Black knight

The black knight is a literary stock character who masks his identity and that of his liege by not displaying heraldry.

The character appeared in Arthurian literature and has been adapted and adopted by various authors, in cinema and popular culture.

Its libretto is a translation of Ludwig Uhland's ballad Der schwarze Ritter by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

The Uhland poem (in German language) was set to music also by Heinrich von Herzogenberg.

Typically, a black knight will enter a business or company as an influential person such as a major investor or as a member of the board of directors and will dismantle a profitable or asset-rich business to enrich themselves, which typically leaves the previously profitable company in a weaker financial position.