The Golden One - July 13, 2019


Stoicism - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight： Kind or Severe You Must Engage Your Fate


Episode Stats

Length

6 minutes

Words per Minute

157.73732

Word Count

1,002

Sentence Count

73

Misogynist Sentences

1


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 Greetings Laddingtons! Today I thought to talk a bit about stoicism but before I begin to do so
00:00:07.980 I would like to offer a heartfelt thank you and shout out to everyone who contributed both with
00:00:14.460 music and with financial contributions. I have ordered a microphone so it will hopefully arrive
00:00:20.400 any day now and then it will start the project of Swedish history. So again thank you for
00:00:29.580 that. Now I got this fine tome of knowledge from my lovely wife because she knows I'm a great fan of
00:00:37.180 the Arthurian myth and it's called Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and it's a poem from the Middle Ages.
00:00:45.840 I have made a video about the Green Knight with my friend Survive Dejaiva. We'll link it in the
00:00:50.920 description box below as well so you can hear his take on it but basically what the story is about
00:00:56.320 is a challenge being offered by the Green Knight. He comes to the court of King Arthur and offers a
00:01:03.920 challenge. Only Sir Gawain has the courage to take up the challenge and basically Sir Gawain can aim a
00:01:10.240 blow with a sword at the Green Knight and he decapitates him. The Green Knight doesn't die but
00:01:15.760 he takes up his head and rides off with his head but survives and the challenge is that he in turn,
00:01:23.080 the Green Knight, can decapitate Sir Gawain the coming year. And I will spoil the story but he
00:01:32.200 doesn't decapitate Sir Gawain but he only nicks him in the next so it has a happy ending. But I thought
00:01:37.720 to read out two quotes from this book. First and foremost just an epic description of the Green Knight
00:01:44.020 because yeah it's epic. And then to the stoic quote which is the main reason for making this video.
00:01:52.020 And also another note when I read these sort of things I'm always on the lookout for epic quotes
00:01:57.940 to motivate you all with and motivate myself with. And also about the Green Knight which I say in my
00:02:05.380 previous video the first time I got acquainted with the Green Knight was actually via Warhammer Fantasy
00:02:12.020 because the faction Bretonnia which is basically somewhat based upon french middle ages and
00:02:18.260 Arthurian legend they have a character called the Green Knight also. So if you have played
00:02:23.540 either the tabletop game or Warhammer Total War you might be familiar with the Green Knight.
00:02:30.020 Either way I think it's a really cool character but here is how he's being described in this poem.
00:02:35.860 Anyway I can say he was the mightiest of men and astride his horse a handsome knight as well.
00:02:42.820 But if he was broad of back and chest his build mid-body was elegantly slender. His face befitting
00:02:49.940 his form his bold liniments cut clean. But the hue of his every feature stunned them. As could be seen
00:02:58.020 not only was this creature colossal he was bright green. And I suppose a rhyme there as well because
00:03:04.260 yeah it's a poem. But on to the main quote I just wanted to quote that because it was epic.
00:03:13.460 So this is in my view at least in my humble opinion a somewhat stoic quote. So Gawain knows he will
00:03:21.620 probably die the coming year because he will get the Green Knight will get a free shot at his neck
00:03:27.620 basically. So he says in a conversation he says Gawain put on a good chair. Why should I hesitate?
00:03:34.420 He said. Kind or severe we must engage our fate. And this goes into not a fatalistic mindset perhaps
00:03:44.020 but a mindset which approaches life approaches any circumstance in a way that it is what it is. The
00:03:52.500 world looks the way it does. It doesn't matter if you fall into despair. It won't change anything. It won't
00:03:58.820 make anything better. And the first time I got acquainted with stoicism was actually in the army. An
00:04:06.420 introductory speech by a major. He said get familiar with this mindset because there will come a lot of
00:04:13.860 times where you are tired, hungry, you're cold etc. You are in a position which is not comfortable. It is
00:04:20.740 not comfortable at all. But it will certainly not be more comfortable if you actively think about it.
00:04:26.980 So the best way to approach these uncomfortable situations if you are tired, cold, hungry, wet,
00:04:33.860 out in a military exercise for example. It doesn't get better if you think about it. So just accept it
00:04:41.860 for what it is. It's supposed to be that way. It's supposed to be in a certain way. It's nothing
00:04:46.820 you can change. You can't change the weather. You can make certain endeavors to get warmer. You can make
00:04:52.900 you can do push-ups for example. These sort of things. But the things you can't change don't focus
00:04:58.820 all too much about it. And that's also a key principle of stoicism. Focus on the things you can change.
00:05:06.180 If you can't change something don't fret overly much about it. Focus on the things you can change.
00:05:11.300 And do it to the best of your ability. But for things such as the weather or the state of other
00:05:17.700 things maybe you can change a little bit. Do so. But if you can't change the whole world by yourself
00:05:23.940 don't let it consume you. And this is especially important now when we have a lot of guys in the west
00:05:29.460 who are black billed. Because political repressions. Because of censorship. Because of the great
00:05:35.300 replacement and everything like that. Do the things you can change. Do the things you can do. But don't
00:05:42.180 stress overly much about the things you can't change. So approach your fate with good cheer. Because kind
00:05:49.140 or severe. You must accept it. So anyway I thought to share that little perhaps motivating quote from
00:05:58.180 this fine tome of knowledge right here. So anyway thank you for watching. And have a great rest of your day. XOXO, BOO!
00:06:19.140 XOXO, BOO!