Sometimes we find ourselves looking back on time remembering all the ups and downs we went through and ultimately just admiring the simple life that once happened. Chivalry does the same thing by taking us back in time but adding some fantasy elements. The short story “Chivalry” is the book everyone should read, the second story in Neil Gaiman's short story collection “Smoke and Mirrors”. It was released in 1998 in the US and a year later in the UK. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Chivalry is about an elderly woman, Mrs. Whitaker, who purchased the Holy Grail from the Oxfam store (a second-hand shop). She is visited three times by one of the knights of the Round Table, Sir Gilead, who is searching for the Holy Grail. The author, Gaiman, goes to great lengths to describe Mrs. Whitaker's life in the smallest details. He has a routine throughout the week and approaches everything with care. In his world, even the visits of Gilead the Knight become mundane. It's clear how little details like the fact that his nephew's wife only likes modern things make up the whole story. History is all about details, not because they are essential, but because they help create the environment in which we find ourselves. Gilead is an interesting character. He is full of the stereotypical nobility of a knight. He has principles; we can see this in different parts of the story. When he first arrives, he first informs Mrs. Whitaker of the quest he is undertaking, rather than simply taking the Grail by force, which he could easily have done. After being denied the Grail, he searches for other great things to replace it with. It's kind of funny how he goes for these over-the-top things, when Mrs. Whitaker just wants something that looks good on the mantelpiece, between a picture of her husband and a Chinese basset hound. Maybe he wants to impress her with all these great things and find something that has the ability to replace the Grail, because it is visible how much she likes the Grail on the mantelpiece. Through the story we witness how the relationship between Mrs. Whitaker and Gilead evolves. in a non-romantic way, but more in a mother-son relationship. Gilead is a loyal man and helps her with the choir she assigns him to and doesn't complain once. We can also see this relationship forming in Mrs. Whitaker's treatment of Gilead; on page 38 he prepares him a cup of tea, on page 40 he offers him a drink, which is very normal in England, but he doesn't forget Grizzle, the horse of Gilead, for whom he fills a basin with water. When they take off, she makes Gilead some sandwiches, which once again demonstrates this caring relationship between mother and son. But after all this hospitality she is still stern, perhaps because she cares about him and wants him to learn; this is seen on page 46, where Mrs. Whitaker tells him to put aside the Hesperides apple that would restore her youth and tells him not to offer such things to old ladies. The language is very descriptive and the narrator is a third person narrator, also called omniscient. In Chivalry the fantasy world and the real world overlap in a confused coexistence, almost like in Snow White. Instead of witches, wands or supernatural powers, we are introduced to different elements from different mythologies and religions which are: the Holy Grail, the sword balm, the philosopher's stone, the phoenix egg and the apples of the hesperides. We can also see that this is a fantasy because of how many times Gilead visits. Visiting three times and three is a magic number along with 7; the first time at the end of page 37, the second on page 40 and the.