Childe
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2008-05-30T19:14:20Z
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robot Adding: [[es:Childe]]
{{for|people named Childe|Childe (surname)}}
In the [[Middle Ages]], a '''childe''' was the eldest son of a [[nobleman]] who had not yet attained [[knighthood]], or had not yet won his spurs.
The term is now obsolete, but is still well-known from poetry, such as [[Robert Browning]]'s ''[[Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came]]'' and [[Lord Byron]]'s ''[[Childe Harold's Pilgrimage]]''.
The term also exists, albeit with a different meaning, in the [[roleplay]]ing system "[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]" and various spin-offs. It signifies the "offspring" of a [[vampire]], in this respect called a "[[Sire (vampire)|Sire]]". See [[Childe (vampire)]].
Childe in [[Stephen King]]'s [[The Dark Tower (series)]] is, in [[Roland Deschain]]'s own words, "...a term that describes a knight - or a gunslinger - on a quest. A formal term, and ancient. We never used it among ourselves...for it means holy, chosen by [[ka]]. We never liked to think of ourselves in such terms, and I haven't thought of myself so in many years." (p. 859, ''[[The Dark Tower (2004 novel)|The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower]]'', Pocket Books, 2006 ed.)
The term is used to apply to an expected next stage in human evolution in the ''[[Childe Cycle]]'' novels by [[Gordon R. Dickson]].
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