Destrier Destrier The destrier is the best-known war horse of the medieval era. It carried knights in battles, tournaments, and jousts. It was described by contemporary sources as the "Great Horse", due to its significance. While highly prized by knights and men-at-arms, the destrier was not very common. Most knights and mounted men-at-arms rode other war horses, such as coursers and rounceys. These three types of horse were often referred to generically as chargers. The word is first attested in Middle English around 1330, as "destrer". It was borrowed into Middle English from Anglo-Norman "destrer", whose Old French counterpart was "destrier"
Knight-errant the Middle Ages in popular culture, and the term came to be used also outside of medieval drama, as in "The Dark Knight" as a title of Batman. In the epic fantasy series "A Song of Ice and Fire", there is a class of knights referred to as Hedge Knights. A Hedge Knight is a wandering knight without a master, and many are quite poor. Hedge knights travel the length and breadth of Westeros looking for gainful employment, and their name comes from the propensity to sleep out in the open air or in forests when they cannot afford lodging.