From this mythological lake the Lady gave Arthur his magical sword Excalibur, but this knight had his very own excalibur and it was this apparently deadly medieval weapon that caused local concern leading to three machine gun wielding cops swooping down on the curious knight.Combined with the Canadian stormtrooper incident, the British part of the Anglosphere looks worse and worse. The fact that he "admits" that he was wrong is positively "I love Big Brother" territory.
It turned out that the medieval knight was not the ghost of King Arthur, but it was 20-year-old Lennon Thomas, a Dungeons and Dragons and history enthusiast who has since admitted he perhaps suffered a lapse in judgement bringing his sword out into the public domain, but in his defense he told the police that he was “simply enjoying a walk in his armor....”
As one would expect from a highly-trained knight versed in the ways of “war craft”, the righteous and good Sir Lennon Thomas exuded total fairness in the face of three really highly-trained warriors armed with truly-deadly machinery, by admitting that he “had a lapse in judgement on the sword part.” And looking back at his experience at the edge of the Welsh lake, Lennon added that “perhaps bringing the sword wasn’t such a good idea, as from a distance it does look realistic.”
Welshmen Yield
A young man dressed up as a knight was accosted by armed police -- in Wales they aren't all armed -- because of his foam sword.
While many innocent romantics might wear armor and wield swords in public, there is a non-trivial chance they are crazy and dangerous.
ReplyDeleteI know people with impressive sword and/or knife collections. Not all of them are ill. Maybe a third. A third is a lot. My sample is biased, and if I frequented sword and knife shows I might come up with different numbers. But basically, if either Maurice or Henry comes out in public we should be concerned. I am looking out my back window and wondering what my response would be to a person in armor with a sword walking down the street. I think I am the one in the neighborhood best placed to approach him. If he is a romantic or merely a young showboat with a medieval flair, we have much to talk about. If he is dangerous, I am the one who should be trying to slow things up until help arrives.
Yes, you might have a different set of numbers if you frequented gun and knife shows; or practiced martial arts; or historical re-enactment; or did SCA events. I don't do the first or the last, but do the middle two, and I have many friends who own and sometimes carry swords. They're all dangerous, like Gandalf is dangerous, Aragorn is dangerous, and you, too, Gimli son of Gloin.
ReplyDeleteYour first link- "This means you"- pointed out that she had been an unsuccessful Democrat candidate.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, it looks like the police were in fact pretty reasonable about it, it's more the calling them out in the first place that is out of line.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/ITVWales/status/1261227758501408768?s=20
Frankly, I just question the idea that someone should be "suspicious" for dressing in an unconventional manner when armed with really just about anything. If I were to see a man dressed in hunting camouflage with a rifle or shotgun in this part of the country, it would elicit precisely no response, especially during hunting season. And yet, someone is actually going to find that less threatening than someone in armor armed with a sword?
ReplyDeleteBut in this case, it wasn't even a REAL sword. And having owned foam (and real) swords, I will tell you, there's no mistaking the two. Not even remotely. The most realistic looking foam swords are ridiculously thick and broad, because otherwise they would flop about and be unsuitable for whapping anything with. And even the dense foam models with plastic cores can, at best, sting mightily if you're hit by one full force, but nothing more.
If you feel the need to challenge someone walking through your neighborhood because they're wearing medieval armor because "they might be crazy", my first question is, do you have ANY idea how much that stuff costs, and my second question is do you also challenge every homeless person walking through your neighborhood? Because between someone in (very expensive) armor and a homeless person, I'll lay heavy odds on which one is more likely to be insane. And it's not the guy in plate and chain.
I am doubtless conditioned by a lifetime of going to Scottish Highland Games, where hundreds or thousands of men armed with swords, axes, daggers, and polearms congregate (and drink!) in peace and fellowship.
ReplyDeletePsychiatry tends to have an overinflated sense of danger. Comes from having to man handle and sedate subjects. If everytime i saw a dog wild, we got into a fight, i would be overly cautious too.
ReplyDeleteBut after acuquiring basic lethal force, there is less manifestation of fear. Which manifests less struggle sessions that require subjects to be rendered helpless.
For a person that has prepared to fight all of humanity.... a mere prison or p ward, is no longer improbable to neutralize. Aka terminate in a burn.
And yes, one of my sources worked as enforcer in private corrections.
ReplyDeleteCompared to evading humanity that loves killing the sons and messengers of god, therr is a distinct survival chance in prison. Even if it means killing everyone solo.