Character from Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams
The greatest knight who ever lived — thought dead for decades, discovered alive and mute, carrying a sword that wants to use him and a secret that could shatter the royal succession.
Camaris was the greatest swordsman Osten Ard ever produced. He first wielded Thorn at fifteen and became legendary. He served Prester John, fought in every major campaign, and was loved by everyone who met him. Then he disappeared — presumed drowned — and the world mourned. He was found decades later living as a mute simpleton in Kwanitupul, his mind broken by guilt. The guilt has layers: he fathered Josua in secret (betraying John's trust), he failed to prevent Hylissa's death, and the sword Thorn has a will of its own that terrifies him. He chose madness over memory. When he's brought back and given Thorn again, the sword's compulsion overrides his resistance. He fights brilliantly, helplessly — the greatest knight reduced to a weapon wielded by his own blade. His tragedy is that he's the hero everyone wants him to be, and it's destroying him.
Even in old age, unmistakably a warrior — tall, broad-shouldered, with the kind of physical presence that makes rooms go quiet. Grey-haired and weathered but still powerfully built. When he takes up Thorn again, years seem to fall away; his body remembers what his mind tried to forget.
Also known as: Camaris, Sir Camaris