About real knights
A knight refers to a social class in medieval Europe that was obligated to fight as cavalry in exchange for guaranteed control of manors.
In modern times, cavalry itself disappeared, and knighthood became a title of nobility or a mere honorary position.
Etymologically, the English word “knight” derives from the Old English “cniht,” meaning “servant.” This is similar to how Japanese samurai were called “samurai,” meaning “those who stand by their lord.”
The French “chevalier,” Italian “cavaliere,” and Spanish “caballero” all derive from Latin terms meaning “one who uses a horse,” while the German ‘Ritter’ shares the same root as the English “rider,” signifying one who rides a horse. This illustrates that knights were inseparable from horses.
Knight in fiction
Starting with King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table and Charlemagne’s Twelve Paladins, numerous stories had already been created in medieval Europe. Even ancient monarchs and warriors who did not have a knightly system were often treated as knights in these stories.
As such, the term is frequently used as a representative profession in fantasy works, with various types existing, though most are used to mean “a warrior clad in armor.”
In Japanese, it is called “kishi.” There are also Japanese surnames with the same pronunciation.
