Title: Chansons de
Geste
Portrait: Dagonet
Author:
dealiberty
Pairing:
implied Arthur/Lancelot, Gawain/Galahad
Rating: PG-13
A/N:
Each chapter is a vignette, or a sort of character study, of a
particular character from the movie and, therefore can stand
alone. The actual series is ongoing and more portraits (as
I shall call them) of characters will be added as time passes.
He's the quiet one - they say - the silent one; he only speaks a little and what he says is worth hearing. That's the truth, Dagonet thinks. It's what he knows that's important - what people know - not what they say.
Words are powerful but, at the same time, so powerless - that's what he believes. They can convey so much and yet nothing at all. Words sometimes express things, sometimes don't; so contrasting - a contradiction in itself. How can something be both so much and nothing at all?
That's easy. He knows the truth - or as much truth as he'll know in this lifetime. The important things can't be expressed - not in words - because there's just no way something as simple and complex as words can convey all there needs to be conveyed. It's in actions - he thinks - and in thoughts.
It's about understanding who he is - who they all are. And he understands, he knows - he couldn't tell anyone, words get in the way - but he knows. And that's enough, he thinks, that's important. Understanding first yourself, then everything comes together. He sees himself in them, recognises parts of himself in their eyes - in strangers and in friends.
Don't judge, he thinks, never judge and never label. Just watch and see and experience. If you label then you never get to know the real person inside, too fixed on an image, on an illusion. If you judge then there's no time to love.
Not words, not labels or names.
Understanding, watching, learning and knowing.
Words can hurt and harm - and words can mean different things. He sees the mistakes - the curse of words - everyday in the people around him. The barmaids gossiping about Tristan, making him something he's not, painting an image that means that they'll never get to know him. Arthur and Lancelot, hurting one another always when all they want is to convey something too deep to be conveyed; instead of looking deeper into their deeds and actions and feelings, they're fenced in by, and hurting because of their own words. Gawain and Galahad - that's different, that's what he means: understanding without needing to say a thing - a touch , a smile and they just know.
That's why he doesn't put words to things. Words are too powerful and too powerless. He uses them with care, thought out and cautiously chosen, only when something needs to be said and no one is saying it - only when he is sure that they are needed. That knowledge comes from watching, and learning and not judging.
He doesn't need to put words to things - doesn't need those boundaries. His actions will speak for him - because actions are harder to be misinterpreted. Actions are clear and expressive - they convey what needs to be conveyed. So he doesn't talk, doesn't use words, and he acts.
He understands himself and the world around him. He understands human nature. And he knows.
That's what's important - Dagonet thinks - first understanding and knowing yourself before you can begin to understand others.
Without restrictions.
That's what will bring happiness in the end.