THE NINE WORTHIES

 

The Nine Worthies

Figures of history?

Men of scripture?

Men steeped in myth or legend?

Any or all might apply

But these figures personified

The chivalric ideals

Of the medieval world.

 

Three of the nine were pagans

Hector prince of Troy,

Slain by Achilles

Alexander the great

Conqueror of the world,

Julius Caesar,

Founder of a dynasty

 

Three of the nine were Jewish

Joshua, Apprentice of Moses

And leader of the Israelites

David, of the house of David,

Second King of Israel

Judas Maccabeus, leader

Of the Maccabean revolt

 

Three of the nine were Christian

King Arthur of Camelot,

Fair and just

Charlemagne, the first

Holy Roman Emperor

Godfrey of Bouillon, first ruler

Of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

 

These nine worthies

Were considered paragons

Of the ideals of chivalry