Literary notes about Visor (AI summary)
In literature the word visor is employed both as a literal piece of armor and as a metaphor for concealment and revelation. Often it denotes the protective front of a knight’s helmet—as seen in depictions from chivalric battles and tournaments [1], [2], [3]—while also symbolizing a barrier to emotional exposure or truth, as when its removal signals authenticity or vulnerability [4], [5]. At times authors also focus on its technical and ornamental aspects, describing elaborate metalwork and intricate design [6], [7]. This duality in meaning allows the visor to operate on both a physical and symbolic level, accentuating themes of duty, honor, and the hidden self.
- "And mine!" cried Sir William, as an arrow glanced from his hand, and became transfixed in the visor of one of the Scottish leaders.
— from Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 14 - Fair and true he hit the Norman on the visor, where his lance's point kept hold of the bars.
— from Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott - But Ivanhoe was already at his post, and had closed his visor, and assumed his lance.
— from Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott - [“Then at last truth issues from the heart; the visor’s gone, the man remains.”—Lucretius, iii. 57.]
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne - I have seen the day That I have worn a visor and could tell A whispering tale in a fair lady's ear, Such as would please.
— from The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare - —Helmet, with Latticed Visor (end of fifteenth century).
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies - The visor opening on the right side of the helmet is evidently taken from an Italian model.
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies
