A knight-errant [1] (or knight errant [2] ) 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 chivalric virtues, either in knightly duels ( pas d'armes ) or in some other pursuit of courtly love.
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. [3] [4]
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 . [5]
A knight-errant typically performed all his deeds in the name of a lady, and invoked her name before performing an exploit. [6]
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. [7]
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. [8]
The protagonist of Lee Child's novels, Jack Reacher , is intended by the author as a modern-day reflection of classic lone heroes. [9]
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. [10]
Russian byliny (epic poems) feature bogatyrs, knights-errant who served as protectors of their homeland, and occasionally as adventurers. [11]
Xiake (Chinese :俠客) 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 martial artists whose combat prowess, social support and connections allows them to defy oppressive local authorities such as officials, aristocrats, gentries and bandits 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 warriors, to travelling scholars, poets or physicians, and to peasant militiamen, skilled hunters or simply trained vagrants. 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 underdogs from injustice and bullying, or gifted slaves who proved their worth and loyalty by retrieving treasures or lovers for their feudal lords (e.g. see Kunlun Nu). [12] [13] The famous Tang poet Li Bai, a skilled swordsman himself, once wrote a yuefu poem 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 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/saintly hero").