Persant of Inde

The Blue Knight
Persaunt

Sir Persant earned his surname for his preference to "the colour of Inde", dark blue, which he used for his arms, armor, and shield, the trappings of his horses, the livery of his male and female attendants, and his pavilion. A goodly knight and the lord of a fair city, he was the last of four brothers whom Gareth defeated on his way to fight Sir Ironside at Castle Dangerous; the other three were Percard, Perimones, and Pertolepe. After his defeat, Persant lodged Gareth and Lynette nobly for the night and proved himself a more than hospitable host, at least by today's standards: he sent his eighteen-year-old virgin daughter to Gareth's bed with instructions to

make him no strange cheer, but good cheer, and take him in thine arms and kiss him.

Persant was much impressed by Gareth's nobility when the young knight sent her back undefiled.

On Gareth's command, Persant, bringing a hundred knights, came with his surviving brothers to Arthur's court at Pentecost, where they were pardoned for the war they had long held against the knights of the Round Table. Persant fought in Lyonors' tournament at Castle Dangerous, and later came to court about the time of Gareth's wedding and obtained the favor of being Gareth's sewer-chief at the feast of Michaelmas. He was soon elected to the Round Table.

Persant appears as one of Guenevere's guests at the select dinner party where Sir Patrise was killed, and as one of ten knights to ride a-Maying with her and fall into Sir Meliagrant's ambush. He was also among the knights who tried to heal Sir Urre.

He is not mentioned as being with his brothers Pertolepe and Perimones when they were killed during Guenevere's rescue from the stake; Persant may have been the oldest - the age of his daughter at the time of his meeting with Gareth suggests his maturity - and have been already retired from active service.