HASTILUDE

February 13, 2010

Hastilude
\’ha-ste-‘lüd\ n : a medieval joust : spear play*

Being to England many times, my family and I had been privy to many things royal. We had explored various castles, being able to really implant ourselves in the environment in which kings and queens had lived and ruled. From Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace, we were able to get a true sense of the lives of the highly esteemed leaders of this great British nation.
Another great facet of English culture is a hastilude. These jousting competitions are purely fun and can get a crowd riled up and raucous, cheering for their favorite team. One trip to England, my parents thought it would be a great idea to go to a medieval jousting event. I was young and brought a sense of innocence to the day; being alarmed at two individuals trying to poke each other off a horse with a long pole. My father explained it was all make believe and I relaxed a little.
The event was great and I had aligned myself with the blue team and was thrilled when they won. I was hyped from the electric energy of the crowd and begged my mom for a Haagen Dasz ice cream bar – yum! She agreed (it was a really good day all around!) and so off we went to the ice cream truck to purchase my tasty treat. As I bit into the bar, I noticed a blue wire embedded in my ice cream and immediately resulted to action. I threw the ice cream bar across the field and started to cry perhaps because I didn’t get my dessert after all and not because my innocence had been tarnished by a crude act. Nothing my dad could say then could reinstate the fun memories of the event we had just witnessed nor soothe my anger at being jipped a scrumptious ice cream bar…isn’t it interesting how kids can put things in perspective?

*letter “e” is upside down and creates sound of “uh”