Perimones
Sir Perimones, known as the Red Knight, is a knight of the British Arthurian tradition attested in Le Morte d'Arthur.
Sir Perimones, known as the Red Knight, is a knight of the British Arthurian tradition attested in Le Morte d'Arthur. He is identified as a brother of Sir Persant of Inde and one of four brethren defeated by Sir Gareth (under his alias Beaumains) during the quest to liberate the Lady Lionesse (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VII, Chapter XII).
Perimones first appears through Persant's acknowledgement of defeat: "Also ye won my brother the Red Knight, Sir Perimones" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VII, Chapter XII). He later takes the field at the tournament, where he encounters Sir Ector de Maris, and "either smote other so hard that both their horses and they fell to the earth" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VII, Chapter XXVIII).
Following Gareth's victories, Perimones pledges his service and requests a specific household role at the wedding feast, praying "Sir Gareth to grant him to be his chief butler at that high feast" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VII, Chapter XXXV).
All three attestations come from Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VII, which tells the tale of Sir Gareth. Perimones functions as one of a set of colour-coded brethren (Black, Green, Red, and Blue/Inde) who serve as sequential opponents and later as loyal vassals. His epithet "the Red Knight" distinguishes him from the more prominent Red Knight of the Red Launds, who is the primary antagonist of the tale. The progression from adversary to butler at the wedding feast illustrates Malory's recurring pattern of defeated knights being integrated into the Round Table fellowship.
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Le Morte d'Arthur, British Tradition