CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Eight of Swords

playing card

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 14, 2025
Entity authorityQ5349038 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Eight of Swords is a Minor Arcana tarot card.

Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play tarot card games. In English-speaking countries, where the games are largely unknown, tarot cards came to be utilized primarily for divinatory purposes.

Symbolism

The Eight of Swords is associated with feeling trapped, being restrained and being hopeless. It can also mean that one is blinded by one's own thoughts, the surrounding swords can be used to help free one but one's own judgment is keeping one trapped.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Eight of Swords” as playing card. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Eight, Swords and playing.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current 87-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Eight, Swords and playing providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Eight of Swords”, the useful work is to connect “playing card” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 14, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5349038. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Eight of Swords”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Eight of Swords primary sources, Eight of Swords archive and Eight research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Eight of Swords”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Eight of Swords” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.