Mules

Text: Lancelot   

 The Medieval Bestiary on mules:   

'Large and tall asses come from Arcadia, but the smaller animals are more useful because they can sustain hardship. Asses are slow and resist commands.'      

Literary Context:    

"While he is thus beseeching him, behold across the field a maiden riding on a tawny mule, her head uncovered and her dress disarranged. In her hand she held a whip with which she belaboured the mule; and in truth no horse could have galloped so fast as was the pace of the mule." 

"Straightway, without making any noise or disturbance, she runs and mounts a fair and easy-stepping mule. "    



Mules, in all three mediums presented here, have very marginal roles and exist predominantly as stable laborers. The first passage states this explicitly and also acknowledges that mules are supposed to be slow in order to call attention to the fact that the maiden must be distressed if she is riding the mule so fast. The bestiary, text, and modern representation below praise mules for hardiness and stability for how it benefits human trade and transportation.   

 

Modern Representation  

Mules are domesticated in Game of Thrones; their slow but sure-footed nature is advantageous for characters traveling up the rocky vales