The Knight Before Christmas: 

Corny Hallmark Christmas Meets Medievalism 

Summary

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Santa bringing presents for all via a chimney, and mistletoe hanging in the doorway, are all things that make Christmas the most wonderful time of the year. But, what happens when a 14th century English knight in shining armor comes knocking on your door while you are making gingerbread cookies? In the movie, "The Knight Before Christmas," a 2019 comedy/romance portrays a similar situation in such a modern and festive manner that will leave you wanting a knight of your own. This movie follows a knight, Sir Cole, and a high school teacher, Brooke. Cole is sent into the future for a quest he is oblivious to as he loses his memory in an accident and Brooke takes him in to help him regain his strength and memory and surprise, surprise, they fall in love. Falling in love turns out to be Sir Coles true quest to which he returns back to his timeline of 1334 before returning to the future to spend the rest of his life with Brooke. 

Relevance 

While this movie mainly takes place in the modern world in the year 2019, Sir Cole, the knight from the past, is from the Medieval world in the year 1334. The movie begins with introductions of Cole and his brother Geoffery who is about to have his knighting ceremony and are sent into the woods on a hunt. There, they are met with a crone that is notorious for sending knights on miscellaneous magical quests. Explaining to Cole that he needs to open up his heart to become a true knight, she sends him into the future on a quest to find true love. In Medieval times, quests for knights were bestowed upon them to fulfill a duty or vow, prove certain character traits like chivalry, courage, loyalty, and to simply prove their worthiness. They complete these dangerous missions to demonstrate their notability to their lord, lady, or a higher entity. 

Specifically in chivalric romances is where stories and portrayals of quests will be presented. The most famously depicted example of quests in Arthurian legends is Galahad's journey in search for the Holy Grail. Quests are important for knights to show, beyond doubt, that they are worthy and will do whatever and not let anything stand in the way of gaining the prize or goal they set out to accomplish. Quests are supposed to show resilience and test the knights to ensure they are fit to protect, it is the ultimate test of knighthood. 

 

It is also entertaining to see the display of timely developed culture in certain scenes as seen below, the culture shock Cole faces as he becomes familiar with the modern world. This adaptation is quite skewed or seem dramatic, and some of the references and displays aren't quite accurate to the time period Cole came from as he is dumped into the modern world. Nonetheless, there are still sequences in the story line that are accurately depicted, as seen in the short clip below that portrays the vernacular used in his time period that has molded into offensive terminology in the modern world, which just goes the show the evolution of the competing time periods.     

Works Cited 

“The Knight Before Christmas.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia , Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Sept. 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knight_Before_Christmas.

Handler, Rachel, and Jackson McHenry. “A Serious Conversation About the Knight Before Christmas.” Burning Questions, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2019, www.vulture.com/2019/11/a-serious-conversation-about-the-knight-before-christmas.html.