of chivalry through their courageous and honorable actions, quests in honor of a King that often endangered the lives of each knight, and religion often seen through the mention of God. .
             Sir Torre, the Knight featured in The Canterbury Tales, and Sir Galahad all exemplify traits of chivalry. Chivalry was a common moral practice for the medieval knight. According to a variety of sources, "the Arthurian legend revolves around the code of chivalry" and includes "honor, honestly, valor, and loyalty" (Alchin). These traits are practiced frequently by all three of the knights through a multitude of chivalrous behaviors. Sir Torre's manifest of chivalry was accentuated by his loyalty towards his king through his dedication to the retrieval of a hunting dog alongside his treatment of all who approach him, whether it be through honorable conflict or polite conversation. In response to a woman who sought the removal of the knight's head defeated by Sir Torre, he says "By God's grace, I will accept what comes my lady," and was later characterized by Merlin to be a "gentle and courteous and truthful" knight (Steinbeck 97, 99).