The designation Ashen Knight does not appear in the earliest accounts. Rather, it emerges gradually, as later chroniclers attempt to impose coherence upon earlier, nameless descriptions.
The title is not ceremonial. No heraldry accompanies it. No order claims it. Instead, it appears to have arisen from the convergence of two impressions: first, that the figure bears the discipline and restraint of a trained warrior; and second, that his appearance is consistently associated with fire’s aftermath — soot-stained armor, scorched terrain, or places where ruin has cooled into memory.
The title reflects not who he declares himself to be, but how he is perceived by those who encounter him briefly and never again.
