TheBlack Knight (French:Chevalier Noir) appears in various forms inArthurian legend. These include (but are not limited to) the following:
Perhaps the first mention of a Black Knight by name inRaoul de Houdenc'sLa Vengeance Raguidel (early 13th century), where theNoir Chevalier is first mentioned in line 633.[1]
A supernatural Black Knight summoned byCalogrenant in the tale ofYvain, the Knight of the Lion. The Black Knight bests Calogrenant, but the Black Knight is later slain byYwain when he attempts to complete the quest that Calogrenant failed.[2] A corresponding character appears in the other versions of the story including the WelshOwain, or the Lady of the Fountain; according to a disputed theory,Owain may have been written independently from the FrenchYvain, with both poems based on a hypothetical original Welsh common source.
The eponymous protagonist ofMorien, wearing black armour and bears a black shield, in addition to having black skin, and as such is occasionally referred to as "the black knight".[3]
InSir Perceval of Galles (written in the early 14th century), the Black Knight jealously tied his wife to a tree after hearing she had exchanged rings withPerceval. Perceval defeated the black knight and explained that it was an innocent exchange.[4]
A black knight, named Sir Perarde, featured inLe Morte d'Arthur: The Tale of Sir Gareth (Book IV) as killed in a duel byGareth on the latter's quest to rescueLyonesse.
A black knight, the son of Tom a' Lincoln and Anglitora (the daughter ofPrester John) inRichard Johnson's Arthurian romanceTom a Lincoln. Through Tom, he is a grandson ofKing Arthur's, though his proper name is never given. He killed his mother after hearing from his father's ghost that she had murdered him. He later joined the Faerie Knight, his half-brother, in adventures.[5]
