You’ve seen them on screen. Those clanking, armored figures swinging massive broadswords while looking generally miserable in the mud. But honestly, most of what we think we know about the knights of the Seven Kingdoms is a mix of romanticized myth and modern misunderstanding. George R.R. Martin didn't just invent a fantasy warrior class; he deconstructed a historical one and then smashed it against the harsh reality of feudal politics.
It’s messy.
Being a knight in Westeros isn't actually about being a hero. Usually, it's about being a landless thug with a horse and a moral code that everyone ignores the second things get inconvenient. If you’ve read A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms—the collection featuring Ser Duncan the Tall—you know the vibe is way more "struggling freelancer" than "shining savior."
The Anointing Process is Weirder Than You Think
To become a knight, you don't just find a sword. You need oil. Specifically, the seven oils of the Faith of the Seven. This is a religious thing. Most people forget that the institution of knighthood is strictly tied to the New Gods. That's why you rarely see knights in the North. To a Stark or an Umber, knighthood is a southern vanity project. They prefer "heavy cavalry." It’s basically the same job description, just without the fancy vigil in a sept and the holy water.
Actually, anyone who is already a knight can make another knight. It’s a decentralized system. Ser Lyonel Bartheus could theoretically knight a stable boy in a ditch if the mood struck him.
But there’s a social cost.
If a "true" knight like Ser Barristan Selmy dubs you, you’ve got instant street cred. If some drunken hedge knight does it, people are going to whisper. It's like getting a degree from Harvard versus a certificate from a guy in a parking lot. Technically, both are degrees. One just gets you laughed out of the Red Keep.
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Hedge Knights vs. Landed Knights
Let's talk about the class divide. It’s huge.
Most knights of the Seven Kingdoms fall into one of two buckets. You have your Landed Knights—guys like Ser Eustace Osgrey—who own a little slice of dirt, a tower house, and maybe a few peasants to yell at. They have a steady income. Then you have the Hedge Knights. These are the guys who literally sleep under hedges. Their only wealth is a suit of dented mail, a horse that's probably seen better days, and their sword.
Ser Duncan the Tall is the ultimate example. He starts off with nothing. He’s tall, he’s strong, and he’s hungry.
The life of a hedge knight is basically a series of job interviews where the interview is a joust and the "rejection" involves getting your teeth kicked in. They travel from tourney to tourney, hoping to win a purse or get noticed by a Lord who needs a sword for a local border dispute. It’s not glamorous. It’s dusty. It’s exhausting. And if your horse dies? You’re not a knight anymore. You’re just a guy in a heavy coat.
The Vows Are Mostly a Suggestion
"To protect the weak."
That’s the line. But look at the Mountain, Gregor Clegane. He’s a knight. He’s also a monster who burns villages for fun. The tragedy Martin highlights is the gap between the vow and the deed. Jaime Lannister—the Kingslayer—is actually one of the few characters who points out how impossible the vows are. You’re told to obey your king, but also to protect the innocent. What happens when the king is burning the innocent alive? You’re a vowbreaker no matter what you do.
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The Kingsguard represents the absolute peak of this contradiction. Seven men. White cloaks. No lands, no wives, no children. They are meant to be the paragons of the knights of the Seven Kingdoms. Yet, throughout the history of Westeros, they’ve been everything from legendary heroes like Aemon the Dragonknight to complete disasters like Meryn Trant.
Weapons and Gear: The Real Cost of War
We need to talk about the "kit." Armor in the Seven Kingdoms isn't just a fashion choice; it’s an investment. A full suit of plate is expensive. Like, "buy a small house" expensive. This is why smallfolk can’t just rise up and kill knights easily. A knight is essentially a medieval tank.
- Plate Armor: The standard for high-ranking lords and successful knights. It’s custom-fitted. If you loot a dead knight’s armor, it probably won't fit you right, which makes you slower and easier to kill.
- Mail and Boiled Leather: What the poorer knights wear. It’ll stop a glancing blow, but a warhammer will still turn your ribs into cereal.
- The Destrier: These aren't just horses. They are bred for war. They’re aggressive, trained to kick and bite, and they cost a fortune to feed.
When a knight loses a trial by combat or a joust, they often have to forfeit their armor and horse to the winner. This is the "ransom." For a hedge knight, losing a single match is a financial death sentence. It’s why the stakes in the Ashford Meadow tourney were so insanely high for Dunk. He wasn't just fighting for his honor; he was fighting to keep his career.
Why the Trial by Seven is Rare
One of the coolest, and weirdest, traditions is the Trial by Seven. It’s mentioned in the Dunk and Egg stories. Instead of a one-on-one duel, each side brings six friends. Seven vs. Seven. It’s based on the idea that if you can find six people willing to die for your cause, the gods must surely be on your side.
The problem? Finding six people willing to die for you is hard.
Most people just opt for the standard trial by combat because it's easier to manage. The Trial by Seven at Ashford was a massive deal because it involved princes and the highest-ranking knights of the Seven Kingdoms. It was a bloody, chaotic mess that showed exactly why the tradition died out. It’s too many high-value targets in one pit.
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The Social Ladder and the "Ser" Prefix
You don't call a lord "Ser" usually, even if he is a knight. You call him "My Lord." The "Ser" is for people whose primary identity is their knighthood.
There’s a weird nuance here. If you’re a high-born son, like a Tyrell or a Hightower, knighthood is a rite of passage. If you’re a low-born son of a butcher, knighthood is your only path to social mobility. It is the only way a commoner can legally kill a nobleman without getting executed immediately. In the chaos of a battlefield, a knight is a knight.
But don't be fooled. The classism is still there.
A high-born knight will be ransomed. A low-born knight might just get his throat slit to save the trouble of feeding him.
Actionable Insights for the Westeros Enthusiast
If you're trying to separate the fact from the fiction in Martin’s world, keep these three things in mind:
- Follow the Religion: If a character isn't from the South and doesn't follow the Seven, their "knighthood" is probably just a title given for political reasons or doesn't exist at all.
- Watch the Money: Look at a knight's gear. If they have mismatched armor and a "stot" (a workhorse) instead of a destrier, they are desperate. Desperate knights do dangerous things.
- The Vows are a Burden: In Westeros, the more someone talks about being a "true knight," the more likely they are to die or be disillusioned. The characters who survive are the ones who realize that the "Seven Kingdoms" are held together by fear and gold, not by chivalry.
If you're looking to dive deeper into the gritty reality of this world, skip the main Song of Ice and Fire books for a second and read the Dunk and Egg novellas. They provide the most honest look at what it actually feels like to be one of the knights of the Seven Kingdoms when you don't have a Great House backing your bills. You’ll realize quickly that the armor is heavy, the mud is cold, and the honor is usually just something people talk about while they're stabbing you in the back.