Chapter 10, Chapter 3 - Popular - Festive Forms Summary and Analysis

The main protagonist of this story is a man named Pantagruel. He moves through the events; the next conflict involves another King—this one is called King Anarchus. Here, the protagonist and only two companions together defeat 660 of King Anarchus's Knights by the use of gun powder against their opponents. They have a meal immediately following the victory. At this point the author explains that Rabelais indicates something that proves to be a historic transformation: gun powder succeeding over the armor of bygone days; the overall impression is that wit has become victorious over brute force. This theme also occurs in Scandinavian mythology where the cleverness of Loki is repeatedly contrasted with the straightforward physical dominance of Thor. However, what proves insurmountable in fact, is very often the...