Knight of Swords Tarot Card Meaning

Knight of Swords upright

A knight rides at full gallop as if scattering his enemies. Waite calls him a hero of romantic chivalry, almost a Galahad. His list: skill, bravery, capacity, defence — and also wrath, war and opposition. Act boldly, but know what you are charging at.

Knight of Swords reversed

Waite reversed gives imprudence, incapacity and extravagance. Slow down before you say or do something you cannot take back.

A reversed card (What does Upright / reversed card mean?) is one drawn upside-down.

Is Knight of Swords a yes or no?

Upright: Leans yes. Yes — quickly, but with care.

Reversed: Reversed, Knight of Swords reads as a gentle no: impulsiveness, recklessness, imprudence.

The yes/no lean is BornClock’s reading convention drawn from the card’s meaning — Waite himself did not assign one.

Symbolism in the Knight of Swords card

What appears in the 1909 Rider–Waite–Smith picture, as Waite describes it:

• Knight riding at full course — Waite: as if scattering his enemies — a hero of romantic chivalry

In Waite’s own words (paraphrased)

Upright: skill, bravery, capacity, defence, address; enmity, wrath, war, opposition, resistance.

Reversed: imprudence, incapacity, extravagance.

Source: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910, public domain). Some of Waite’s 1910 fortune-telling meanings are old-fashioned; the plain-English reading above is ours.