Norra kavalleriet
Norra kavalleriet verkar vara det närmaste vi har till vilka riddare är i norr. De verkar fungera som samma funktion som riddare gör i sydliga arméerna men bär inte titeln bara.
"How many knights?"
"Few enough," the maester said with a touch of impatience. "To be a knight, you must stand your vigil in a sept, and be anointed with the seven oils to consecrate your vows. In the north, only a few of the great houses worship the Seven. The rest honor the old gods, and name no knights … but those lords and their sons and sworn swords are no less fierce or loyal or honorable. A man's worth is not marked by a ser before his name. As I have told you a hundred times before."
"Still," said Bran, "how many knights?"
Maester Luwin sighed. "Three hundred, perhaps four … among three thousand armored lances who are not knights."
A Game of Thrones, Bran VI
Skillnaderna här verkar vara det nordliga kavalleriet:
- Följ de gamla gudarna inte de sju
- Anges inte som Ser
- Skapa inte ett hus / Sigil
- Har inte samma sociala status som faktiska riddare
Det är värt att nämna att "Norra kavalleriet" verkar vara en term som görs för wikien för att ge sidan en titel och är inte faktiskt kanonisk. De brukar bara hänvisas till vara beskrivning som Maester Luwin kallar dem "pansarlansar som inte är riddare".
Dictionary.com har också följande definitioner på vad en riddare är. Några av punkterna passar beskrivningen av vad kavalleriet är men uppenbarligen gör inte alla dem.
a mounted soldier serving under a feudal superior in the Middle Ages. (in Europe in the Middle Ages) a man, usually of noble birth, who after an apprenticeship as page and squire was raised to honorable military rank and bound to chivalrous conduct. any person of a rank similar to that of the medieval knight. a man upon whom the nonhereditary dignity of knighthood is conferred by a sovereign because of personal merit or for services rendered to the country. In Great Britain he holds the rank next below that of a baronet, and the title Sir is prefixed to the Christian name, as in Sir John Smith. a member of any order or association that designates its members as knights.