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(I hate guns. Swords make for a more honorable battle.)
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Actually, not much more honorable, if at all; see the fencing manuals of Master Hans Talhoffer that are filled with all kinds of dirty tricks, and even a judicial battle between a man and a woman. Survival and victory, not honor, were always the primordial principles at work, no matter the weapon. However, there is something more immediate, more brutal, more awakening about close quarter combat that accentuates the difference between a despondent heart and one that learns to overcome fear. For this reason, perhaps, there is a romanticism inherent in the mastery of martial skills such as these. But bear in mind, no matter the time or how serious people took the notion, chivalry has always been a myth with varying degrees of reality. To what extent is modern fantasy an attempt to recapture the myth of chivalry in the 20th century?
I disagree with coaching a dislike of fantasy with something lacking in those who don’t. I was guilty of this above, but in light of Kalessin’s post, I’ve changed my mind. Its not that people who don’t like fantasy are lacking in something, but its possible that they dislike fantasy due to differing interests, and have other preferred methods of escapism. It doesn’t have anything to do with having a more or less open mind, not being able to dream, or not being able to suspend belief. Its simply a difference in taste. I can’t stand fantasy other than LotR and HP (and maybe some C.S. Lewis), but I don’t consider myself as having a closed mind or not being able to dream dreams, or whatever.