Thursday, October 25, 2007

Man Killed Jousting

Though it apparently happened more than a month ago, the Guardian just got around to reporting "Man killed in TV jousting match" on Tuesday.

h/t Cranky Professor
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5 comments:

  1. Linda C. McCabe9:24 AM

    That is tragic. However, accidents do happen no matter how many safety precautions you take.

    The splinter of a lance into the eye is reportedly the cause of death for King Henry II of France in the Place de Vosges in Paris.

    Here's a link to a site related to Victor Hugo that mentions this historical tragedy: http://www.hugo-online.org/090100.htm

    On another related note, I went to a Ren Faire a few weekends ago and they had an exhibition of full contact jousting and I witnessed one of the riders being wounded by a lance in his groin.

    He withdrew from the match to receive medical attention.

    They may be actors, but there is still risk when you are working with large animals going at high speed and carrying large heavy wooden poles. (They weren't the spaghetti filled break away lances used in the movie The Knight's Tale)



    Linda

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  2. Steve Muhlberger10:22 AM

    Actors? In what sense are they any more actors than the people who performed sport jousting in the MA? King Henri II was also performing.

    I'll bet those spaghetti-filled lances were far from innocuous. I've helped at a joust with light breakaway spears and experienced riders got seriously hurt.

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  3. Dr. Richard Scott Nokes10:31 AM

    You know, I hestitated to say this in the original post, fearing that it might seem flippant, but I mean this with all due respect in light of the fact that a relatively young man died suddenly:

    Since man is mortal, and we are all going to die anyway, this is a relatively cool way to go. There ought to be a reverse-Darwin award honoring people who die doing something especially cool or especially heroic. I'm not sure this qualifies as heroic, but it does qualify as cool.

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  4. Karl Steel4:59 PM

    I witnessed one of the riders being wounded by a lance in his groin.

    He withdrew from the match to receive medical attention.

    Since you opened the flippant door, Noakes, I can't help but ask:

    Did the harvests dry up? Did servants carry by a lance, a platter, and a grail? Did the wounded fellow get a sudden urge to fish?

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  5. Karl Steel4:47 PM

    Noakes?

    Nokes.

    Sorry.

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