Arthurian Medievalism in Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Medievalism In Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Fire Emblem is a franchise created by Nintendo in 1990. Since then there have been seventeen main series games and five spin-offs (1) all inspired in some way by Arthurian Medievalism, some more than others. Main series games like Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War and Fire Emblem: Three Houses are the most obvious in their nods to Arthurian Medievalism. Three Houses in particular has many references to ancient Arthurian legends and its setting is very inspired by Medieval times. 

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This game in particular follows our main character Byleth, a famed mercenary who becomes a teacher at Garegg Mach Monastery. You have the choice between three houses to teach in, The Black Eagles, The Blue Lions, or The Golden Deer. The story you play will turn out differently depending on which house you choose. Each route has distinct characteristics of Arthurian literature. By following the Blue Lions and their house leader Dimitri, you get insight into the world of The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, a kingdom that thrives on the value of loyalty and knighthood. By following Claude and the Golden Deer, you are welcomed to a whole host of Arthurian myths and tropes, as well as a look into what real-life medievalism was like. If you follow Edelgard and the Black Eagles, you rebel against the system of government that is run by the Church of Seiros. And, if you chose the hidden fourth route by following the Archbishop Rhea and the Church of Seiros you become familiar with medieval Christianity. The main two Houses that include references to Arthurian Medievalism are the Golden Deer House and the Blue Lion House, led by Claude von Riegan and Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd respectively. 

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The first area of the game I'd like to discuss is The Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, as that region and it's subsequent playthrough have the most references to Arthurian Medievalism. The first big indicator is the name of the House itself. The Blue Lion house is a reference to Yvain the Knight of the Lion. Lions are a big part of Arthurian literature so it makes sense the house with the most Arthurian values would have a Lion as its calling card. 

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 Faerghus is a kingdom that focuses heavily on Knighthood and chivalry. Like Arthurian literature, Faerghus ties it's knighthood to power(3) and you can see the effects of the expectation of that on the Blue Lion characters. Ashe and Felix are great examples of this in both extremes.  Ashe Gaspard is the adopted son of Lord Lonato of Faerghus and his only dream is to become a knight. However, in the first half of the game, you as Professor Byleth, and your students are sent out to kill Lord Lonato for turning against the church.  If Ashe is in your class or you choose to bring him along to that mission, he is essentially forced to do the bidding of the Church and slaughter not only the townspeople he's known his entire life but his own father as well. After the fact, Ashe goes on to shut the event down and justify it under his idealized version of right and wrong. He believes as a Knight of the Holy Kingdom, he must support the church and suppress all rebellion towards it. (3) The same can not be said about another Blue Lion's character, Felix Fraldarius. Felix is the son of Duke Rodrigue and the heir to Fraldarius territory, which is the strongest territory in Faerghus outside of the crown. Felix is the exact opposite of Ashe in that he sees the system of knighthood Faerghus operates under and actively scorns it. His older brother, Glenn, was once a knight however was killed protecting the Prince(Dimitri) and was paraded and glorified as an amazing knight upon his death. Because of this death, Felix sees the values of Chivalry as a way to take away a person's identity and strip them of all that makes them human so it is easier to use their bodies as shields. He believes Glenn, who was touted as a hero, was killed for basically nothing and that his death should be celebrated in the way it very openly is, and he clearly resents his father, Dimitri, and the system for it.(3) There are many more examples of this code of Chivalry and the many ways it affects all of the Blue Lion characters, such as Annette whose father abandoned her and her mother to be a Knight and devote his life to the people in power, and Dimitri himself, who sees the problems with the system but does nothing to change the system because of his values of Chivalry. 

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While Faerghus may have the most references and similarities to the Arthurian world, there are many references and tropes within the Leicester Alliance. The Leicester Alliance is the territory you focus on if you choose to teach the Golden Deer house, with Claude as their leader. It is important to note that Leicester is an actual old city in England, and the Alliance is heavily inspired by England itself. Their weapon of choice is the bow, and the bow wielded by Claude is called Failnaught, a nod to Tristan's own legendary bow.(6)  The Golden Deer route also gives you access to the Spear of Assal, which is another weapon from Arthurian Myth. The characters of the Golden Deer also bring with them lots of tropes of the Arthurian world, such as Claude being the child of two forbidden lovers like in Tristan or another student Ignatz, who has dreams of being a painter but is forced into knighthood. If you want to play it, you can go here on the Nintendo website to buy it.

 

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Works Cited

(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Emblem

(2) https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/07/25/fire-emblem-three houses-review 

(3) https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/constellations/index.php/constellations/article/view/29470 

(4) https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Dimitri 

(5) https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Claude

(6) https://www.cbr.com/fire-emblem-three-houses-inspiration-history-myth/