The Knight in Rusty Armor

The Knight In Rusty Armor is a short story by Robert Fisher, published in 1987. Centering around the story of a knight on a journey of self-discovery, it uses a fantasy-style quest to discuss ideas of confidence and self-actualization. Although written as a fairy tale in a lighthearted tone, it has been used and shared as a self-help book, with people crediting it as an insightful guide for finding meaning and happiness in life.

The story opens by introducing the knight. He is a noble gentleman who dedicates his life to helping others and to performing good deeds. He is so obsessed with this that he neglects his wife and child. The knight is famous for his beautiful shining armor, which he loves so much that he starts keeping it on all the time. He even refuses to take it off for sleeping. His wife, tired of not seeing her husband as he truly is, gives him an ultimatum: either he takes off the armor or she leaves with the child.

The knight does not wish to lose his family, so he tries to take the armor off. It doesn’t budge, so he goes to a blacksmith to get help. When the blacksmith does not succeed in taking the armor off, he realizes that it has become one with him and that he will need magical intervention to get rid of it. He decides to go find Merlin the Magician.



He searches for Merlin in the woods for months, feeling increasingly hopeless and isolated. When he eventually finds Merlin, the magician tells him he has been lost all his life and that he needs to face the truth of his life. Insulted, the knight tries to leave but the physical weight of his armor doesn't allow him to. Merlin explains that he only put on the armor because he was afraid, while the knight says it was because he wanted to be a good and loving knight. Merlin suggests that if he were really good, he would not feel the need to prove it to others. He also chastises the knight for seeking answers from other people instead of himself.

Merlin sends the knight on a path, the Path of Truth, reminding him that his purpose is to get rid of the armor. The path is narrow and steeply uphill. Merlin explains that there will be three castles in the knight’s way called Silence, Knowledge, and Will and Daring. Once the knight enters each castle, he will not be allowed to leave until he has learned the lesson it is meant to teach him. When the knight suggests that this sounds harder than one of his normal missions, Merlin agrees and says the real goal is for the knight to learn to love himself.

The knight sets off down the Path of Truth. When he enters the first castle, The Castle of Silence, he finds his king there. The king is himself on a path to self-discovery. The two have a long discussion, with the king saying many obscure words of wisdom. The king leaves and the knight sits in silence by himself, thinking about himself and his situation. He eventually falls into a deep sleep and wakes up outside the castle, his helmet having fallen away.



Next, he approaches the Castle of Knowledge. On the wall, there is an inscription reading: “Knowledge is the light by which you all find your way”, then, “Have you mistaken need for love?” He thinks about this for a while and realizes that he had desperately sought the love of others to compensate for the fact that he didn’t love himself. He sees that he cannot truly love others until he does love himself. When he has this epiphany, Merlin appears to him to reveal that he has uncovered a great truth.

The knight also sees the problem with his lifelong quest to be the best knight. He had spent so long trying to be the best, he hadn’t actually enjoyed any of it. Merlin suggests that his ambition did not come from the heart, which is why he never felt fulfilled and happy. The knight promises that his ambition will come from the heart from now on. He is instantly transported back to the Path of Truth, with the arms and legs of his armor gone.

After another day of walking, the knight arrives at a drawbridge in front of the Castle of Will and Daring. As he is crossing it, a dragon called the Dragon of Fear and Doubt emerges from the castle. He remembers that, during a previous conversation, Merlin had said that self-knowledge was the key to killing the Dragon of Fear and Doubt. The knight focuses on the wisdom gained from the previous castle, that he is good, kind and loving, and does not need to constantly prove it.



This means that fear and doubt are an illusion, which gives him the key to defeating the dragon. He marches towards the creature repeating those words, and the dragon’s flames do not burn him. The dragon becomes smaller and smaller as he approaches until it is the size of a frog. It then starts spitting out seeds at the knight. The seeds of doubt do not stop him, and the dragon does remind him that he will be back to stand in his way again before disappearing.

The final part of the journey involves a climb over sharp and steep rocks to reach the Summit of Truth. The knight makes his way across these but finds a large boulder blocking his path when he is almost there. The boulder has an inscription reading “Though this universe I own, I possess not a thing, for I cannot know the unknown if to the known I cling.” He begins to doubt everything he knows about himself and is unsure how to proceed. The only thing he knows is that he is holding on to the rocks, so he decides to trust a greater force and let go in order to “know the unknown.”

As he falls, the knight lets go of his guilt and excuses, taking responsibility for his life and his actions. He feels a sense of calm wash over him and suddenly finds himself standing on the Summit of Truth. The story concludes by explaining that, because he had been able to let go of everything, his ability to trust the unknown had set him free from his self-awareness and self-hatred. The knight cries tears for joy as the rest of his armor is shed, a mysterious light shining upon him.



Robert Fisher was a successful comedy writer for television, which imbued The Knight In Rusty Armor with a sense of humor and lightness that made its ideas of self-love, self-acceptance, and emotional growth accessible for a wider audience. It is often compared to similar parables on ethics and morality such as Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, and its straightforward prose and medieval fantasy motif have made it particularly popular choice for children.