# The Knight — Phantastes character guide

> The Knight in Phantastes by George MacDonald.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** your, himself

**First appearance:** 0004-i

## Snapshot

A humbled knight who warns a fellow traveller against a beautiful enchantress, his own tarnished armor a testament to his fall.

## Who they are

He rides through the fairy wood in armor he refuses to polish, having been conquered in spirit by a woman he calls terribly beautiful. His shame is genuine and his warning urgent, yet he cannot stay to explain — he gallops off before the traveller can learn more, leaving only a story of Sir Percival and the Maiden of the Alder-tree as a caution. His brief appearance plants the fear that the same enchantment may lie in wait for the one who follows.

## In the story

### [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/phantastes_se/chapters/vi)

A mysterious knight in rusted armor who warns Anodos about the Maiden of the Alder-tree.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/phantastes_se/chapters/vii)

Referred to as the 'repentant-knight' who warned Anodos earlier and may have been involved in the rescue.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/phantastes_se/chapters/ix)

The sad knight reappears, his armor showing signs of battle and his sadness softened; he travels with Anodos for two days.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/phantastes_se/chapters/xix)

A noble figure who recounts his battle with the Ash tree and speaks of the narrator's past.

### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/phantastes_se/chapters/xxi)

Elder brother; dies in combat with a giant, buried his battle-axe in the foe.

### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/phantastes_se/chapters/xxiii)

The knight of the soiled armor, now riding a strange beast and dragging a slain dragon; he recounts the story of the beggar-girl and accepts the narrator as his squire.

### [XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/phantastes_se/chapters/xxiv)

The knight mourns the narrator, recounting how he fought to retrieve his friend's body.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/phantastes_se/characters/the_knight
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/phantastes_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/phantastes_se/characters