a bit of confusion

[NinjaFace]

I've done some research and found some different answers so i just wanted to clear up the confusion. To become knighted, does one have to squire under a knight or does a realm leader have the power to grant knighthood? Thanks to anyone who answers in advance.

[Anij Kalish]

It is my understanding that either may be true. Most squire under a knight, however there have been cases where a realm has decided to knight someone for their exemplary service to the game.

[Sir Thurat]

To expand on Anij's post, knighthood can be rather ambiguous in Belegarth. Technically, anyone can walk on the field and call themselves a knight, but the weight that comes with the title depends on its origins. Traditionally, to become a knight you must squire to a knight, or be granted knighthood by a prominent realm, but the legitimacy of that knighting, in the eyes of community, again, depends on its origin. If you were to be knighted by some small town realm that has 5 members and is still a fledgling, then it's just about as good as you knighting yourself. If you were to be knighted by a new knight after squiring to them for two months, then the same disregard would be noted.

[Sir Anastasia]

Different types of knighthood for different folks. Some people (like myself) who are in areas that have traditionally been without knights also have been knighted by another knight after the completion of deeds that are typically done in a traditional squire-ship. They call this a heroic knight-ship.

There are also other systems of recognition and of pushing yourself toward goals - the best thing is for you to decide on what is most important to you: your philosophy and your priorities.

The one thing I would say is that these titles often carry a lot of social hierarchy baggage. But, I feel that should NOT be the point of them - I feel that the best systems are either ones that recognize unusual effort or better yet that demand a lifetime of unusual effort towards benefiting BMCS and a quest for self-improvement.

You can see why finding a system that matches your own goals really matters here.

[Sir Thurat]

^