Serenely all knights took it first as manifestation of woman power (5)
I believe the answer is:
sakti
'manifestation of woman power' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'serenely all knights took it first' is the wordplay.
'first' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letters of 'serenely all knights took it' is 'SAKTI'.
'as' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sakti that I've seen before include "Hindu goddess" , "Hindu female principle" , "Female energy" , "Wife of the god Siva - a skit (anag)" .)