Kent G. Hare, Ph.D., is Professor of Early European History at Northwestern State University of Louisiana, an Oblate of St. Benedict, St. Joseph Abbey, St. Benedict, Louisiana, Lector and sometime Cantor at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Natchitoches, Louisiana. Husband to one wife, father to one son, and nemesis of (delete and replace with "provider for" [edited by wife]) a variable number of feline monsters (delete and replace with "kitty cats" [edited by wife]), he is a lifelong fan of heroic tales of all stripes, especially the greatest heroic tale ever told.