I’ll be no knight of the post, to sell my soul for a bribe;
Tho’ all my fortunes be crossed, yet I scorn the cheater’s tribe.
Ragged and Torn and True (a ballad).
Also a man in the pillory, or one that has been publicly tied to a post and whipped.
Knight of the Rainbow, a footman; so called from his gorgeous raiment.
Knight of the Roads, a foot-pad or highwayman; so termed by a pun on the military order entitled “The Knights of Rhodes.”
Knight of the Rueful Countenance, Don Quixote de la Mancha, the hero of Cervantes’ novel, is so called by Sancho Panza, his squire.
Knight of the Shears, a tailor. Shires (counties), pronounced shears, gives birth to the pun.
Knight of the Sun, Almanzor, prince of Tunis. So called because the sun was the device he bore on his shield.—Comtesse D’Aunoy, Fairy Tales (“Princess Zamea,” 1682).
Knight of the Swan, Lohengrin, son of Parsival. He went to Brabant in a ship drawn by a swan. Here he liberated the Princess Elsa, who was a captive, and then married her, but declined to tell his name. After a time he joined an expedition against the Hungarians, and, after performing miracles of valor, returned to Brabant covered with glory. Some of Elsa’s friends laughed at her for not knowing her husband’s name, so she implored him to tell her of his family; but no sooner was the question asked than the white swan re-appeared and conveyed him away.—Wolfram von Eschenbach (a minnesinger), Lohengrin (thirteenth century).