Saturday, September 19, is known (by those of us cool enough to be in the know) as International Talk Like a Pirate Day. The holiday was first “officially” celebrated in 2002. I don’t know when I started celebrating it, myself, though it would be a pretty safe bet to guess somewhere around 2003 (the year Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl released in theaters).

This Saturday, I’ll be donning my obligatory red bandana and gold earring and wading into Forgotten Waters, my new favorite piratical tabletop game, with two of my favorite shipmates. Rum will probably be involved at some point, assuming it isn’t gone again (no, I wasn’t going to pass up a chance at that reference).

But even as I look forward to one of my favorite goofball holidays, I wonder, as apparently many of you have too: why are pirates so often romanticized in our fiction? 

5 Reasons Why We Romanticize Pirates

As someone who used to dress up—in public—for Talk Like a Pirate Day regularly, even I have to admit that real-life pirates are mostly a bunch of jerks (and that’s putting it lightly). So why do we keep casting them as sexy romance novel heroes and lovable tricksters in our fantasy and historical fiction?

Reason #1: They’re Great Story Fodder

Pirates are appealing to us authors largely for their narrative potential. A pirate fits as easily into a hero’s shoes as a villain’s, though they often do their best work in the gray area between the two, and may even shift from one to another over the course of their story. They also add a bit of spice to just about any genre. Browsing the shelves of any bookstore or library, you’ll find a buffet of everything from space pirates to seafaring witches in a wide variety of cultural flavors and geographical settings.

A heroic “Pirate King” type buccaneer—one, perhaps, who fell into a life of piracy by necessity rather than choice—can capture readers’ hearts by sacrificing gold for greater treasures like love or freedom. A villainous pirate like Blackbeard can strike fear into audience members’ hearts by virtue of violence or sheer, obsessive tenacity. A trickster swashbuckler, along the lines of Captain Jack Sparrow, keeps readers on their toes with resourcefulness as well as questionable morals.

Put simply, pirates are as much fun to write as they are to read about.

Reason #2: We Sympathize With (and Envy) Them

For audiences, pirates offer a number of perfect opportunities for living vicariously. While pretty much nobody wants to be hanged, marooned, or keelhauled, many of us sympathize with the desire to break free of our everyday routines and go off on an adventure. Likewise, most of us wouldn’t mind acquiring riches the likes of which many a pirate has chased after, though far fewer of us would be willing to chase after treasure as aggressively as the likes of Captain Kidd or Queen Teutya of Illyria. 

Living the pirate’s life through the pages of a book, rather than in real life, allows us to satisfy many a deep, dark desire without leaving the comfort (or safety) of our homes. 

Reason #3: The Combat is to Die For

Nothing promises a good swashbuckling sword fight or an epic ship battle like the presence of a pirate ship in a narrative. As soon as you see that black flag with crossed bones waving in the breeze, you know you’re in for a high seas, high-stakes fight to the death at some point or another. The anticipation of said confrontation is nothing short of thrilling for many folks, particularly those who enjoy a good “walk the plank” moment, a la Peter Pan.

Reason #4: Anyone Can Wear the Bandana

Democratic may not be the first adjective that comes to mind when we think of pirates, but pirate ships had a code of conduct by which crew members had to live or die. True, some ships barred women (who were thought by more superstitious sailors to be the bearers of bad luck) from joining the crew, but in the pages of history books and novels alike there have been male and female sea thieves of every creed, color, and nationality. Often, they were treated more equally than in the “polite” societies of their own countries of origin.

Reason #5: Pirate Aesthetic Never Goes Out of Style

I dare you to deny the allure of the (fictional) pirate style. Yes, in real life their teeth rotted and their breath (and bodies) stank to high heaven, but that’s the beauty of poetic license—we authors get to cherry pick which details we like and which we’d rather downplay. The glimmer of golden earrings, the fluttering of a good poofy shirt in the sea breeze, and the badass boots—come on, that’s the epitome of cool.

Romanticizing Pirates Isn’t Wrong (But it Is Fun)

I’ve heard the argument time and again that it’s wrong to romanticize pirates in fiction because, in reality, pirates have committed some seriously horrific atrocities over the years, and some continue to do so today. And I do agree that putting real pirates on pedestals can be problematic in the context of nonfiction writing and discussions.

However, while fiction certainly can function as a vessel for morality lessons, I have never been of the school of thought that declares fiction must teach us right from wrong. If you want to learn that, go take an ethics class. Fiction is, first and foremost, entertainment—and few things are more entertaining than a good swashbuckling adventure. It is precisely fiction’s ability to rescue us from reality that is one of the reasons why it is such a vital part of our lives.

So have a happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day, mateys. Drink deep of your draught of choice, whether it be rum or ale or life itself, and may your sails be full and the tide be on your side. Cheers, me hearties!

Shockingly, I haven’t written any pirate fantasies—yet—outside of old fanfics, though a  landlubbing equivalent (a highwayman) makes an appearance in The Harbinger’s Head. But who knows what sort of scallywags might sneak into future stories of mine? It’s likely only a matter of time…