Men of Iron

“[…] to make one’s way in those days meant a thousand times more than it does now; it meant not only a heart to feel and a brain to think, but a hand quick and strong to fight in battle, and a body tough to endure the wounds and blows in return. And so it was that Myles’s body as well as his mind had to be trained to meet the needs of the dark age in which he lived.”

Men of Iron was written for a young late-Victorian audience, so when Howard Pyle writes “now,” he refers to his contemporary setting—the western world of the 1890s. The Victorians harbored a romanticized vision of the chivalric culture of Myles’s time, and in explaining the tumult of Myles’s world, Pyle instills in readers an understanding ofhow difficult his life was, even as a young nobleman. Masculinity as modeled after chivalry was a strongly held value of Anglo-Saxon American culture at the time, and as such, Myles’s fortitude is intended to inspire Pyle’s readers.

“[…] Myles had pictured the Earl receiving him as the son of his one-time comrade in arms—receiving him, perhaps, with somewhat of the rustic warmth that he knew at Crosbey-Dale; but now as he stared at those massive walls from below, and realized his own insignificance and the greatness of this great Earl, he felt the first keen, helpless ache of homesickness shoot through his breast, and his heart yearned for Crosbey-Holt again.”

Though he is the son of a lord, Myles was ousted from his family’s castle at a young age and has had a much more provincial upbringing than those he will encounter at Devlen Castle. In his isolation (having mostly socialized with the monks of St. Mary’s Priory and the local children), Myles has no experience with the politics of noble life and the extent of some nobles’ power. His innocence reflects the purity of his moral conscience and his presumption that others are equally committed to chivalry.