Kingdom of Heavens - What does "Rise a Knight" mean?

[Blinkbear]

Hey I am from Germany and no native speaker.

I have seen Kingdom of Heavens years ago in English and I was browsing the internet lately (more random than anything) and watched the trailer again and the scene where people get their knighthood. In the end they say "Rise a Knight" - what does that mean? The combination of the words doesn't really make sense to me... Pwease?

(I didn't really find this quote in german... and I am interested what kind of construction that is)

Greets and thanks in advance,

BB

[Jayabalard]

I haven't seen it but I'm guessing it's that they kneel as just a man, and then rise to their feet a knight.

[Closet_Skeleton]

It doesn't make much sense to me and I'm 100% English (ie not English at all). Maybe it's supposed to be 'arise' or it could actually be archaic (though I doubt it).

[Blinkbear]

yes, they had been kneeling and then when someone says "rise a knight!" they all get up. does that mean "rise AS a knight"?

[Hadrian]

It is a command, "Rise," followed by a descriptor. It is not a proper sentence construction, but understandable by native English speakers in context.
Its somewhat like "do der do" (forgive the spelling) instead of "der oder der", but that's dialect I picked up in Rheinland-Pfalz, so if you're a Berliner, I may not be making any sense...

*Edit*
Here's the text, lifted off of IMDB:
Godfrey of Ibelin: Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. That is your oath.
Godfrey of Ibelin: [cuffs Balian with the back of his hand] And that's so you remember it.
Hospitaller: Arise a knight and Baron of Ibelin.

[The Prince of Cats]

As previously mentioned, it was indeed 'Rise to your feet, you are now a knight' because it was part of the ritual of knighthood. It is not really helped by the fact that a knight in England (what most people think of as a knight) is slightly different from what the french 'cnigt' (pronounced, 'ker-niggut') would have been, even by the time of the Crusades.

[Blinkbear]

okay, thanks everyone :)

i was curious if this was a normal construction, but obviously it's not.

[Maelstrom]

... is slightly different from what the french 'cnigt' (pronounced, 'ker-niggut') would have been, even by the time of the Crusades.

Sorry, it is derived from Old English, not French. The Old English word most likely came from the Old High German word kneht.

Cavalier came from the French (whose origin was Italian cavaliere, Old Occitan cavalier, both derived from Latin caballus)

[The Prince of Cats]

Sorry, it is derived from Old English, not French.
I stand corrected.

[kamikasei]

i was curious if this was a normal construction, but obviously it's not.

Actually I would say that dropping the 'as' (which seems to be what confused you) is fairly standard. Consider a sentence like "I came to school a novice, now I graduate an expert." That would naturally read the same as if it were "as a novice... as an expert", even though it could be parsed as "I came to teach things to a novice, now I perform the graduation ceremony for this other person who is an expert".

Generally speaking, English in everyday use is moving towards much less formality and much more reliance on a word's position and intonation rather than parts of speech to convey meaning.

[Shadow]

Well, it is normal construction if it's taken in context.
The sentiment is that when you rise, after being knighted, you are no longer merely a man.
But if it helps you to understand by adding the "as" there's no harm done.

[Sundog]

It's archaic sentence structure. You'll find similar sentences in anything written prior to 1850. Still technically correct today, but a little confusing.

[Blinkbear]

Woot, another thanks to you all!

I love to learn more about English. So, thanks to everyone again.

If there are more comments, go nuts :)

[Matthew]

Sorry, it is derived from Old English, not French. The Old English word most likely came from the Old High German word kneht.

Cavalier came from the French (whose origin was Italian cavaliere, Old Occitan cavalier, both derived from Latin caballus)

Indeed, and rituals of bestowing Knighthood are very complex animals and highly debated.