Knight of Swords
An armored knight charges full tilt into the wind with his sword raised: fierce drive, decisive action, and brilliant but headlong ambition that can overrun caution.
Swords, Knight
Upright keywords
- action
- ambition
- drive
- assertiveness
- speed
- courage
Meaning when upright
The Knight of Swords is the most headlong figure in the deck: a knight in full armor charging into the wind with his sword held high. He embodies swift, decisive action, courage, and an intellect that goes straight for its goal. Waite calls him "a prototypical hero of romantic chivalry" who "might almost be Galahad," and lists skill, bravery, defense, and address along with enmity, wrath, and war. The energy is powerful and useful when a situation demands boldness, but in its hurry it can run over people and details.
On the card
- knight charging at full gallop
- Speed, drive, and total commitment to a course of action; Waite's rider in full course, as if scattering his enemies.
- sword raised high overhead
- Aggressive intellect, readiness for battle, and decisive will.
- pale horse at full stretch with flying mane
- Pure intention and the headlong, unstoppable force of Air.
- butterflies and birds on the horse's trappings
- Emblems of Air and of the soul; freedom of thought and transformation.
- red cloak and plume streaming behind him
- Passion and aggressive energy; the sheer velocity of the charge.
- wind-torn clouds
- Turbulent thoughts and conditions stirred up in his wake.
- trees bent by the wind
- The force of the gale he rides into; the power of Air to sweep things before it.
In Waite’s words
He is riding in full course, as if scattering his enemies. In the design he is really a prototypical hero of romantic chivalry. He might almost be Galahad, whose sword is swift and sure because he is clean of heart.
- Divinatory meaning
Skill, bravery, capacity, defence, address, enmity, wrath, war, destruction, opposition, resistance, ruin. There is therefore a sense in which the card signifies death, but it carries this meaning only in its proximity to other cards of fatality.
- Reversed
Imprudence, incapacity, extravagance.
- Additional meaning
A soldier, man of arms, satellite, stipendiary; heroic action predicted for soldier. Reversed: Dispute with an imbecile person; for a woman, struggle with a rival, who will be conquered.
Correspondences
- Element
- Air
- Astrology
- 20° Taurus – 20° Gemini
- Golden Dawn title
- Lord of the Winds and the Breezes; King of the Spirits of Air
- Court element
- Fire of Air
- Number
- As the Knight, the suit's agent of quest and action, he is Air in its most mobile and driving form: thought hurled straight into deed.
Court attributions follow the Golden Dawn, where the mounted Knight is Fire and the enthroned King is Air; some modern readers swap the two.
To reflect on
- What goal am I ready to pursue with full conviction?
- Where might my speed be costing me accuracy or care for others?
- Is my cause worth the force I'm bringing to it?
In your readings
Hasn’t appeared in your readings yet.
Ask about this card
Marguerite, the traditionalist, answers from Waite’s text, what is drawn on the card and its correspondences. You can choose another reader in settings.