Destrier (from which the Modern English spelling derives). The word is also found in medieval Provençal (as "destrier") and Italian (as "destriere", "destriero"). These forms themselves derived from the Vulgar Latin "equus dextarius", meaning "right-sided horse" (from "dextra", "right hand", the same root as "dexterous" and "dexterity"). This may refer to it being led by the squire at the knight's right side (or led by the right hand) or to the horse's gait, (possibly leading with the right). The word "destrier" does not refer to a breed, but to a "type" of horse: the finest and strongest warhorse. These horses were
Knight of the Swan Knight of the Swan The story of the Knight of the Swan, or Swan Knight, is a medieval tale about a mysterious rescuer who comes in a swan-drawn boat to defend a damsel, his only condition being that he must never be asked his name. The earliest versions (preserved in "Dolopathos") do not provide specific identity to this knight, but the Old French Crusade cycle of "chansons de geste" adopted it to make the Swan Knight ("Le Chevalier au Cigne", first version around 1192) the legendary ancestor of Godfrey of Bouillon. The "Chevalier au Cigne", also known as Helias, figures