Homoeroticism as a theme in Malory

[shmooney]

There are multiple scenes in Arthurian literature, particularly Malory,
where knights will love up to each other, including multiple
misunderstandings that result in some knights actually rubbing up on each
other in bed.

One passage that comes to mind is when Lancelot and Tristram discover they
are fighting one another, and "the two gentlemen kissed each other all over,
and either loved other from head to toe." Somewhere between the head and the
toe comes the penis.

Is there a homosexual undercurrent among gentlemen knights? Or was this sort
of behavior normal at the time?

[Ian Weir]

Post by shmooney
There are multiple scenes in Arthurian literature, particularly Malory,
where knights will love up to each other, including multiple
misunderstandings that result in some knights actually rubbing up on each
other in bed.
One passage that comes to mind is when Lancelot and Tristram discover they
are fighting one another, and "the two gentlemen kissed each other all over,
and either loved other from head to toe." Somewhere between the head and the
toe comes the penis.
Is there a homosexual undercurrent among gentlemen knights? Or was this sort
of behavior normal at the time?

Well, the glib answer is that Malory wanted to write a bluff, hearty,
manly, English book, but was hampered by his reliance on French
sources.

In actual fact, I think the apparent homoerotic current is a little
misleading, and arises largely from the fact that the whole emotional
tenor in Malory (and other Medieval romances) tends to be pitched much
higher than in later fiction. This is a world in which men and women
waste away and die for love, in which Lancelot after renouncing the
world fasts so rigorously that he loses a foot in height, etc. etc. In
this context, a comradely hug can easily become a full-blown production
number.

Best
Ian

[F***@aol.com]

Post by shmooney
Somewhere between the head and the
toe comes the penis.

FWIW, I laughed for, like, ten minutes when I read this.