You mentioned wanting to do an analysis on like Owain, the knight god and being taught about the paying penance thing
And I think it could be an interesting angle to consider Owain may have been taught in Walesland about the knight god as both a deity and an idol sort of entity to model your behavior after
This is based in Luannes talk of their own hc for the knight god in its 16th vod and the many parellels between that and Owains charather
I would love to see your spin on it!
This has been sitting in my inbox since March 16th, so sorry it's taken so long
Disclaimer: This is partly based off of my own religious experiences and trauma, what Owain has said of the knight god, some religious themes in Arthurian legend, and a very small amount of what Luanne has said about their interpretation of the knight god. I'll be using it/its for the knight god in this
Whether the knight god actually demands penance or not is the question I'm starting with as penance is the focus of this conversation. Owain says it does, specifically out of oath breakers, but there's not really evidence to support that. We don't even know what the consequences would be if penance was not paid and I doubt Owain does either. 4C had to pay penance to a god, but it wasn't the knight god, it was the rogue god. The knight god---as far as I'm aware---hasn't interacted with any of the characters canonically and thus hasn't demanded penance. As someone with a religious background, I see the idea of penance as a difference in interpretation across different kingdoms and their knights, similar to real world differences in interpretation between different denominations of christianity.
Depending on the source, Arthurian myths can be very rooted in religious concepts, which adds to why I like the idea of certain characters being the ones to teach Owain certain things about the knight god, though I'll talk more about that in future posts. I think it would be interesting if he wasn't taught that the knight god should be worshiped or even idolized, but instead respected as a squire would respect their mentor. Maybe throughout the years, Owain's personal interpretation changed to imitation or maybe it was always that way. Perhaps Owain believed imitation was the highest form of respect and thus began paying the penance for the failures of the knights around him.
Most bad habits and self harming actions don't start as bad as they end; they slowly build when left without interference. It's possible Owain started small---overworking himself in training, restricting his portions of food, studying to the point of sleep deprivation---and then, over years, he escalated. The knight god no longer would be satisfied with the sacrifice of his meals, it needed blood. And who would Owain be to refuse? Maybe this escalation could be sparked by a humongous failure on the part of one of his brothers. Maybe it was even the death of Arthur. But something pushed him further and blood was split, and it never stopped spilling.
At this point Owain has spilt blood for not only dozens of other knights in his time in the Blue Kingdom, but dozens of people. All to keep them safe. All in the name, and of course the memory, of King Arthur. As well as the service of the Knight God.
This was really fun to think about and write! I have several other ways I think this habit of Owain's could've started. Like maybe it was even encouraged in Walesland or maybe he was accidentally introduced to it or even expressly disallowed and discouraged, but this interpretation was very interesting to explore.
