Medieval Times: By Ryan Ward
Friday, March 21, 2008 7:30 p.m. Show Time

It happened to be a snowstorm the night of my adventure to Medieval Times on Friday, March 21, 2008. About 8 inches of snow had fallen that night when we ventured out to the Castle. My parents and brother and I arrived at the Castle around 6:30 p.m. When we walked into the castle, it was pretty cool. There were all kinds of medieval doors and paintings on the walls. The halls were lit up with candle sconces on them, not lights. When we arrived at the registration desk, there were paintings on the walls of territories of where the knights lived back in the day.

We were given a crown of “color”. The crowns we received were “Red & Yellow” for our knight. We went through these big doorways and were then greeted by the King and had our picture taken with him! Next, Marvin Rodriguez, General Operations Manager, greeted us and gave us a tour of the castle. He introduced us to Lord Chancellor, who is the person in charge of the entertaining of the guests as they wait to enter before the show begins (He also gets to make fun of people). He also said to make lots of noise and to cheer for your Knight. Mr. Rodriguez then took us around to see the horses that perform in the show, the mighty Andalusian stallions. He showed us the dungeon too. We were able to walk around in the dungeon and see all the devices that were used back in the earlier centuries for torture.

When we got in to the arena we had front row seats! We had to sit in our “Color” section of the arena. Just looking around the arena was so cool. The server who brought us our food was called a “Wench”. We had to eat with our fingers. I thought it was really weird to eat without a fork. When the show began, Lord Chancellor announced the Knights. When the Green Knight came by we booed him. Remember we were “Red & Yellow”. It was funny! He just looked at us like we were his enemy……we were! “Bring it on Green,” we would cheer at him! We had such a great time. We laughed, we cheered, we booed, we giggled - it was awesome!

Anyway, getting back to my story, the Knights came out and performed several games. They had to try to put their jousting sword through a tiny little ring. These rings we set up on the sides of the arena. The horses would have to run as close to the edge of the arena as possible and the Knight would have to catch the ring with his jousting sword. Flowers from the Princess who sat above in the balcony overlooking the arena rewarded the Knight that got a ring. Once the game was over, the Knights who received flowers would toss the flowers into the crowd of their section. Another game they played was to collect as many bigger rings as possible. These rings were set up in the middle of the arena. Again the Knights were rewarded with flowers from the Princess and again they would toss them into the crowd.

The Andalusian stallions came out to perform for the audience for a while. They are really graceful horses that defy gravity with their power and grace! They were awesome! Then the jousting began! It was really cool to see them joust! Lord Chancellor announced the Knights as they came out on their horses ready to fight! First they jousted on their horses, and when they fell off their horses, they would fight on foot. The last Knight standing was the Green Knight. As hard as it was to see the Green Knight win, it was even cooler when “all of a sudden” the White Knight came riding in ready for battle! You should have seen the look on the Green Knights face! It was like his Kingdom had fallen! They battled and battled and battled and finally the Green Knight was vanquished! The White Knight, who was son to the King and husband to the Princess, was able to return home and restore peace to his land. What an awesome performance!

After the performance, I interviewed the Red & Yellow Knight (Sir K) and Lord Chancellor. The following questions were asked:

• How long have you been a Knight?


They both replied about 5 years.

• Do you like jousting?


They both replied, yes.

• What is it like jousting?


Sir K said that it’s not scary.
Lord Chancellor said he was nervous the first time.

• Have you ever been injured while jousting?


They both replied no.
Lord Chancellor said he has landed on his backside a couple of times but never hurt.

• How many days a week do you work here?


They both work 6-7 days a week.
The busy days/months are March-June that’s when you need to work 7 days a week.

• Do you go through special training with the horses?

They both replied yes. They train 5-6 hours a day with the horses.

• Was it scary the first time you jousted?


Sir K replied, “Yes, it was.
Lord Chancellor said, “The scariest thing was going through the tunnel. Not so much the jousting. All eyes are on you when you go through the tunnel”.

• Do you like to compete against each other?


They both replied yes.

• What do you like most about your job?


Sir K replied working with the horses.
Lord Chancellor said he likes entertaining and making fun of people and being able to get away with it.

• What do you like the least about your job?


Sir K answered, “Nothing”
Lord Chancellor answered. ”Having to work weekends because I’m recently married and I have to be away from my new wife on the weekends.”

• If someone wanted to be a Knight, what would you say to them?


Sir K answered, “You need to start of as a squire”
Lord Chancellor said, “You need to exercise and stay in school”.

• Is jousting your only job?


Sir K answered, “Yes, and fighting”
Lord Chancellor said, “No, he is also the MC and the Boss of entertaining the people before they go into the arena. I enjoy my job very much.”

That is what my “night” was about at Medieval Times.