In 2013 I stumbled upon an article by the late, great historian, Dr. Runoko Rashidi, entitled “Sir Morien: Black Knight of The Round Table”. The information I discovered therein charted the course for a creative adventure which has captivated my mind for over a decade.

The article detailed the exploits of Morien, a Moorish knight who became a central player in Arthurian legend and lore. According to Dr. Rashidi: “Few documents portray the ethnicity of the Moors in medieval Europe with more passion, boldness and clarity than the epic of Morien... Neither the date of the original poem or the name of the author is known. Morien is the adventure of a splendidly heroic Moorish knight supposed to have lived during the days of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.”

The notion of a righteous Black hero in the middle of a historical setting where Black folk are thought not to have existed, planted a seed in my imagination which would blossom into an epic.

Who was Morien? What motivated his adventures? These were questions that fueled my desire to uncover more about this legendary figure lost to time. But when my historical inquiries bore no fruit, I set off to craft a legend of my own.