Knight (stock character)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A knight-errant (or knight errant) is a figure of medieval chivalric romance literature. The adjective ''
errant A knight-errant (or knight errant) is a figure of medieval Chivalric romance, chivalric romance literature. The adjective '':wikt:errant, errant'' (meaning "wandering, roving") indicates how the knight-errant would wander the land in search of adv ...
'' (meaning "wandering, roving") indicates how the knight-errant would wander the land in search of adventures to prove his chivalric virtues, either in knightly duels ('' pas d'armes'') or in some other pursuit of
courtly love Courtly love ( oc, fin'amor ; french: amour courtois ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing vari ...
.


Description

The knight-errant is a character who has broken away from the world of his origin, in order to go off on his own to right wrongs or to test and assert his own chivalric ideals. He is motivated by idealism and goals that are often illusory. In medieval Europe, knight-errantry existed in literature, though fictional works from this time often were presented as non-fiction. The template of the knight-errant were the heroes of the
Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...
of the Arthurian cycle such as Gawain,
Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...
, and Percival. The
quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ever ...
''par excellence'' in pursuit of which these knights wandered the lands is that of the Holy Grail, such as in ''
Perceval, the Story of the Grail , original_title_lang = fro , translator = , written = between 1182 and 1190 , country = , language = Old French , subject = Arthurian legend , genre = Chivalric romance , for ...
'' written by
Chrétien de Troyes Chrétien de Troyes (Modern ; fro, Crestien de Troies ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on Arthurian subjects, and for first writing of Lancelot, Percival and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's works, including ''E ...
in the 1180s. The character of the wandering knight existed in romantic literature as it developed during the late 12th century. However, the term "knight-errant" was to come later; its first extant usage occurs in the 14th-century poem '' Sir Gawain and the Green Knight''. Knight-errantry tales remained popular with
courtly Courtesy (from the word ''courteis'', from the 12th century) is gentle politeness and courtly manners. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the behaviour expected of the nobility was compiled in courtesy books. History The apex of European courtly c ...
audiences throughout the Late Middle Ages. They were written in Middle French, Middle English, and
Middle German Central German or Middle German (german: mitteldeutsche Dialekte, mitteldeutsche Mundarten, Mitteldeutsch) is a group of High German dialects spoken from the Rhineland in the west to the former eastern territories of Germany. Central German ...
. In the 16th century, the genre became highly popular in the Iberian Peninsula; '' Amadis de Gaula'' was one of the most successful knight-errantry tales of this period. In '' Don Quixote'' (1605), Miguel de Cervantes
burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
d the romances and their popularity. Tales of knight-errantry then fell out of fashion for two centuries, until they re-emerged in the form of the
historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
in Romanticism.


Romance

A knight-errant typically performed all his deeds in the name of a lady, and invoked her name before performing an exploit. In more sublimated forms of knight-errantry, pure moralist idealism rather than romantic inspiration motivated the knight-errant (as in the case of Sir Galahad). Such a knight might well be outside the structure of feudalism, wandering solely to perform noble exploits (and perhaps to find a lord to give his service to), but might also be in service to a king or lord, traveling either in pursuit of a specific duty that his overlord charged him with, or to put down evildoers in general. This
quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ever ...
sends a knight on adventures much like the ones of a knight in search of them, as he happens on the same marvels. In '' The Faerie Queene'', St. George is sent to rescue Una's parents' kingdom from a dragon, and Guyon has no such quest, but both knights encounter perils and adventures. In the romances, his adventures frequently included greater foes than other knights, including giants, enchantresses, or
dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
s. They may also gain help that is out of ordinary. Sir Ywain assisted a lion against a serpent, and was thereafter accompanied by it, becoming the Knight of the Lion. Other knights-errant have been assisted by wild men of the woods, as in '' Valentine and Orson'', or, like
Guillaume de Palerme ''Guillaume de Palerme'' ("William of Palerne") is a French romance poem, later translated into English where it is also known as ''William and the Werewolf''. The French verse romance was composed , commissioned by Countess Yolande (who is gene ...
, by wolves that were, in fact, enchanted princes.


In modern literature

The protagonist of Cormac McCarthy's novel '' All the Pretty Horses'', John Grady Cole, is said to be based specifically on Sir Gawain, of ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight''. Both characters share a number of aspects and traits; both are rooted in the myths of a past that no longer exists, and both live by codes of conduct from a previous era. '' Don Quixote'' is an early 17th-century parody of the genre, in reaction to the extreme popularity which late medieval romances such as '' Amadis de Gaula'' came to enjoy in the Iberian Peninsula in the 16th century. In Jean Giraudoux's play '' Ondine'', which starred
Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...
on Broadway in 1954, a knight-errant appears, during a storm, at the humble home of a fisherman and his wife. A depiction of knight-errantry in the modern
historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
is found in ''
Sir Nigel ''Sir Nigel'' is a historical novel set during the early phase of the Hundred Years' War, spanning the years 1350 to 1356. It was written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, first published in serial form during 1905–06 where it was ill ...
'' by
Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
(1906). The knight-errant stock character became the trope of the "knight in shining armour" in depiction of the Middle Ages in popular culture, and the term came to be used also outside of medieval drama, as in '' The Dark Knight'' as a title of
Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
. In the epic fantasy series ''
A Song of Ice and Fire ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and it was published in 1996. Martin, who init ...
'', there is a class of knights referred to as Hedge Knights. A Hedge Knight is a wandering knight without a master, and many are quite poor. Hedge knights travel the length and breadth of Westeros looking for gainful employment, and their name comes from the propensity to sleep out in the open air or in forests when they cannot afford lodging. The life of a hedge knight is depicted in the '' Tales of Dunk and Egg''. In ''
The Letter for the King ''The Letter for the King'' ( nl, De brief voor de koning, ) is a book by the Dutch writer Tonke Dragt, first published in 1962. A sequel, ''The Secrets of the Wild Wood'' ( nl, Geheim van het Wilde Woud), was published in 1965, and a collectio ...
'' by Dutch author
Tonke Dragt Antonia "Tonke" Johanna Willemina Dragt (born 12 November 1930) is a Dutch writer and illustrator of children's literature. Her book '' De brief voor de Koning'' was chosen by CPNB as the best Dutch youth book of the latter half of the twentieth ...
, teenage squire Tiuri abandons his all-night
vigil A vigil, from the Latin ''vigilia'' meaning ''wakefulness'' (Greek: ''pannychis'', or ''agrypnia'' ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word ''vigilia'' has become genera ...
in a chapel in favour of answering a call for help from outside, risking his knighthood. Eventually, Tiuri has to deliver a letter of high political importance to the King of a neighbouring country in the honour of a well-established but murdered knight. Lee Child in his famous Jack Reacher books says that he was seeking to create Jack Reacher as a knight-errant character based on his military background.


Bogatyrs of Kievan Rus'

East Slavic '' bylina'' (epic poetry) feature bogatyrs, knights-errant who served as protectors of their homeland, and occasionally as adventurers. Some of them are presumed to be historical figures, while others are fictional and possibly descend from Slavic mythology. Most tales about bogatyrs revolve around the court of Vladimir I of Kiev. Three popular bogatyrs— Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and
Alyosha Popovich Alyosha Popovich (russian: Алёша Попович, literally ''Alexey, son of the priest''), is a folk hero in the Rus' folklore, a bogatyr (i.e., a medieval knight-errant). He is the youngest of the three main bogatyrs, the other two being ...
(famously painted by Victor Vasnetsov)—are said to have served him.


In East Asian cultures

Youxia,
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
knights-errant, traveled solo protecting common folk from oppressive regimes. Unlike their European counterpart, they did not come from any particular social caste and were anything from soldiers to poets. There is even a popular literary tradition that arose during the Tang dynasty which centered on Negrito slaves who used supernatural physical abilities to save kidnapped damsels in distress and to swim to the bottom of raging rivers to retrieve treasures for their Feudal Lords (see Kunlun Nu)..Snow, Philip. ''The Star Raft: China's Encounter With Africa''. Cornell Univ. Press, 1989 A youxia who excels or is renowned for martial prowess or skills is usually called wuxia. In Japan, the expression Musha shugyō described a Samurai who, wanting to test his abilities in real life conditions, would travel the land and engage in duels along the way.


See also

* Black knight * Byronic hero * Romantic hero * Rōnin *
Suero de Quiñones Suero de Quiñones (c. 1409 – 11 July 1456), called ("he of the pass"), was a knight and author born in the Kingdom of León (then part of the Crown of Castile). He gained fame by staging a ''pas d'armes'' at the river Órbigo. Suero was th ...


References

{{Stock characters Stock characters Fictional knights Romance (genre)