Von Schönwerth's "The King's Bodyguard"

The king appoints his handsomest soldier to be his bodyguard and sends him to a nobleman with a beautiful daughter. He tells the daughter not to speak to any soldiers, but she and he grow intimate. After there is a baby, the nobleman sends the bodyguard away for three feathers from the tail of a dragon who lives on a glass mountain.

On the way, he comes to a country where the king has lost a golden chain, and he is only allowed to leave when he promises to learn how to get it from the dragon. The second year he does the same with a king with a barren fig tree, and the third with two men who cannot stop ferrying people across a river.

At the glass mountain, the dragon’s wife tells him to hide, that she is not supposed to talk to anyone, but she ends up getting the feathers from her sleeping husband after he comes home and finding out the information. The soldier, on the way back, tells the ferrymen to declare, “I am free!” after their last trip with him, and they are. He then reveals the poison fruit buried under the fig tree, and in the sixth year of his journey, he tells the king where to dig to find the golden chain, and he is rewarded with an army.

Upon returning, he sees the nobleman has been reduced to selling his dishes in the market. He has his men smash the dishes, then again the next day when the nobleman still does not recognize him. The father then recognizes his son-in-law, who is now allowed to marry his daughter, he himself is restored to the court, and they live happily ever after.

00:00 Podcast Intro

00:37 Summary of Von Schonwerth’s “The King’s Bodyguard”

06:26 A Drunken Storytelling

09:05 The Highest Man

11:32 A Very Intimate Relation, but It’s Not Enough

13:55 The Tyrant and Beauty

17:14 The Slick Feminine and the Glass Mountain

19:47 The Heroism and Beauty of the King’s Bodyguard

24:26 The Nobleman, Hoarding His Daughter, Helps out Everyone

26:12 Beauty, Celebrity and Artifice

27:20 What’s with the Dragon on the Glass Mountain?

32:26 Make Yourself Small in the House of God

36:46 Not Knowing Your Task Until You Set Out

40:55 Proper Fear of the Lord

45:28 Judas and The Circuitous Rightness of Relations

51:27 Bad Leads to Good in Right Stories

54:33 Don’t Bring God Bad Vibes

56:16 Breaking Hoarded Plates and Daughters

1:01:10 The Bodyguard’s Useful Respect and Dutifulness

1:04:39 The Hurdle Philosophy and Aggressive Moral Emotions

1:10:24 Let People Have Their Suffering

1:15:27 Buddha, is There a God?

1:22:59 Uncertainty

1:24:11 Plausibility, not Certainty

1:29:16 Not Everything is a Problem

(A Clip from the episode “Von Schönwerth’s “The King’s Bodyguard”)

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For the full video episode:

https://youtu.be/8OCLI6nTEfg

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About our guest:

Ian Reclusado is currently off exploring the poetic wilds of psychology, neuroscience, and spirituality.

He also offers guidance services for those interested in delving into their own inner wilderness.

You can find his weekly dispatches at www.thekindknife.com or follow him on Instagram: @ian_reclusado

Background Photo by Alexandro Pasqualicchio on Unsplash

Statue Photo by MIGUEL BAIXAULI on Unsplash

I plan to conduct more interviews with various guests, so please check back later for those.

Photo Credits: Thiago Zanutigh on Unsplash

Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash