Cavalier d'Espées (Knight of Sword) - how may it be read?

Now doesn't he have a big errr..... sword.

And I see he also wears appropriate protection.

Despite all this weight, and the weight carried by the mare itself, it manages to rear.

If ever I saw a Knight ready for battle, he is it. Or perhaps it is only show of battle: his open face, for instance, may belie his apparent bravery.

Attached is the Payen.

Love this guy!

Camoin (Left) and Hadar (Right).

With this Knight, I can literally hear the sword "slice through the air!"

The horse, the Chevalier and the Sword are facing the direction of the past. Is he remembering past conquests?

I sense with the direction this Knight faces, though, that he, like the Knights of Arthur, is pure of heart and soul,
right is might...but maybe, he is at heart, a pacificist?


The face on his left shoulder...La Lune?
Receptive, intuitive?

This Knight deals his blows swiftly...messages and solutions, as well? This guy is not only trained, talented, well-decked out for battle, but he has some practice at it as well.

I always see this Chevalier as a bit like Lancelot. Triumphs over any adversity. An idealist. A romantic, too, however,

The softer, gentler, more passive side of this Chevalier could melt some of his strength and resolve.

terri

Death. Facial applellates also connect him with the 'chariot' [eer]. A pacifist? Certainly a man of peace [eternal].

He is facing left, the past? [ Why? Left is west, setting sun, land of the dead, autumn, harvest, the end - the future?].

Kwaw

He's the man of action, he doesn't sit and wait for things to happen, he a young go-getter. Both he and his horse are wearing armour, and he has his sword at the ready. Maybe he is a little too keen though? He also seems very well prepared, so perhaps, yes, he is parading... afterall his horse doesn't wear any blinkers and seems to be dancing! Although, both seem a little more serious in your Payen deck jmd.

I would read this as an aspiring person, trying to make a name for himself, he has no fear and perhaps can be wreckless, but he is learning as he goes through life. I don't see him as romatic, but more likely to break hearts. He has a one track mind.

kwaw said:

Death. Facial applellates also connect him with the 'chariot' [eer]. A pacifist? Certainly a man of peace [eternal].

He is facing left, the past? [ Why? Left is west, setting sun, land of the dead, autumn, harvest, the end - the future?].

Click to expand...

A man of peace who has to go to war. It's not that unusual - remember Sassoon and Owen? That gentle face dressed up in these fierce war accoutrements.

The past is his family he left behind? His Lady whom he desires to honour in battle, before honouring in bed? The past is his future, he hopes. He faces the setting sun because that is where he comes from, if he he is a crusading knight. The land of the dead, because in war, all knights must face the dead sooner or later. Some come through, some don't. The moon on his shoulder- a reminder of the strange light of battle? or of Justice?

But none of this does he stop and think about - before and after the battle he'll have time to think. For now: he charges. But it is a charge that was prepared for a long time, that advances on strong foundations. In the Middle Ages, before battle, soldiers attended Mass and were shriven, in case they died. And no knight would have gone into battle without long and arduous physical, mental and spiritual training, which started when he was a child.

So the knight in a reading? not having time to think, just acting. But also - having to face the consequences of action, sooner or later. And - acting after a period of strict preparation: at last the day has come! It reminds me of those marathon runners who train, physically and mentally, for a long time, and finally the day comes and they must just forget all and run and run. Battles can last a long time - think of the charge of adrenalin. That could also be a sense of the reading.

And also - if he is a crusader, he fights for what he thinks is right, even if he does not like war. So a meaning could be: sacrificing our comfort and peace to pursue actively something we believe in.

If the Chariot is remembered, then we have the sense of show again, so this could be a knight in a tournament, showing off in front of his Lady (dangerous games, though- Henry II of France was killed in a tournament). Or the man in the Chariot has finally got a horse moving! (actually and not only spiritually).