Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   For today’s Tarot Thursday blog post, I will be sharing insights on how we can relate the Knights of the Round Table to Knights in the Tarot deck!   To be clear, I did not choose a single Knight for each suit, as I wanted to include more than one example for two of the suits.   However, with each suit, the first Knight listed is the one that instantly came to mind when thinking of that card, with the others being additional.   Now, without further ado, let’s look at Tarot Knights as Arthurian Knights!   

KNIGHT OF SWORDS ~ Sir Yvain (aka Sir Owain)

~I am beginning with the Knight of Swords, as this was actually the connection I had to think about the most.   For the others, at least one Knight of the Round Table immediately sprang to mind.   This could be due to the fact that actions from the heart are very prevalent in the legends, making it easy to think of Knight of Cups alignments.   But I could also easily find alignments for the other two.   Maybe that is because there is often jumping into the Quest without a lot of planning, and the Knight of Swords is all about planning before acting.   In any case, I finally thought of it after a few minutes of contemplation.   Yvain, or Owain (as he is known in the older Welsh legends), holds resonance with the Knight of Swords.   Yes, Yvain does jump into his Quest and quickly dispatches the Knight he was battling, but then he is put in the position to marry the Faery Queen and Lady of the Fountain, Laudine.   This is because she needs the bravest and most powerful Knight for a husband to protect her Faery Court.   So, Yvain takes on this responsibility and even falls in love with his wife.   Later, his cousin Gawain comes to their Court to invite Yvain on a Quest, as he has not been on one in quite some time.   After much hesitation from Laudine, Yvain eventually convinced her, with a promise to be back by a certain time.   Of course, Yvain lost track of time and missed the deadline.   That is where his planning nature finally kicks in, as he has to plot a course of action to regain the love of his wife, and does so with the help of her handmaiden, Lunette!           

KNIGHT OF PENTACLES ~ Sir Bedivere & Sir Bors

~The first Knight that came to mind for this connection was Bedivere, as he is the final Knight with Arthur as he lay dying, and the one to toss Excalibur back into the water.   This shows the steadfast loyalty and consistent effort of the Knight of Pentacles, even if it takes him a few tries to give the weapon up.   Then, I also thought of Sir Bors, who is a very little-discussed Knight, but one who definitely holds resonance with the Knight of Pentacles.   He is the third member of the Grail Quest, alongside Galahad and Percival, and is always consistent in his efforts.   There is a sense of maturity to Bors that shows him to be very much Knight of Pentacles energy to me!

KNIGHT OF WANDS ~ Sir Gawain

~There was only one Knight that sprang to mind for the Knight of Wands, and that is Gawain.   He is always quick to action, showing the double fire energy of the card.   This is what gets him into the position of battling the Green Knight, thinking he can lop off his head and be done with it, only to learn that he will have to go on a Quest and endure the same blow as a test!   This is also shown by his immediate willingness to marry Dame Ragnelle when Arthur needs him to, even if she first appeared as a Loathly Lady.   Even in the events I related above with Yvain, we see this energy of Gawain forever being quick to action, and ready for a Quest!

KNIGHT OF CUPS ~Sir Lancelot, Sir Tristan, Sir Percival, & Sir Galahad 

~Ah, yes, the Knight of Cups, the most Arthurian Knight of the Tarot, given just how many Knights make decisions based on their hearts in the legends.   The very first Knight I think of with this energy instantly is Lancelot.   After all, the vast majority of his actions are made because of his love for Guinevere.   If not love for Guinevere, they are actions made because of his loyalty to Arthur, another heart-centered reason to act.   Of course, much the same can be said for Tristan, as he and Lancelot share a lot of commonality in personality and story.    That is why he came to mind next.   Yet, Tristan is still his own character, not just a copy of Lancelot, as Yseult is not a copy of Guinevere.   Tristan even chose to marry and try to distance himself from Yseult after they were caught in some versions of their legend.   Next, I thought of Percival in the earliest Grail legends, where he is the sole seeker of the Grail, and is forever doing things he thinks are right and learning the hard way.   This is very much done in a desire to be the best Knight he can be, and very emotionally centered choices.   Finally, we have the Grail Knight, Galahad, who was born with the destiny to Heal the Wasteland.   Galahad is the perfect gentle Knight, the one whose pure heart can win the Grail.   That pureness of heart is certainly one way of showing heart-centered intentions.

~I hope you have enjoyed this look at the Tarot Knights as Arthurian Knights.   What other examples can you think of?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is The Temptation of Sir Percival by Arthur Hacker.   I found the art on https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-temptation-of-sir-percival-38482.

LINK TO AVALONIAN ROSE FAERY MYSTERIES PATREON: patreon.com/AvalonianRoseFaeryMysteries 

Further Reading

• The Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes
• Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory