The Sparrow-Hawk

Texts: Erec and Enide   

    

The Medieval Bestiary on Sparrowhawks:   

" The hawk has great courage in a small body; its determination arms it better than its claws do. It is called a robber bird because it greedily snatches food from other birds. The hawk is known as a harsh parent, refusing to feed its young when they are able to fly, but rather beating them with its wings to drive them out of the nest. This is done to teach them to catch prey while they are still young, so that they will not become lazy when they are adults. There are two kinds of hawks: wild hawks, which catch and eat domestic birds; and tame hawks, which return the wild birds they catch to their master. When its feathers become old, the hawk heats its wings in a warm wind to loosen the feathers and make them fall out; if there is no warm wind, the hawk beats its wings to heat them."    

 Literary Context:      

"Fair friend, these are the nobles of the country round; all, both young and old, have come to a fete which is to be held in this town tomorrow; therefore the houses are so full. When they shall all have gathered, there will be a great stir to-morrow; for in the presence of all the people there will be set upon a silver perch a sparrow-hawk of five or six moultings -- the best you can imagine. Whoever wishes to gain the hawk must have a mistress who is fair, prudent, and courteous. And if there be a knight so bold as to wish to defend the worth and the name of the fairest in his eyes, he will cause his mistress to step forward and lift the hawk from the perch, if no one dares to interpose. This is the custom they are observing, and for this each year they gather here."      

 

This passage presents a challenge to ladies to test their honor based on their ability to tame the sparrowhawk. This is a great contrast to how men earlier in the text interact with wild animals, namely by hunting and killing. It is significant that a woman's taming abilities are correlated to their worth. The above bestiary entry doesn't directly relate these birds to honor; however the distinction made between wild and tame demonstrate that they can have their characters/category/usage transformed -here, in this passage by the honor of a "good woman." This ascribes to sparrowhawks the ability to judge character. The moultings as described in the bestiary entry and emphasized in this passage highlight the theme of transformation in these birds especially as observed by humans.

 

Modern Representation   

The hawk is the sigil of House Arryn on Game of Thrones; their words are "As High as Honor"