Ramon Troubadour

Beyond the amusing fool, the medieval jester is the stunning archetypal fool. Every hero's quest — from Lord of the Rings to the Iliad — is the fool's quest, mapped out in the cards of the tarot.  Ramon is this archetypal hero, fearless, full of humor, beyond simply likeable. Enemies adore him. Friends love him. He makes everyone laugh. Yet he is the true questing hero, on the Fools quest.

History

Ramon Troubadour is mentioned twice in light references as a heretic and troubadour in records of the Inquisition. From this germ, I took liberties and "blew him up" to the larger-than-life-yet-adorable Ramon Troubadour

As Described in The Last Troubadour

THE MUDDY WASH of storm runoff slowed to a brown trickle
that sluiced across the green grass. The lineups at the city gate became
a dribble of latecomers. With the growing night chill came eerie coils
of mist snaking along the hilltop road like a biblical curse, willowing
across the stagnant moat water.
    “There’ll be no space in the wayrooms.” Jaspre the gate guard said.
He drank deep from their flask of apple bitters, grateful the watch was
over.
    “Still more, Jaspre.” Henri, his fellow sentry, pointed with his spear.
    “A fool to come at curfew.” A fool in appearance, too, Jaspre thought.
    The prancing man with the green-feathered cap crossed the drawbridge, followed by some kind of dwarf horse. The colorful specter danced through the growing fog. Already the miasma, reeking like marsh gas and tinged hell-red by the sunset, churned and swallowed the high walls
of Carcassonne.                                                             

(Above: illustration of Ramon Troubadour by Kam Wai Yu)

 

Ramon's "Fool" Mission

Ramon Troubadour has returned to his home city of Carcassonne, 12 years after the Inquisition condemned his mother for heresy on the pyre. 

Now a man, a fool, a jester and the last surviving troubadour, he must rescue the Holy Dame of the Christian Cathars from a similar fate. Against him is an entire army, the Inquisition, and the terrifying Diableteur. But with him are his merry friends, characters straight out of the tarot:

Nevara, the Magician

Adelais, the unpredictable "Fortune"

Seigneur, for Strength

Arnot, the Templar, the Charioteer

The Grand Duo, the Lovers,

and more. Meet them all, in The Last Trobuadour!
 

In the Cards

From A. E. Waite, Key to the Tarot

"With light step, as if earth and its trammels had little power to restrain him, a young man in
gorgeous vestments pauses at the brink of a precipice among the great heights of the world; he
surveys the blue distance before him-its expanse of sky rather than the prospect below. His act of
eager walking is still indicated, though he is stationary at the given moment; his dog is still
bounding. The edge which opens on the depth has no terror; it is as if angels were waiting to
uphold him, if it came about that he leaped from the height. His countenance is full of intelligence
and expectant dream..."

Read more about the Tarot Fool Card, the so-called "ZERO" card, its history, legends, significance, meaning...

Read more about The Fool in Wise Tarot Magazine.