Gawain ( GA(H)-wayn, -win, gə-WAYN), spelled in many ways, is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legendary cycle. The prototype of Gawain appears under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest Welsh sources. He has subsequently appeared in many Arthurian tales in Welsh, Latin, French, English, Scottish, Dutch, German, Spanish, and Italian, notably as the protagonist of the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Other works featuring Gawain as their central character include De Ortu Waluuanii, Diu Crône, Ywain and Gawain, Golagros and Gawane, Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle, L'âtre périlleux, La Mule sans frein, La Vengeance Raguidel, Le Chevalier à l'épée, Le Livre d'Artus, The Awntyrs off Arthure, The Greene Knight, and The Weddynge of Syr Gawen and Dame Ragnell.
In the Arthurian chivalric romances, Gawain is typically depicted as King Arthur's closest companion and an integral member of the Round Table. He is often the son of Arthur's sister, Morgause, and King Lot of Orkney and Lothian. Here, his younger brothers (or half-brothers) are Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth, and the infamous Mordred, though his familial relations and upbringing vary. They often involve a story of Gawain unknowingly being raised in foster care in Rome before returning to Britain to reunite with his biological relatives. Of his many children from his numerous wives and lovers, Gingalain (the "Fair Unknown") stands out as a popular Arthurian hero in his own right.
In the early Welsh texts, Gawain is portrayed as a formidable warrior who is courteous, compassionate, and fiercely loyal to both king and kin. He is known as a friend to young knights, a defender of the poor and unfortunate, and a rescuer of women. Variants on the Castle of Maidens often portray him as a "Maidens' Knight". Other notable recurring motifs include his skills in healing, his weapons (including the famed Caliburn, also known as Excalibur), and his mighty warhorse Gringolet. In some later versions, such as Le Morte d'Arthur, his strength is tied to a day-and-night cycle, making him an invincible swordsman when at noon.
Gawain's prowess diminishes with the Vulgate Cycle, which elevates Lancelot. His character turns markedly ignoble in the Post-Vulgate Cycle and even outright villainous in the Prose Tristan. Le Morte d'Arthur further conflicts his character by presenting him as a symbol of secular knighthood, a departure from his original piety and a major object of criticism from the authors of French prose cycles. Two important plotlines shed light on this redefined Gawain: his leading role in a familial blood feud against the clan of King Pellinore, and the deterioration of his close friendship with Sir Lancelot, which becomes a bitter rivalry when Gawain is consumed by vengeance. In this tradition, Gawain's sinful ways and unforgiving nature inadvertently lead to the fall of Arthur and the Round Table and, ultimately, his own death by Lancelot's hand.
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Name
Gawain is known by different names and variants in different languages. The character corresponds to the Welsh Gwalchmei ap Gwyar (meaning "son of Gwyar"), or Gwalchmai, and throughout the Middle Ages was known in Latin as Galvaginus, Gualgunus (Gualguanus, Gualguinus), Gualgwinus, Walwanus (Walwanius), Waluanus, Walwen, etc.; in Old French (and sometimes English) primarily as Gavain (Gavaine) and also as Gauvain (Gauvaine), Gauvan (Gauvayn), Gauven (Gauvein/Gauveyn), Gavan (Gavane) or Gavayn (Gavayne); in Middle High German as Gâwein or Gâwân; in Italian dialects as Gavino, Galvagin or Galvano; in Old Spanish as Galván; in Old Portuguese as Galvam or Galvão; and in Middle English also as Gawaine, Gawan (Gawane), Gawayn (Gawayne), Gawein (Gaweine), Gaweyn (Gaweyne), Gauwein (Gauweine), Gauweyn (Gauweyne) or Wawen (Wowen), among many other forms and spellings. The later forms are generally assumed to derive from the Welsh Gwalchmei.
The element Gwalch, meaning hawk, is an epithet typical of medieval Welsh poetry. The meaning of mei is uncertain. While it has been suggested that it refers to the month of May (Mai in Modern Welsh), rendering "Hawk of May", medievalist and linguist Rachel Bromwich considers this unlikely. Celticist Kenneth Jackson suggests the name evolved from an early Common Brittonic name *Ualcos Magesos, meaning "Hawk of the Plain". Some scholars disagree with the "hawk" interpretation altogether; John T. Koch suggests the name could be derived from the Brythonic *Wolcos Magesos, "Wolf/Errant Warrior of the Plain."
Others argue that the continental forms do not ultimately derive from Gwalchmei. Roger Sherman Loomis suggests a derivation from the epithet Gwallt Avwyn, found in the list of heroes in Culhwch and Olwen, which he translates as "hair like reins" or "bright hair". Lauran Toorians proposes that the Dutch name Walewein (attested in Flanders and France c. 1100) was earliest, suggesting it entered Britain during the large settlement of Flemings in Wales in the early 12th century. Still, most scholarship supports a derivation from Gwalchmei, variants of which are well attested in Wales and Brittany. Bromwich, Joseph Loth, and Heinrich Zimmer all trace the etymology of the continental versions to a corruption of the Breton form of this name, Walcmoei.
Gwalchmei
Gawain's precursor, Gwalchmei, son of Gwyar, was a hero of Welsh mythology and a major figure of the now largely lost oral tradition. His popularity greatly increased after foreign versions, particularly those derived from Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, became known in Wales. The Gwyar (meaning "gore" or "spilled blood/bloodshed") in Gwalchmei ap Gwyar is likely the name of Gwalchmei's mother rather than his father, as is standard in the Welsh Triads. Gwyar appears as a daughter of Amlawdd Wledig in one version of the hagiographical genealogy Bonedd y Saint. The 14th-century fragment Birth of Arthur, a Welsh text that adapts scenes from Geoffrey, substitutes Gwyar for Anna, Geoffrey's name for Gawain's mother, the Queen of Orkney. His father is named as Emyr Llydaw (Emperor of Brittany), that is Budic II of Brittany. There, Gwalchmei is given three sisters: Gracia, Graeria, and Dioneta, the last of which being a counterpart of Morgan.
Early references to Gwalchmei include the Welsh Triads; the Englynion y Beddau (Stanzas of the Graves), which lists the site of his grave; the Trioedd y Meirch (Triads of the Horses), which praises his horse named Keincaled (known as Gringolet in the works of medieval French authors); and Cynddelw's elegy for Owain Gwynedd, which compares Owain's boldness to that of Gwalchmei. In the Welsh Triads, Triad 4 lists him as one of the "Three Well-Endowed Men of the Isle of Britain" (probably referring to his inheritance); Triad 75 describes him as one of the "Three Men of the Island of Britain who were Most Courteous to Guests and Strangers"; and Triad 91 praises his fearlessness. Some versions of Triads 42 and 46 also praise his horse Keincaled, echoing the Triads of the Horses. The singling out of Gwalchmei as Most Courteous evokes his role in the Mabinogion, where he regularly serves as an intermediary between King Arthur's court and stranger knights.
An early Welsh romance Culhwch and Olwen, composed in the 11th century (though not recorded until the 14th) and eventually associated with the Mabinogion, ascribes to Gwalchmei the same relationship with Arthur that Gawain is later given: he is the son of Arthur's sister and one of his leading warriors. He is only mentioned twice in the text, first in a list of attendants at Arthur's court in the beginning of the story and second as one of the "Six Helpers" Arthur sends to assist protagonist Culhwch on his journey to find his love interest, Olwen. Unlike the other helpers, he takes no further part in the action. This suggests he was added to the romance later, likely under the influence of the Welsh versions of Geoffrey's Historia. He also appears in Peredur fab Efrawg (Peredur son of Efrawg), part of the Mabinogion, where he aids the hero Peredur in the final battle against the nine witches of Caer Loyw. A similar motif was mentioned by the 16th-century Welsh scholar Sion Dafydd Rhys in an unrecorded oral tale in which Gwalchmei destroyed three evil witch-sisters, wives of the giants previously slain by Arthur. This was done through Gwalchmei's cunning alone, as the witches could not be slain by others means "on account of their strength and power". Gwalchmei himself appears as a giant in Welsh folklore.
Gawain
Histories and romances
The first known references to Gawain outside Wales began to appear in the first half of the 12th century. In his Gesta Regum Anglorum of around 1125, William of Malmesbury writes that "Walwen's" grave had been uncovered in Pembrokeshire hundreds of years after his death, following the 11th-century Norman conquest of England. William recounts how Arthur's nephew, a renowned Post-Roman Briton soldier celebrated for his bravery, tirelessly fought against the Saxons led by Hengest's brother: "He deservedly shared in his uncle's praising, because he prevented the fall of his collapsing country for many years." William also noted uncertainty regarding the manner of his death: "There, as certain people claim, he [Walwen] was wounded by his enemies, and cast forth from a shipwreck; by others, it is said that he was killed by his fellow citizens at a public feast. Therefore, knowledge of the truth falls in doubt, although neither of these stories would fail in defense of his fame." He also describes Walwen as a former ruler of Galloway, which he says was still called Walweitha centuries later in his times.
It was Geoffrey of Monmouth's version of Gawain in the Historia Regum Britanniae, written around 1136, that brought the character to a wider audience. As in the Welsh tradition, Geoffrey's Gawain (Gualguanus) is the son of Arthur's sister (here named Anna) and her husband Lot (Loth), the prince of Lothian and one of Arthur's key supporters. Geoffrey mentions that Gawain was twelve years old at the time when King Lot and Arthur began a war with Norway, and that he had previously served Pope Sulpicius in Rome. Gawain later plays a major role as one of the leaders in Arthur's victory against the Romans, having personally started the conflict by killing the Roman envoy Caius (Gaius Quintilianus) in response to insults made against him and Arthur. Geoffrey's Gawain is depicted as a supreme warrior (even calling him and Hoel the two "warriors than whom no better had ever been born") and potential heir to the throne until he is tragically struck down by the forces of his traitorous brother Mordred (Modredus) at Richborough during an attempted sea landing that ended in disaster.
Geoffrey's work was adapted into many languages. The Norman Roman de Brut by Wace ascribes to Gawain the chivalric aspect he would take in later literature, wherein he favours courtliness and love over martial valour. Several later works expand on Geoffrey's mention of Gawain's boyhood spent in Rome, the most important of which is the anonymous Medieval Latin De Ortu Waluuanii Nepotis Arturi (The Rise of Gawain, Nephew of Arthur), which describes his birth, boyhood, and early adventures leading up to his knighting by his uncle.
Origin narratives and alternate siblings
Les Enfances Gauvain, based in part on De Ortu Waluuanii, tells of how Arthur's sister Morcades (Morgause) becomes pregnant by Lot, at this point a page in King Arthur's court. She and Lot secretly give the child to a knight named Gawain the Brown (Gauvain li Brun) who baptises the infant with his own name, puts the infant Gawain in a cask with a letter explaining who the child is, and sets him adrift at sea. The cask is found by a fisherman and his wife. Sometime after Gawain is ten years of age, his foster-father vows to make a pilgrimage to Rome if he recovers from his severe illness. When he undertakes the pilgrimage, he takes his foster-child with him to Rome. There a clerk reads the knight's letter, understands that the boy is of high birth, and the Pope takes Gawain as his own foster-son. Accounts similar to this can be found in Perlesvaus, the Gesta Romanorum, and many other texts.
In De Ortu Waluuani, the young Gawain, trained as a Roman cavalry officer, undertakes a duel to determine whether Rome or Persia should possess Jerusalem. On his way, Gawain and his men defeat the pirate king Milocrates and his brother Buzafarnam, rescuing the Roman Emperor's niece whom Milocrates has abducted. In Jerusalem, he fights the giant Persian champion Gormund and slays him after three days of single combat. He is then sent to King Arthur with the proof of his birth. Arthur's queen, here named Gwendoloena and possessing prophetic powers, warns Arthur of the coming of a knight of Rome who is more powerful than him; Arthur and Kay meet Gawain on his way but he unhorses them both. Gawain then arrives at Arthur's court, but the king rejects him despite learning of the knight being his nephew. In response, Gawain vows that he will do what Arthur's entire army could not do. The occasion comes when the Lady of the Castle of Maidens sends to Arthur for aid, having been abducted by a pagan king who wants to force marriage on her. Arthur and his forces go to fight the pagan army but lose, yet Gawain single-handedly succeeds and returns with the Lady and with the pagan king's head. Arthur is finally forced to publicly accept the knight's worth, and Lot and Anna formally acknowledge Gawain as their son.
Similar to this tale are the stories of the Castle of Wonders, found in Diu Crône, Chrétien's Perceval, Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, and the Norse Valvens þáttr (The Tale of Gawain), wherein Gawain comes to the castle where, unknown to him, live his grandmother (King Arthur's mother), his own mother, and his sister. Gawain becomes the castle's lord, and it would be likely that he would unknowingly marry either his mother or his sister, but Gawain discovers who the women are. In a variant included in the Gesta Romanorum, a Gawain-like character named Gregory comes to a castle where his mother dwells, besieged by the Duke of Burgundy. Gregory enters the lady's service and succeeds in winning back her lands, after which he unwittingly marries his own mother.
Attributes and characterizations
According to Arthurian scholar Ryan Harper, considering Gawain's many varied (and for most part positive) medieval portrayals,
Traditionally, Gawain, of all Arthur's knights, is known for his courteousness, compassion, and humility. In Gawain: His Reputation, His Courtesy and His Appearance in Chaucer's Squire's Tale, B. J. Whiting collected quantitative evidence of these qualities being stronger in Gawain than in any of the other Knights of the Round Table, counting the words "courteous", "courtesy", and "courteously" being used in reference to Arthur's nephew as 178 times in total, more than for all the other knights in Arthurian literature. The Prose Lancelot describes Gawain as the most handsome of his brothers and notably gracious towards poor people and to societal outcasts such as lepers; the one time when he fails to properly greet an unknown maiden (Viviane) while on a quest to learn the fate of Merlin in the Vulgate Merlin Continuation, she curses him with a spell that turns him into a hideous dwarf, but later restores him to his real form after he passes a test to save her from an apparent rape in an arranged "damsel in distress"-style scenario. In some versions of the legend, Gawain would have been the true and rightful heir to the throne of Camelot after the reign of Arthur.
The Vulgate Mort Artu says Gawain had been baptised as an infant by a miracle-working holy man, also named Gawain. The other Gawain named the boy after himself, and who announced the following day that every day at noon, at the hour of the baptism, his power and strength would increase. His recurring status of a solar hero, as well as some of his other traits and adventures, especially within the variants of the Green Knight tale, suggest that Gawain may have been originally a Welsh counterpart of the Irish mythology hero Cú Chulainn, and also led to scholarly hypotheses suggesting Gawain's figure derives from a Celtic sun god or perhaps a son of such deity. The Post-Vulgate narration tells how, in great part due to his supernatural strength, there have been only six knights whom Gawain failed to defeat in a sword fight: Lancelot, Hector, Bors, his own brother Gaheris (replaced with Percival by Malory), Tristan, and Morholt. In Perceval and some other later stories, he is the other wielder of Arthur's magic sword Excalibur; in the Alliterative Morte Arthure, he has a sword named Galuth, which bears the name Galatine in Malory's version of the Roman War episode. His knowledge of herbs also makes him a great healer, as shown in Chrétien's Perceval, Valvens Þáttr, Parzival, Walewein, and the Dutch Lancelot Compilation (in the stories Moriaen, Die Riddere metter Morwen, Walewein ende Keye, and Lancelot en het Hert met de Witte Voet).
Children and relationships
Hartmann von Aue's Erec is the first to mention Gawain's offspring, listing one "Henec the Skillful, son of Gawain" (Henec suctellois fil Gawin), among the Knights of the Round Table. Thomas Malory credits Gawain with three sons through the Lady of Lys, a sister of Bran de Lys/Lis (or "Brandles" in the Middle English The Jeaste of Syr Gawayne); they are named Florence, Lovell, and Gingalain. Both Lovell (Lioniel) and Gingalain (Guinglain) have previously appeared in the First Continuation to Chrétien's Perceval and in the Livre d'Artus. Gingalain is the only of them to play a significant role in further works, as the eponymous protagonist of Renaud de Beaujeu's Old French romance Le Bel Inconnu (The Fair Unknown), as well as of the Middle-English romance Libeaus Desconus and of its Middle High German version Wigalois (titled after Gingalain's name there) by Wirnt von Grafenberg. Besides those children, the eponymous hero of Beaudous by Robert de Blois is the son of Gawain by unnamed daughter of the king of Wales, known only as the Lover (Amie). She might be the same as the also unnamed daughter of King Tradelmant of North Wales, a hitherto virgin who becomes pregnant by Gawain out of wedlock in the Prose Lancelot.
Since Gawain is known in multiple tales as the "Knight of Maidens" (French: Chevalier as Damoisels), his name is thus attached to no woman in particular. As such, he is the champion of all women, and through this reputation, he has avoided the name-pairing seen in tales of Erec (with Enide), Tristan (with Iseult), and Lancelot (with Guinevere). Nevertheless, Gawain has had wives in the course of Arthurian literature, albeit he is always introduced as yet unmarried at the beginning of any such story. In The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle, he marries the cursed Ragnelle, and in giving her "sovereignty" in the relationship, lifts the spell laid upon her that had given her a hag-like appearance. In Parzival, Gawain marries Orguelleuse, the widow of the Duke of Logres. (In Perlesvaus, the mad Orguelleuse instead unsuccessfully plots to kill Gawain and then to entomb herself with him; she is called the Maiden of the Narrow Wood in Hunbaut.) In Mériadeuc, the Queen of the Isles swears she will marry only Gawain. In Diu Crône, Gawain marries Amurfina, a niece of Arthur's stepfather (here named Gansguoter) who wins Gawain from her own younger sister Sgoidamur through the use of a magic bridle and a love potion.
Gawain also often appears as intimately associated with a supernatural female figure from the Otherworld or the Fairyland. The hero of Le Bel Inconnu is the progeny of Gawain and a fairy called Blanc(h)emal, and Gawain is himself rescued by the fay Lorie in The Marvels of Rigomer (Les Merveilles de Rigomer). The mother of Gawain's son in Wigalois is known as Florie, likely another version of Lorie from Rigomer; she also appears as Floree, daughter of King Alain of Escavalon, in the Livre d'Artus. The Italian romance La Pulzella Gaia has Gawain fight and defeat a giant serpent that turns out to be just a form of fairy princess, the daughter of Morgan le Fay (Fata Morgana) who then becomes his secret lover; their relationship, once revealed, makes both of them into enemies of Guinevere (who is jealous of Gawain after having been spurned), Arthur, and Morgan all at once.
Modern portrayals
Gawain features frequently in modern literature and media. Modern depictions of him are often heavily influenced by Malory's portrayal, though characterizations are inconsistent. Alfred Tennyson adapted episodes from Malory to present Gawain as a worldly and faithless knight in his Idylls of the King (1859–1885). Similarly, T. H. White's novel The Once and Future King (1958) follows Malory, but presents Gawain as more churlish than Malory's torn and tragic portrayal. In contrast, Thomas Berger's Arthur Rex (1978) portrays Gawain as open-minded and introspective about his flaws, qualities that make him the Round Table's greatest knight.
Though he usually plays a supporting role, some works feature Gawain as the main character. Vera Chapman's The Green Knight (1975) and Anne Crompton's Gawain and Lady Green (1997) offer modern retellings of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. As Gwalchmei, he is the protagonist of Gillian Bradshaw's Celtic-tinged Hawk of May (1980) and its sequels. Gawain is a major character in The Squire's Tales series by Gerald Morris, in which he is portrayed as skilled, immensely loyal to Arthur, and an intelligent, kind-hearted, and occasionally sarcastic knight. Morris included many legends involving Gawain in the second book, The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady (1999), drawing in particular from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. An aged Gawain is one of the central characters in Kazuo Ishiguro's novel The Buried Giant (2015). In the manga Four Knights of the Apocalypse (2022), a sequel to Seven Deadly Sins, Gawain is a member of the eponymous Knights, portrayed as female, a hugely muscular and prideful niece of Arthur. Since Gawain is female this time, her womaniser traits and rivalry with Tristan because of Isolde and knightly ambitions began to have a distinct queer shade.
Film portrayals of Gawain, and the Arthurian legend in general, are often heavily indebted to Malory; White's The Once and Future King also exerts a heavy influence. Gawain appears as a supporting character in films such as Knights of the Round Table (1953, played by Robert Urquhart) and Excalibur (1981, played by Liam Neeson), all of which draw on elements of Gawain's traditional characterizations. Other films give Gawain a larger role. In the 1954 adaptation of Prince Valiant, he is a somewhat boorish, though noble and good-natured, foil for his squire and friend, Valiant. He plays his traditional part in the 1963 film Sword of Lancelot (played by George Baker), seeking revenge when Lancelot kills his unarmed brother Gareth, but ultimately coming to Lancelot's aid when he uncovers Mordred's responsibility. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has been adapted to film several times, including 1973's Gawain and the Green Knight (played by Murray Head) and 1984's Sword of the Valiant (played by Miles O'Keeffe), both directed by Stephen Weeks; neither film was well reviewed and both deviate substantially from the source material. A 1991 television adaptation by Thames Television, Gawain and the Green Knight, was both more faithful and better received.