A knight-errant[As plural, knights-errant is most common, although the form knights-errants is also seen, e.g. in the article Graal in James O. Halliwell, Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words (1847).] (or knight errant["Knight errant." The Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Ed. Barber, Katherine: Oxford University Press, 2004.]) is a figure of medieval chivalric romance literature. The adjective errant (meaning "wandering, roving") indicates how the knight-errant would wander the land in search of adventures to prove his chivalry virtues, either in duels ( pas d'armes) or in some other pursuit of courtly love.
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. In
medieval Europe, knight-errantry existed in literature, though fictional works from this time often were presented as
non-fiction.
[Daniel Eisenberg, "The Pseudo-Historicity of the Romances of Chivalry", Quaderni Ibero-Americani, 45–46, 1974–75, pp. 253–259.]
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.[Sir Gawain arrives at the castle of Sir Bercilak de Haudesert after long journeys, and Sir Bercilak goes to welcome the "knygt erraunt." The Maven's Word of the Day: Knight Errant]
Romance
A knight-errant typically performed all his deeds in the name of a lady, and invoked her name before performing an exploit.
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.
[ ]
In Jean Giraudoux's play Ondine, which starred Audrey Hepburn on Broadway in 1954, a knight-errant appears, during a storm, at the humble home of a fisherman and his wife.[Jean Giraudoux Four Plays. Hill and Wang. 1958. p. 175]
The protagonist of Lee Child's novels, Jack Reacher, is intended by the author as a modern-day reflection of classic lone heroes.
The protagonist of the novella Tales of Dunk and Egg, Ser Duncan the Tall, is a knight-errant in the fictional world of A Song of Ice and Fire, where they are called hedge knights.
In Russian folklore
Russian
Bylina (epic poems) feature
, knights-errant who served as protectors of their homeland, and occasionally as adventurers.
In East Asian cultures
Xiake () or
xia (俠), sometimes translated as the "Chinese knight-errant" or "Chinese gallant", is a type
vigilante folk hero in
Ancient China who often wanders around the countryside (known as
jianghu) solo or with a small group of like-minded companions upholding their own standards of
social justice. Such individuals are typically
whose combat prowess,
social support and
guanxi allows them to defy oppressive local authorities such as
,
,
gentries and
through acts of
chivalry. Unlike their European counterpart, Chinese
xia are not confined to any particular
social caste and can be anything from free-spirited
noblepeople,
policemen or
, to travelling
,
or
, and to
peasant militiamen, skilled
or simply trained
. There was even a popular literary tradition that arose during the
Tang dynasty which centered on warriors with
superhuman physical capabilities who saved kidnapped damsels in distress and protected
from
injustice and
bullying, or gifted
who proved their worth and loyalty by retrieving treasures or lovers for their feudal lords (e.g. see
Kunlun Nu).
[Liu, James J.Y. The Chinese Knight Errant. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967 ][.Snow, Philip. The Star Raft: China's Encounter With Africa. Cornell Univ. Press, 1989 ] The famous Tang poet
Li Bai, a skilled
swordsman himself, once wrote a
yuefu Chinese poetry named
Ode to Gallantry (俠客行) to praise the chivalrous romance of such heroes.
Tales of xia who excels in martial prowess have inspired an entire literary genre of Chinese literature called wuxia ( 武俠, lit. "martial hero"), while tales of those who mastered magical skills or have cultivated supernatural abilities are called xianxia (仙俠, lit. "immortal/ hero").
See also
