The Idea of Chivalry
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so elated, that he does not know where he is. Truly he is afraid of nothing.”
These sentiments have nothing specifically chivalrous or medieval. The words might have been spoken by a modern soldier. They show us the very core of courage: man, in the excitement of danger, stepping out of his narrow egotism, the ineffable feeling caused by a comrade’s bravery, the rapture of fidelity and of sacrifice.—in short, the primitive and spontaneous asceticism, which is at the bottom of the chivalrous ideal.
