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CONTENTS Series EditorÆs Preface Introduction RAYMOND H. THOMPSON AND KEITH BUSBY Select Bibliography 1 Gawain: His Reputation, His Courtesy, and His Appearance in ChaucerÆs SquireÆs Tale B.J. WHITING 2 Gwalchmei m. Gwyar RACHEL BROMWICH 3 The Character of Gauvain in the Romances of Chrétien de Troyes WILLIAM A. NITZE 4 Gauvain and FinÆ Amors in the Poems of Chrétien de Troyes DOUGLAS KELLY 5 Arthurian Adventure or Quixotic "Struggle for Life"? A Reading of Some Gauvain Romances in the First Half of the Thirteenth Century FRIEDRICH WOLFZETTEL 6 Diverging Traditions of Gauvain in Some of the Later Old French Verse Romances KEITH BUSBY 7 The Formation of a Gauvain Cycle in Chantilly Manuscript 472 LORI WALTERS 8 The Character of Gauvain in the Thirteenth-Century Prose Romances FANNI BOGDANOW 9 The Character of Gauvain in the Prose Tristan KEITH BUSBY 10 Gawain Against Arthur: The Impact of a Mythological Pattern upon Arthurian Tradition in Accounts of the Birth of Gawain RAYMOND H. THOMPSON 11 Crisis and Triumph in the World of Medieval Knighthood and Chivalry: Gawan in Wolfram von EschenbachÆs Parzival ALBRECHT CLASSEN 12 Gauvain as Lover in the Middle Dutch Verse Romance Walewein BART BESAMUSCA 13 The Transformation of the Figure of Gauvain in Italy MARIE-JOSÉ HEIJKANT 14 Middle English Arthurian Romance: The Repetition and Reputation of Gawain PHILLIP C. BOARDMAN 15 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: The Poet's Treatment of the Hero and his Adventure W.A. DAVENPORT 16 Gawain and Heroic Knighthood in Malory BEVERLY KENNEDY 17 Gawain in Post-Medieval English Literature RAYMOND H. THOMPSON 18 Sir Gawaine at Liberty Castle: Thomas Berger's Comic Didacticism in Arthur Rex: A Legendary Novel KLAUS P. JANOFSKY 19 Sir Gawain in Films DAVID J. WILLIAMS Proper Name Index Introduction RAYMOND H. THOMPSON AND KEITH BUSBY More than that of any other knight of the Round Table, the reputation of Gawain, King ArthurÆs favorite nephew, has fluctuated through the extremes of heroism and villainy. The earliest accounts in the chronicles portray him as a mighty warrior who serves his uncle valiantly in battle. When he first appears in French romance during the twelfth century, most notably the poems of Chrétien de Troyes, he is distinguished by his courtesy and sens (discretion) as well as valor, but his reputation suffers from two developments: in the verse romances, he becomes the object of generally affectionate humor and irony as the poets take advantage of his idealism to place him in embarrassing situations; much more damaging, however, is his decline in the prose romances where his shortcomings, particularly vengefulness, are contrasted, with increasing severity, to the virtues of newer heroes like Lancelot and Tristan, Galahad and Perceval, and he reaches his nadir in the Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal and the Prose Tristan. As the Arthurian legend spread throughout Europe, French romance provided models for fresh creative endeavor. Where verse was most influential, as in Dutch and German, Gawain remains an admirable figure, but where the prose romances proved more popular, as in Spanish and Portuguese, his reputation suffers (Italian seems to be an exception); in English, he is treated favorably for the most part, and he is the attractive, if imperfect, hero of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the greatest works of Arthurian literature. Unfortunately for Gawain, Sir Thomas Malory chose the prose romances as the basis of his Morte Darthur, which was to prove the most influential version of Arthurian legend for later English authors, including Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and T.H. White. Greater awareness of other sources has, however, yielded more positive portrayals. Thus in an AuthorÆs Note, Gerald Morris observes, ôGawain was still around in the French stories, but he was portrayed as a rude and blustering fellow with few morals and even fewer manners. This is all nonsense, of course. To those of us who have met the courageous, courteous, and humble hero of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain will always be the perfect knight.ö This is a tribute to the power, not only of a great work of literature, but of the virtues that have, through the ages, attached themselves to this hero. They provide a welcome balance to the ignominy heaped upon him in the prose tradition. Chronicle The chronicles are impressive for fidelity to their ultimate source, the Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain, 1136) by Geoffrey of Monmouth, which was widely accepted as factual despite some reservations. Since details added by later chroniclers are few and unimportant, GeoffreyÆs outline of GawainÆs career remains unchanged, although the attitude towards these events may vary. The first mention of Gawain in the chronicles does, however, predate Geoffrey. In his Gesta Regum Anglorum (Deeds of the Kings of the English, ca. 1125), William of Malmesbury describes the discovery of GawainÆs tomb: Tunc in provincia Walarum, quae Ros vocatur, inventum est sepulchrum Walwen, qui fuit haud degener Arturis ex sorore nepos. Regnavit in ea parte Britanniae quae adhuc Walweitha vocatur: miles virtute nominatissimus, sed a fratre et nepote Hengestii, de quibus in primo libro dixi, regno expulsus, prius multo eorum detrimento exilium compensans suum; communicans merito laudi avunculi, quod ruentes patriae casum in plures annos distulerint. Sed Arturis sepulchrum nusquam visitur, unde antiquitatis naeniarum adhuc eum venturum fabulatur. Ceterum, alterius bustum, ut praemisi, tempore Willelmi regis repertum est supra oram maris, quatuordecim pedes longum; ubi a quibusdam asseritur ab hostibus vulneratus, et naufragio eiectus; a quibusdam dicitur a civibus in publico epulo interfectus. Veritatis ergo notitia labat in dubio, licet neuter eorum defuerit famae suae patrocinio. At this time was found in the province of Wales called R(h)os the tomb of Walwen, who was the not degenerate nephew of Arthur by his sister. He reigned in that part of Britain which is still called Walweitha. A warrior most renowned for his valour, he was expelled from his kingdom by the brother and nephew of Hengist, of whom I spoke in the first book, but not until he had compensated for his exile by much damage wrought upon them, worthily sharing in the praise of his uncle, in that they deferred for many years the ruin of their falling country. But the tomb of Arthur is nowhere to be beheld, whence ancient ditties fable that he is yet to come. The tomb of the other, however, as I have said, was found in the time of king William upon the sea-shore, fourteen feet in length; and here some say that he was wounded by his foes and cast out in a shipwreck, but according to others he was killed by his fellow-citizens at a public banquet. Knowledge of the truth therefore remains doubtful, although neither story would be inconsistent with the defence of his fame. Walweitha has been identified as Galloway in Scotland, and on the basis of this entry and other evidence, Rachel Bromwich argues that the figure of Gawain ôbelonged originally to north Britain.ö GawainÆs reputation for valor is given greater substance by Geoffrey, who provides the first extended account of ArthurÆs reign. Gawain and Mordred are the children of Loth and Anna, ArthurÆs sister. Arthur restores Loth to the dukedom of Lothian and later raises him to the throne of Norway. Raised as a youth in the PopeÆs household, Gawain distinguishes himself in the war against the Romans during both the embassy to the Roman camp and the main battle, and Geoffrey proclaims that he and Hoel are the two finest knights, unsurpassed in later ages. The Britons win the day and are advancing on Rome when they learn that Mordred has usurped the throne and is living adulterously with the queen. They return to Britain, but when they land suffer heavy losses, among them Gawain. Arthur pursues Mordred into Cornwall where he slays him, but he receives his own death wound and is borne to the Isle of Avalon to be healed. Later chronicles add only minor details to this account of GawainÆs career. In Pierre de LangtoftÆs Chronicle, written in Anglo-Norman around 1300, he assists his father to the throne of Norway, whereas in earlier accounts he is a twelve-year-old youth in Rome at this time. It also notes that the Roman emperorÆs death is attributed to Gawain and that Arthur sends his nephewÆs body to Wales, possibly influenced by William of MalmesburyÆs mention of his grave there. In his English verse chronicle The Story of England (1338), Robert Mannyng of Brunne follows Langtoft in these last two instances, but in the Prose Brut, an anonymous thirteenth-century chronicle in Anglo-Norman and in English translation, and in the early fifteenth-century verse Arthur, the body is sent to Scotland. To complicate the issue still further, in the fourteenth-century Myreur des Histors (Mirror of History) Jean de Preis claims that Gawain accompanies Arthur to Avalon. In Le Roman de Brut (1135), Wace introduces a more courtly tone that accounts for GawainÆs appreciation of the social graces during his speech in praise of peace: ôMolt sont bones les gaberies E bones sont les drueries. Por amistiez por amies Font chevalier chevaleries.ö (vv. 2221-24) ôDelightful are pleasant conversation and the love of ladies. For love and for their ladies do knights perform deeds of chivalry.ö Wace praises GawainÆs humility (v. 1318) and courtesy (v. 4203), but when he adds scenes that show him in action, like his defeat of MarcelÆs cousin, it is valor that they demonstrate. He also strengthens the bond between Gawain and Arthur: not only does he note in one manuscript how the former strives to serve his uncle, but in all versions he comments upon the latterÆs grief over his nephewÆs death, ôCar il nÆamoit nul home tantö (for he loved no man so much, v. 4536). WaceÆs chronicle was adapted into English alliterative verse in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century by Layamon, who abandons the courtly tone of his source. Thus while he retains GawainÆs speech in praise of peace, he eliminates all reference to love in favor of the more general ôgode workes.ö He too commends the heroÆs virtues, especially valor and liberality, and he places still greater emphasis upon the love between Arthur and his sisterÆs son. Indeed so enraged is Gawain at MordredÆs betrayal of his uncle that he vows to hang his brother and use horses to draw the queen in pieces (vv. 28,207-17), a threat in keeping with the savagery displayed by Arthur and his warriors throughout the chronicle. Despite reference to virtues like humility, courtesy, and liberality, neither Wace nor Layamon offer Gawain any more opportunity to demonstrate them than do the other chroniclers. Instead it is his valor that we witness in the course of ArthurÆs wars against his enemies, and if his actions seem savage and cruel by modern standards, they are no different in that respect from those of Arthur and his other followers, all of whom view him with admiration and love. Even the Scottish chronicles exempt Gawain from the criticism that they level at Arthur in their warning against English imperialist ambitions. Indeed Gawain is treated with unfailing respect in all the chronicles save one: among the manuscripts collected in the Chroniques dÆAnjou is the Liber de Compositione Castri Ambaziae (ca. 1140), and here his ôimpetus et stultitiaö (impulsiveness and folly) are held responsible for ArthurÆs losses in battle against the Romans. This one exception, however, serves to make all the more impressive the otherwise universal chorus of approval for his conduct in the chronicles. French Tales concerning Arthur and Gawain were apparently circulating in France before the first appearance of the latter in Geoffrey of Monmouth and Wace. Evidence from allusions in the poetry of the Occitan (Provençal) troubadours and from onomastics suggests that the Gawain of French romance may have been constructed from a character of oral tradition, many of whose features and associated tales were gradually melded with the figure of the chronicle tradition. How these tales of undoubted Celtic origin actually circulated on the Continent is unclear, although at least one multilingual storyteller from Wales is thought to have visited William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitiers, the earliest known troubadour, in the eleventh century. The tales might have spread thence south to greater Occitania and north to the domain of the langue dÆoïl. It is unlikely that the case is isolated nor that this was the only means of transmission, for one can hardly discount the role played by the Normans and their descendants. They were after all the only people whose language was common to the entire area: from Ireland in the west, through much of Wales and England, to most of France as far east as Lorraine. When Gawain appears as Gauvain (or Gavain and variants) in the romances of Chrétien de Troyes, he is hardly recognizable as the same character from Geoffrey and Wace. WaceÆs addition to his speech noted above, in which Gawain underlines the relationship between love and chivalry, is surely significant and probably inspired by knowledge of the oral tradition, to which he famously alludes when he speaks of the events of the Breton fables which took place during the pax Arthuriana. As in so many areas of romance, Chrétien sets the tone for the subsequent evolution of the character of Gawain in Old French. He is ArthurÆs closest advisor and, in the absence of a son, his apparent heir and successor. The relationship between Arthur and Gawain is one of mutual dependence: Gawain advises Arthur, even upbraids him when he believes the king has made an error of judgment, while Arthur for his part exhibits concern for his nephew and protects and supports him where necessary. Structurally, in ChrétienÆs romances, Gawain functions as a foil for the heroes (Erec, Cligés, Yvain, Lancelot, and Perceval), whose achievements are measured against his own, and who are ultimately destined to surpass him, although the comparisons are rarely odious before Perceval. Certainly, his judgments are questioned, but the point of having a hero equal and then surpass him would be rather senseless if he were openly and continually mocked. Chrétien never accords Gawain the status of hero proper, even in Lancelot and Perceval, where the number of lines allotted to him is considerable. This is undoubtedly part of ChrétienÆs questioning of the courtly-chivalric ideal, for what better way to do so than by critically examining its foremost representative, Gawain? What Chrétien appears to be saying by his presentation of Gawain is that a code of behavior, as ideally and well-intentioned as it might be implemented, is inadequate in the final instance unless it is applied with thought, forethought, and genuine humanity. In his first four romances, Chrétien seems to present Gawain in an ironic, but generally positive, light, which suggests a fondness for the character on his part and on that of his intended audiences. In Erec et Enide, Chrétien tells us that ôDevant toz les buens chevaliers / Doit estre Gauvains li premiersö (Before all good knights, Gawain must rank first), and in Cligés, the hero is a blood relative of his. Close readings of these two romances may already offer hints of criticism on ChrétienÆs part, but it is with Yvain and Lancelot (written more or less contemporaneously, it appears) that we begin to notice real signs of questioning the Arthurian ideal as embodied in Gawain. The latterÆs advice to Yvain on love and marriage turns out to have disastrous consequences, and he appears to champion an unjust cause which leads him into a single combat against the hero, interrupted only by a ruse of ArthurÆs. In Lancelot, GawainÆs quest for the abducted Guenevere fails where LancelotÆs succeeds (for obvious narrative reasons), the implication being here and in Yvain that Gawain cannot be a hero because his understanding of the mutual relationship between knighthood and love (which he had appeared to appreciate in WaceÆs Brut) is deficient. More significant, perhaps, for ChrétienÆs final romance and for the post-Chrétien romances, verse and prose, Grail and non-Grail, is the related matter of GawainÆs not having a single, true love to provide him with the inspiration required of a true hero. There is no Enide to his Erec, no Fenice to his Cligés, no Laudine to his Yvain, no Guenevere to his Lancelot, and no Blanchefleur to his Perceval. Behind this good man stands no good woman. The introduction into Arthurian romance of the Grail theme, by Chrétien in Perceval, his last unfinished romance, had considerable ramifications for his presentation of Gawain. Whereas in the four early romances, the yardsticks had been by and large worldly, the final test in Perceval appears to be spiritual. The parallel quest structure seen in germ in Lancelot is made the very basis of the bifurcated adventures of the Grail romance. The development of Perceval, from country lad, through knight and lover, to a person in possession of all the necessary qualities and knowledge to succeed in a second visit to the Grail Castle, stands in direct and bleak contrast to the circular movement of Gawain. Courteous as ever, Gawain is in Perceval subject to accusations of murder and treason (possibly founded), mocked as a horse-dealer and coward, sent off on impossible quests, and involved in several amorous liaisons of a doubtful nature. The Gawain of Perceval and the values he represents are seen as sterile and incapable of dealing with the more spiritual side of human existence. It should be pointed out here that Perceval has been subject to the most extraordinary variety of interpretations and the character of Gawain adjudged variously. Whether it was ChrétienÆs intent to condemn as totally inadequate Arthurian knighthood and courtesy is a moot question, but there seems little doubt that his presentation of Gawain leans towards the negative rather than the positive. Despite many shared characteristics, the evident differences between ChrétienÆs first four romances and his last one were clearly perceived by medieval authors and audiences, and resulted in a dual romance track as it were, further enabled by the unfinished nature of Perceval. Failures at the Grail Castle, lascivious encounters, fantastic adventures, and a sustained contrast with Perceval--by means of constant linking back to ChrétienÆs founding romance and switching of heroes--consolidates the judgment of Gawain as second-best. Yet authors of the four Continuations of Perceval (the anonymous Continuation-Gauvain and Continuation-Perceval, and those by Gerbert de Montreuil and Manessier) remain fascinated by the narrative potential of a figure whose traits are both fixed (brave knight, womanizer, nephew of Arthur, symbol and representative of the court, and so on) and capable of generating almost infinite stories. It should be noted that Gawain is never killed off in romance before La mort le roi Artu, for to have done so would have been to deprive authors of a valued source of material. The religious nature of this complex set of continuations, which contain some of the most imaginative storytelling in the whole corpus of Arthurian romance, becomes more pronounced by the third decade of the thirteenth century, when Gerbert de Montreuil and Manessier write independently of one another but probably both with a knowledge of some of the early prose romances. The negative view of Gawain gradually becomes more pronounced. The other romance track in the early post-Chrétien period is that of emulation (but not slavish imitation) of the masterÆs early romance by authors now generally known as the Chrétien epigones. In point of fact, the first two decades after ChrétienÆs death (assuming Gerbert de Montreuil is telling the truth) produce no episodic non-Grail verse romances, perhaps because authors are hesitant to expose themselves to comparison with the master. The earliest of the epigonal romances is probably Le bel inconnu by Renaut de Beaujeu (Bâgé), which dates from before the end of the twelfth century. This text is significant for our purposes not only because Gawain features in it, but because its hero, Guinglain, is the son of Gawain and Blanchemal the Fée. Here is another means of exploiting the popularity of a romance character: relating the achievements of his offspring (other possibilities are to relate boyhood deeds [there is a fragmentary Enfances Gauvain], or the history of parents). The general tenor of the epigonal romances, of which there are some twenty, is ironic and parodic, and the character of Gawain is treated accordingly, though generally without malice. In some, however, he is involved in adventures that lead to scenes of broad comedy verging on the obscenity of the fabliaux. Notable among these romances, study of which was revived beginning in the 1980s, are the short Le chevalier à lÆépée and La mule sans frein (the latter by ôPaien de Maisières,ö punning on Chrétien de Troyes?); full-length works such as LÆatre périlleux, La vengeance Raguidel, Meraugis de Portlesguez (the last by Raoul de Houdenc), in which Gawain plays a major role; and others, such as Fergus (by Guillaume le Clerc), Yder, and Hunbaut, where his role is less important, albeit still significant. There is one romance in Occitan (with Catalan features), clearly responding parodically to ChrétienÆs £uvre, that falls into this category, namely Jaufre (ca. 1210?), which demonstrates that the meridional author understood the northern Gawain in the same spirit as the northern epigones. Some of the last French verse romances, such as Le chevalier aux deux épées (Meriadeuc), Les merveilles de Rigomer, Escanor (by Girard dÆAmiens) and Claris et Laris, are quite prolix, much longer than average (some 12000, 17000, 26000 and 30000 lines respectively, compared with the usual 6000-7000). It seems clear that these later romances (all post 1240) are written with knowledge of, and influenced by, the great prose cycles, and their structure and their presentation of Gawain owe much to them. The long and extraordinary prose romance of Perlesvaus draws for its presentation of Gawain mainly on the verse tradition, underlining his great valor (sometimes put to doubtful use) and reputation as a womanizer. Ultimately, his chivalry, courtesy, and amorous proclivities add up to a kind of impotence which humiliates him and bars him from the Grail Castle. The Perlesvaus (early thirteenth century) and the Didot-Perceval (ca. 1200) in many ways anticipate the great Lancelot-Graal (Vulgate) cycle (ca. 1225-30) in its presentation of Gawain. Analysis of the Gawain of the Lancelot-Graal is made particularly complicated by its multiple authorship and spirit. The prose Lancelot is still largely secular in nature, and its Gawain is still the great but flawed knight destined never to achieve the distinction of Lancelot; the Cistercian-inspired Queste del saint Graal, by contrast, roundly condemns GawainÆs knightly and courtly activities as sinful; La mort le roi Artu returns to a degree to the secular inspiration of the Lancelot, but the tragic end of ArthurÆs kingdom is seen as resulting from irresolvable conflicts generated by the kind of values Gawain represents. Chronologically, the next major prose romance is the Prose Tristan and its derivatives (Meliadus de Loenois, Guiron le courtois, Palamède, etc.), dating from the 1230s onward. If the Vulgate Queste had condemned Gawain for his vices when compared to the saintly virtues of Galahad, Perceval, and Bors, the Tristan degrades his character even further, showing him as the intemperate and spiteful leader of a clan set up in opposition to the Grail lineage. Here Gawain openly commits rape and murder, and his deeds are roundly condemned by the other characters (including his own brothers) and by the narrator. For the first time, we encounter a Gawain presented in an entirely unsympathetic light. The degradation is complete and it makes even more remarkable his restoration in medieval English and Dutch literatures. The so-called Post-Vulgate cycle, combining elements and texts from the Vulgate cycle and Tristan romances, generally speaking presents a negative image of Gawain. Chrétien created a Gawain with features that were to become fixed in later romance, some of which were to be developed in directions he may never have envisaged. The advantage (and sometimes disadvantage) for authors was that they did not have to create a new character: Gawain came with a whole corpus of adventures and resulting reputation attached. Within these limits, he could be used and his features tweaked to whatever end an author had in view. The major limitation, however, was that, despite a few efforts to the contrary, the character of Gawain could not be made into the kind of hero who underwent a crisis, resolved it, and emerged a wiser and better man. For this reason, he was doomed to remain in French romance a major part of the Arthurian backdrop, indispensable, useful, and largely predictable. Italian and Iberian In Italy the history of Arthurian romance, and consequently of the figure of Gawain, is one of reception of the French prose tradition. Many manuscripts of the Lancelot-Graal and Prose Tristan (and derivatives) were actually copied in Italy in the fourteenth century, and their Gawain is identical, of course, to the French Gawain of the prose tradition. The same is true of Italian texts derived directly from the French prose romances, such as the Tristano Riccardiano and the Tristano Panciatichiano, although Marie-José Heijkant argues in her contribution to this casebook that pro-Gawain tendencies emerge, albeit for different reasons, in Italy just as they do in England and the Lowlands. In the Iberian peninsula, as in Italy, there is little penetration of the Chrétien and post-Chrétien verse tradition: reception in the form of translations and adaptations of French prose romances of the Vulgate, Post-Vulgate, and Tristan cycles are the major witnesses in Castilian, Catalan, and Portuguese. If Jaufre is to be associated with Catalonia as well as regions north of the Pyrenees, then its Gawain must also be part of the Iberian tradition; there are wall paintings depicting it in Saragossa, and a late adaptation, the Tablante de Ricamonte, was known to Cervantes. This would be a unique testimony to the reach of Chrétien de Troyes in the peninsula. Indeed, despite some evident exceptions, medieval Spain and Portugal seem to have been perhaps the least receptive of all regions in Europe to French literature. It is in any case clear that geographical proximity is not a guarantor of influence, rather that cultural conditions make particular situations receptive in varying degrees to the irradiation of French romance. If Gawain was known to readers of the two peninsulæ largely through French prose romance, the evidence from the Modena Archivolt (1120-40) and from proper names suggests the circulation of oral tales concerning Gawain and others before Geoffrey of Monmouth in Italy and a little later in Iberia. A Galvam in Portugal from 1208 (presumably born at least two decades earlier) could possibly have been named after ChrétienÆs character, but this seems unlikely, and it is in any case too early to argue for the influence of the prose romances. Germanic (German, Dutch, and Scandinavian) The presentation of Gawain in Middle High German literature takes its cue, as it does in other literatures, from Chrétien de Troyes. The adaptations of the latterÆs Erec et Enide and Yvain as Erec and Iwein by Hartmann von Aue, and of Perceval in Wolfram von EschenbachÆs Parzival, constitute a major part of the corpus of classical medieval German romance, and as such set the tone for the further development of the figure in Middle High German. The first appearance of Gawain in Middle High German, however, may have been in Ulrich von ZatzikhovenÆs Lanzelet (between 1194 and 1205), since its author claims that it is based upon a book brought to Germany by Hugh de Morville. This romance contains an episode in which an interrupted combat between Gawain and the hero may recall an episode in ChrétienÆs Yvain, and which in any case reflects GawainÆs role as a foil to the hero. Despite his many modifications to ChrétienÆs two romances, Hartmann von Aue radically changes neither the character nor the narrative function of Gawain in Erec and Iwein (ca. 1200-5). Wolfram von Eschenbach (å 1217), on the other hand, effects a much more substantial transformation (and completion) of ChrétienÆs Perceval in Parzival, as Albrecht Classen shows in his essay in this casebook. WolframÆs critical stance towards Chrétien in general is reflected in his reworking of the Gawain character. Not only does he free the queens and damsels in Schastel Merveile (ChrétienÆs romance breaks off before this adventure is resolved), but the transposition of Perceval to a transcendent Grail realm does not in Wolfram entail a concomitant mocking and downgrading of Gawain. Gawain remains the best knight, but in the Arthurian world only. A number of ôpost-classicalö Arthurian verse romances in Middle High German treat the adventures of Gawain at some length, in particular Wirnt von GrafenbergÆs Wigalois (1210-15) and Heinrich von dem TürlinÆs Diu Crône (ca. 1230). Although full of standard adventures told at fast pace, Wigalois treats Gawain with respect. As in Le bel inconnu, Gawain has a son, here the eponymous hero, but this time by a legitimate marriage to Florie. Father and son team up together and both excel in socially beneficial adventures, often against supernatural odds, but the absence of a spiritual or Grail dimension essentially requires Wirnt to present an excellent Gawain with an equally excellent and virtuous offspring, even though he still does not achieve the status of central hero. Wigalois (ca. 11, 700 lines) seems to have been enormously popular in medieval Germany, for nearly forty manuscripts survive in complete or fragmentary form. Of all the later German romances, however, the most interesting and significant in this context is Heinrich von dem TürlinÆs Diu Crône (more than 30,000 lines), in which Gawain is, exceptionally, the main hero. HeinrichÆs sources are many and varied, both French and German (Chrétien, the Continuations, Ulrich von Zatzikhoven, Hartmann, and Wolfram), but his critical assessment of ParzivalÆs failure, which may be directed at Chrétien and Wolfram, is largely expressed by the elevation to the rank of best knight in the world of Gawain, achiever of a kind of secularized Grail. Yet in Diu Crône, as in the other romances which portray Gawain favorably, he undergoes neither evolution nor crisis like an Erec, an Yvain, a Lancelot, or a Perceval. Rather than conclude that he is not a hero, we may rather suggest that he is a different kind, one with a preformed character. Perhaps the most extraordinary and widespread rehabilitation of Gawain in the Germanic domain is found in Middle Dutch literature, especially in those romances not directly derived from existing French works. In these latter, certain adjustments are nevertheless made to the character of Gawain, such as making him more of a courtly lover in Die Wrake van Ragisel (an adaptation of La vengeance Raguidel), or a general idealization in the various versions of the Vulgate Cycle; but it is in the ôoriginalö Dutch romances that we encounter the most accomplished Gawain of all. In a number of Dutch romances, Gawain (Walewein) is referred to as ôder avonturen vaderö (father of adventures), and this epithet endows him with a fundamental role in the creation of the Arthurian world even while it elevates him and his adventures to the status of a classic paradigm of the romance hero. Romances such as Walewein ende Keye (before 1320), inserted into the so-called Lancelot-Compilatie, and the independent Roman van Walewein by Penninc and Pieter Vostaert (second half of the thirteenth century), remove all traces of the ironic French treatment of Gawain in their presentation of an excellent knight capable of achieving the most demanding adventures. Most traces of the scurrilous skirt-chaser are also excised in the Dutch tradition, in which Gawain is transformed into a faithful lover (to one Ysabele, for example, in the Roman van Walewein). Since it is clear that the Dutch authors and audiences were familiar with the details of the French romance tradition, in part by virtue of French-Dutch bilingualism in certain courts of the Lowlands, it seems equally clear that we are dealing with a conscious response to French romance, a kind of dialogue between the two, as it were. This dialogue essentially defines the relationship between the seminal French Arthurian romances and the cultures which received and transformed them, and the corpus of romances in each language (Italian, Spanish, Catalan, Occitan, German, Dutch, the Scandinavian languages, Welsh, and English) presents a distinct variant or variants of the figure of Gawain. Once more proving that geographical proximity is not necessarily a factor in the receptivity towards French literature, a considerable number of Arthurian romances survive in Old Norse-Old Icelandic, and one version of the Yvain story in Swedish (Ivan Lejonriddaren, 1303). This is not the place for a survey of the Scandinavian Arthurian romances, and for the present purposes it will suffice to note the existence of adaptations of Erec et Enide and Yvain, and, more significantly, of Perceval (all dating from the mid-thirteenth century, probably from the reign of King H kon H konarson of Norway (r. 1217-63). Generally speaking, the increased power accorded the female characters has repercussions on the male figures, including Gawain. Particularly significant is the adaptation of Perceval as two separate romances, Parcevals saga and Valvens Þ ttr: the latter begins as ChrétienÆs narrative returns to Gawain and his encounter with the Male Pucelle, just after the Good Friday episode, and it ends, as does Chrétien, with Gawain sending for Arthur to come to the Castle of Marvels. GawainÆs status is enhanced by the bisection of ChrétienÆs romance and the consequent dissociation from the Grail theme, where he is compared so disadvantageously to Perceval. Welsh As Gwalchmai son of Gwyar, Gawain figures in several of the Welsh Triads, the tale of Culhwch and Olwen, and three romances that tell stories found in the poems of Chrétien de Troyes. Roger Sherman Loomis has argued that GawainÆs Welsh prototype is not Gwalchmai but Gwri Gwallteuryn (Gwri Golden Hair), more commonly referred to as Pryderi, the son of Pwyll, in the pre-Arthurian Four Branches of the Mabinogi, but his hypothesis has not won wide acceptance. GwalchmaiÆs name means ôhawk of the plain(s)ö or perhaps ôof May,ö and in Culhwch and Olwen we are told that ôhe never came home without the quest he had gone seeking. He was the best on foot and the best on horseback. He was ArthurÆs nephew, his sisterÆs son, and his first cousin.ö Despite this promising introduction, however, he plays no independent role in the tale, which suggests that the passage may be a later interpolation. The triads were used ôas a means of putting the materials of heroic story into catalogue form,ö but dating is problematic since the manuscripts in which the texts are preserved all were copied after the twelfth century. This makes it difficult to distinguish earlier native tradition from the contamination of later continental influence. Gwalchmai appears in the oldest collection that mentions Arthur, the Peniarth MS. 16, which lists ôGwalchmai son of Gwyarö among the ôThree Well-Endowed Men of the Island of Britain.ö He is also found in three later triads: ôSlender-Hard [Meingalet], horse of Gwalchmaiö is one of the ôThree Bestowed Horses of the Island of Britainö (p. 120); ôGwalchmai son of Gwyarö is one of the ôThree Men of the Island of Britain who were most courteous to Guests and Strangersö (p.195); and one of the ôThree Fearless Men of the Island of Britainö (p. 219). Among the ôThree Golden-Tongued Knightsö in ArthurÆs court is ôGwalchmai son of Llew son of Cynfarch . . . .and there was neither king nor lord to whom those came who did not listen to them; and whatever quest they sought, they wished for and obtained it, either willingly or unwillinglyö (p. 252). Gwalchmai effectively demonstrates this eloquence by helping Arthur make peace between Trystan and March in the late medieval Ystorya Trystan. The three Welsh romances provide versions of stories told by Chrétien de Troyes: Geraint Son of Erbin-Erec et Enide, Owain (The Lady of the Fountain)-Yvain, and Peredur Son of Efrawg-Perceval. Despite variation in detail, all three follow the narrative outline found in the French poems, and Gwalchmai plays a similar role in each. Yet while he remains the most courteous knight in ArthurÆs court, he is much readier to fight than in the French versions. Thus in Geraint he jousts with the wounded protagonist before recognizing and artfully luring him to ArthurÆs pavilion; in Owain he engages in combat with the protagonist for three days, before mutual recognition leads to a contest in politeness as each proclaims the other victor. He is given more opportunity to demonstrate his courtesy in Peredur, however, for not only does he persuade the hero to accompany him to ArthurÆs court after Kay and his companions have been unhorsed for their rudeness, but in two of the manuscripts he takes the role of friend and helper which in the other manuscripts is played by Owain. The increased emphasis upon GwalchmaiÆs prowess is in keeping with the marked preference for action over words in the Welsh romances. Some of the differences also eliminate hints of criticism found in ChrétienÆs versions. Gwalchmai does not fight Owain to support a damselÆs dubious claim to a larger share of her inheritance, and it is not he but Arthur who persuades the protagonist to leave his wife for a year; and the reduction of his adventures in Peredur removes any hint of an unfavorable contrast with the protagonist who is, in any case, involved with far more women than is Gwalchmai. In Welsh tradition, thus, Gwalchmai emerges as an admirable figure, noted both for his eloquence and for his skill as a warrior. English As a consequence of the cultural and linguistic upheaval caused by the Norman Invasion, romances in English are later in date and fewer in number than their French counterparts. Many are based upon French sources, and even those for which none has been found are indebted for familiar motifs, such as the contrast between the courtesy of Gawain and the surliness of Kay. As a result, the presentation of Gawain is strongly influenced by the choice of source, since French verse romance is usually more favorable to the hero than prose. Nonetheless, the English romances were clearly aimed at an audience with different tastes from their models, and this is reflected by their choice, not only of source, but of what material within it to include and what to leave out. This process of selection most often benefits GawainÆs reputation, prompting one scholar to speak of ôthe hagiology of Gawain.ö Among the English romances that are based upon French verse romances are a number, all dating from the earlier part of the fourteenth century, in which Gawain plays a minor role as the true friend to the young hero: Sir Percyvell of Gales, which is based upon ChrétienÆs Perceval, and Thomas ChestreÆs Sir Launfal and the other adaptations into English of Marie de FranceÆs Lanval. In Lybeaus Desconus, which corresponds to the first part of Le Bel Inconnu by Renaud de Beaujeu, he is the heroÆs father. He plays a larger role in Ywain and Gawain, which is based upon ChrétienÆs Yvain: here too he is a close friend and valiant knight, though his advice proves less helpful than intended. These poems praise him as the foremost knight at ArthurÆs court, and his friendship/paternity is valued as a mark of distinction. In the remaining romances that draw upon French verse for their story or motifs, Gawain is the central hero. Foremost among them is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which is dated in the late fourteenth century. It combines the motifs of the Beheading Game and Chastity Test so that the outcome of the former is made dependent upon the latter. The poem has attracted more admiration and scholarly attention than any other English Arthurian work, but this attention, paradoxically, has had a mixed impact upon GawainÆs reputation, for although the hero performs remarkably well under severely trying circumstances, in the final analysis he is found wanting. In explaining his failure, scholars have found fault with virtually every aspect of his conduct, from undertaking the Green KnightÆs challenge to play the Beheading Game without fully considering the consequences, to lying idly in bed while his host engages in the rigors of the hunt, from failing to mention in the confessional that he intends to keep the Green Girdle in violation of his promise, to relying upon it rather than the Virgin Mary to preserve his life, from overreacting when he confesses his fault, to absurd petulance in his outburst against the wiles of women. As if the damage were not enough, some even evoke his sins in French romance to detect a sinister sensuality in his response to the hostess. By retaining the girdle, Gawain has clearly ôlakked a lyttelö (lacked a little, v. 2366), but only when judged by ôa humanly unattainable standard of perfectionö (Spearing, The Gawain-Poet, p. 228). Perfection may be expected of the hero of romance, who conventionally commits an error after initial success, then wins forgiveness by a series of good deeds, as in the poems of Chrétien. By taking us inside GawainÆs mind, however, sharing his thoughts and fears as the poem progresses, the Gawain-Poet shifts from what Northrop Frye terms the romance mode to the low mimetic mode: no longer ôsuperior in degree to other men and to his environment,ö the hero becomes ôone of us: we respond to a sense of his common humanity.ö Gawain affirms his humanity and wins our sympathy as we watch him struggle against the many trials set in his path: it is not, after all, his choice to rest in bed while his host goes hunting; nor does a young man facing imminent death need to be ôa notorious philandererö (Barron, ôSir Gawain and the Green Knight,ö p. 170) to be aroused by the determined efforts of his beautiful hostess to seduce him. Unlike the Green Knight, Gawain is not superhuman--as he wryly observes, if his head is cut off, he ôcon not hit restoreö (cannot restore it, v.2283)--and by human standards, as the Green Knight acknowledges, he has proved himself ôOn þe fautlest freke þat euer on fote ?ede; As perle bi þe quite pese is of prys more, So is Gawayn, in god faith, bi oþer gay kny?tez.ö (vv. 2363-65) ôThe most faultless man who ever lived; as pearl beside white peas is of greater value, so is Gawain, in good faith, beside other gallant knights.ö That he takes failure so hard is because he has tried so hard to maintain his chivalric ideals. It is this idealism that enables him to achieve so much against almost impossible odds. The poem reminds us not only that perfection is beyond our grasp, but also that we can achieve so much more if we nonetheless strive to attain it. Though few attain GawainÆs insight into the ôfaut and þe fayntyse of þe flesche crabbed, / How tender hit is to entyse teches of fylþeö (faultiness and the frailty of the perverse flesh, how liable it is to catch the stains of sin, vv. 2435-36), this reminder of human fallibility is a persistent theme throughout the remaining English romances, which are dated in or around the fifteenth century. Three of the poems offer a criticism of pride of conquest, and although it is aimed primarily at Arthur, it also encompasses Gawain as his surrogate. Although the Alliterative Morte Arthure (1399-1402) is based upon the chronicles rather than verse romance, it is convenient to consider it in this group because of its concern with conquest. Pride is a quality that marks all epic heroes and drives them to great achievements, yet it exacts a cost in human lives as Arthur comes to realize. Gawain is the foremost exemplar of the fierce warriors whose valor wins victory after victory for their king. During the embassy to the Roman camp, the encounter with Priamus, and the landing in Britain, he displays the valor, generosity, and loyalty to Arthur that win the love and admiration of all, even his foes. Unfortunately, the vengeful fury he feels against his brother Mordred for betraying his beloved uncle drives him to a last desperate assault against hopeless odds, and he and his men are overwhelmed. His passing leads to three eulogies: by the poet himself, who sadly observes, ôthus sir Gawayne es gonn, the gude man of armes, / Withowttyn reschewe of renke, and rewthe is þe moreö (thus sir Gawain is gone, the good man-at-arms, without rescue of man, and more is the pity, vv. 3858-59); by the remorseful Mordred who extols him as ôthe graciouseste gome that vndire God lyffedeö (the most honorable man who ever lived, v. 3877); and, loudest of all, by Arthur who laments, ôÞou was worthy to be kynge, þofe I corown bareö (you were worthy to be king, though I bore the crown, v. 3962). Gawain is guilty of misjudgment when he leads his men in the final assault, but he fails as an impetuous leader, not a magnificent warrior. As such it serves as a comment upon ArthurÆs own failure in leadership: ôHe es sakles, supprysede for syn of myn oneö (He is guiltless, overcome because of my own sin, v. 3986). In The Awntyrs off Arthure, the ghost of GuinevereÆs mother offers a dire warning against pride: of her daughter who is too fond of luxury, and of her son-in-law, who is ôto couetousö for conquest (v. 265). Although GawainÆs motives in accompanying Guinevere to the secluded spot where the ghost appears have aroused the suspicion of some scholars, and although his response to GaleronÆs challenge strikes a fiercely aggressive note, his valor, loyalty to Arthur, and generosity to his defeated opponent confirm his heroic stature. He demonstrates the same qualities in Golagros and Gawane, another poem that criticizes ArthurÆs craving for conquest. Written in Lowland Scots, the poem is based upon GawainÆs encounter with the Riche Soudoier in the First Continuation (Continuation-Gauvain) of ChrétienÆs Perceval, but whereas the Riche Soudoier refuses to surrender lest the shock kill his mistress, Golagros believes that his responsibilities as a ruler do not leave him free to accept ArthurÆs overlordship without consulting the will of his people. Gawain magnanimously agrees to pretend that he has been defeated in combat, so that these problems may be resolved without the death of a valiant foe. He emerges with less distinction, however, from The Jeaste of Syr Gawayne, which is also based upon an episode in the same Continuation of ChrétienÆs Perceval. Both tell how Gawain seduces a maiden he finds in a tent, and then fights her father and brothers. Events culminate in an inglorious conclusion as the combatants painfully hobble homewards on foot, while the damsel is soundly beaten by her brother. The best that can be said for Gawain is that he behaves better than the other figures. The remaining romances in which Gawain is the central hero belong to a category that Gillian Rogers calls Folk Romance, and many are collected as ballads in Bishop PercyÆs Folio Manuscript: The Grene Knight, The Turke and Gowin, two versions of the Carl of Carlisle story, two versions of GawainÆs wedding to Dame Ragnell, The Avowynge of King Arthur, and King Arthur and the King of Cornwall (though his role here is minor). In all, Gawain is spared the criticism that is frequently aimed at Arthur and his court, demonstrating instead a level of valor, loyalty, and courtesy that breaks magical spells of transformation and wins the admiration of all, particularly in the story of his wedding when he agrees to marry a repulsive hag to save ArthurÆs life. As one might expect, Gawain fares less well in works based upon French prose romance, though the selection of material often proves to his benefit. Arthour and Merlin (1350-1400), Henry LovelichÆs Merlin, and the Prose Merlin (both ca. 1450) are all translations of the Vulgate Merlin; Lancelot of the Laik, a Scottish poem from the second half of the fifteenth century, is closely based upon the account of ArthurÆs war against Galehaut in the Vulgate Lancelot. They preserve the picture of Gawain found in their sources: a valiant warrior who serves his uncle loyally in the wars against his enemies, though in the Scottish poem his efforts are overshadowed by those of Lancelot. The Stanzaic Morte Arthur (fourteenth century) offers a condensed version of the events leading up to the death of Arthur as told in the Vulgate Mort Artu. Sometimes the omissions favor Gawain: he does not, for example, try to woo the Maid of Ascolot as he does in the French romance. At other times they are less helpful: whereas in the Vulgate he reveals what he believes to be LancelotÆs relationship with the Maid only to defend his friend against the charge of treason with the Queen, in the poem he lets the misinformation slip for a less pressing reason, though it does bring comfort to the King. Nevertheless, the poet avoids taking sides in the feud between Lancelot and Gawain. If Gawain is implacable in his desire to avenge the killing of his unarmed brothers, Lancelot for his part has ignored warnings of danger in order to fulfill his desire to be with Guinevere. As a result, Gawain is depicted in positive terms for the most part, his faults balanced by virtues. When he makes his last appearance, to his uncle in a dream, he is accompanied by a large company of lords and ladies on whose behalf he had fought, convincing evidence of the good deeds that he has performed. This even-handedness, unfortunately for him, is abandoned by Sir Thomas Malory who makes Lancelot the hero of Le Morte Darthur (1469-70). Where earlier English writers had drawn their material from those parts of the Vulgate Cycle that viewed Gawain favorably, Malory included among his sources not only the Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal, but also the Prose Tristan and the Post-Vulgate Cycle, all of which portray him in very negative terms. Malory, moreover, modifies his sources so that Gawain appears to even greater disadvantage. Where these are generally favorable to Gawain, like the Alliterative Morte Arthure, which is the basis of the section on ArthurÆs wars with the Romans, and the lost younger-brother story, which is the basis of the tale of Gareth, he reduces GawainÆs role, assigning many of his deeds to Lancelot; where the source is already unfavorable, he often presents Gawain in an even harsher light, notably in his betrayal of Pelleas, his murder of Pellinor and Lamorak, and his insistence upon revenge against Lancelot for the death of Gareth. Although some of these changes are intended to enhance the status of Lancelot, they go far beyond what is needed, and they were to bequeath to succeeding generations of writers a far less attractive figure than is found everywhere else in Middle English literature. English (Renaissance to Nineteenth Century) With the passing of the Middle Ages, interest in Arthurian legend waned dramatically. Prior to the nineteenth century, Gawain appears only three times: in The Misfortunes of Arthur (1587) by Thomas Hughes and in William HiltonÆs Arthur, Monarch of the Britons: a Tragedy (1759), two plays based upon Geoffrey of Monmouth, he emerges as a heroic figure, particularly in the latter; in his burlesque opera ôThe Marriage of Sir Gawaineö (1782), however, John Seally emphasizes his comic predicament. The nineteenth century, however, witnessed the Arthurian Revival, and with it increased attention to Gawain. During the first half of the nineteenth century, he continues to win praise for his courage and courtesy, particularly in Reginald HeberÆs ôFragments of The Masque of Gwendolenö (1816), which retells the story of GawainÆs wedding with Dame Ragnell (here called Gwendolen), and Edward Bulwer-LyttonÆs epic poem King Arthur (1848). Despite his comic misadventures in the latter, he remains a witty and attractive figure. His luck runs out in the second half of the century, however, for Tennyson chose to blacken his reputation even more than did Malory, the prime source for Idylls of the King (1857-85). His conduct is most reprehensible in ôPelleas and Ettarreö (1869), where he betrays the trust of Pelleas by wooing Ettarre for himself, but Tennyson leaves him no redeeming features at all. In ôThe Passing of Arthur,ö even the warning of his ghost is scornfully dismissed by Bedivere: ôLight was Gawain in life, and light in death / Is Gawain for the ghost is as the manö (vv. 56-57). Nor was Tennyson alone in his hostility to Gawain, for William Morris turned this staunch defender of the QueenÆs innocence in medieval accounts into her accuser in ôThe Defence of Guenevereö (1858). During the last decade of the century, he fell foul of no fewer than three playwrights: in ôThe Marriage of Guenevere: A Tragedyö (1892), Richard Hovey demonstrates his lustful nature, even at the age of sixteen, when he accompanies his mother to ArthurÆs court; in Mordred (1893), Wilfred Campbell blames the fall of the Round Table upon his vengefulness; and in Mordred: A Tragedy (1895), Henry Newbolt turns this most loyal of knights into a supporter of MordredÆs rebellion against Arthur. The century thus closed for Gawain on a very low note indeed. English (Twentieth Century) The twentieth century witnessed major shifts in the forms in which Arthurian legend is presented. Plays dwindled in prominence if not in number, to be replaced by films and television presentations; longer poems became rarer, though short verse and sequences continued to appear in the pages of the many magazines that published poetry; prose fiction in the form of novels and short stories, meanwhile, proliferated to achieve a position of dominance. In the process, it developed in a variety of genres, the most important of which, for Arthurian legend, were fantasy and historical fiction. Fiction aimed primarily at younger readers and comics grew in popularity and, like role-playing games and film, exercised an ever-growing influence over new generations of readers. Gawain figures in a number of plays and musical dramas. He is at his worst in Edwin RoyleÆs Launcelot and Elaine (1920/1929), a dramatization of TennysonÆs idyll that turns him into a willing puppet of Mordred, and in Rutland BoughtonÆs Avalon (1945), an unperformed opera in which he betrays Arthur and joins Mordred at the last battle. Malory is the source for Stark YoungÆs Guenevere (1906), Laurence BinyonÆs Arthur: A Tragedy (1923), The Round Table: A History Drawn from Unreliable Chronicles (1930) by Georgene Davis, and David FreemanÆs dramatization of Sir Thomas MaloryÆs Morte DÆArthur (1990). In these he wins some sympathy, but his vengefulness is blamed for the fall of ArthurÆs kingdom in all but the first play. Clemence Dane draws upon the chronicles for ôThe Hope of Britain,ö the second of seven plays collected as The Saviours (1942), in which Gawain plays a minor role as ArthurÆs loyal nephew during his wars. When dramatists turn to verse romance for their material, however, he emerges with greater credit, not only in the many plays and operas for children that adapt the stories of his encounter with the Green Knight and Dame Ragnell, by John Chambers, Tim Porter, Richard Blackford, and others; but also in David HarsentÆs verse drama Gawain (1991). Based upon Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, this was developed into a successful opera, with music by Harrison Birtwhistle. Poems that are influenced by GawainÆs role in the chronicles and verse romances usually portray him positively also, though when they draw upon Sir Gawain and the Green Knight they may note his failings. In two long poems that conclude with the destruction of ArthurÆs kingdom, The Wraith of Gawain (1948) by E.H. Tax and John Heath-StubbsÆ Artorius (1973), he acts with courtesy and valor. In fact when the former turns from verse and Celtic tale to Malory for the source of plot, it makes changes that show Gawain in a favorable light, even in his conflicts with Pellinore and with Lancelot. Such sympathy is rare, however, for most poems that make use of MaloryÆs account adopt his approach to Gawain, and while they may acknowledge the basic nobility of his character, they focus upon his flaws in the events that unfold. Thus he is condemned for promiscuity in ôEttardÆs Trothö (1912) by Francis B. Money Coutts, and for the vengefulness that breaks the Round Table in Edwin Arlington RobinsonÆs Merlin (1917) and Lancelot: A Poem (1920). An exception to this pattern is ôThe Breaking of the Linksö by John Masefield, one of the poems collected in Midsummer Night (1928), where the high-minded Gawain departs the court, outraged at the accusations of treason against the Queen. It is in prose fiction, however, that Arthurian legend has received fullest attention, and that GawainÆs character is explored most closely. He is found regularly among ArthurÆs followers in the historical novels that are based upon the chronicles, but usually in the minor role of a valiant and loyal captain. Only Rosemary SutcliffÆs Sword at Sunset (1963) provides a fuller picture of the hero by turning him into a healer. Though no relation to Arthur, Gwalchmai, as he is called here, is as devoted to his leader as he is to the wounded, serving both tirelessly. His self-sacrificing concern for others mirrors that of Arthur, so that this fine novel offers one of the most admirable portraits of both men. Fiction that draws its plots from verse romance and heroic tale, in English and other languages, presents a mixed, albeit generally favorable, image of Gawain. Some novels that include the story of GawainÆs encounter with the Green Knight emphasize his achievements, while others focus instead upon the chastening lesson learned by a flawed hero. Thomas BergerÆs Arthur Rex (1978), which at the end judges him to be ôone of the very greatest knights who ever lived and the finest man of the company of the Round Table (for he had all the virtues and of the vices the most natural),ö manages to balance achievement with a lesson that serves as an important stage in his development. By contrast, Vera Chapman, who follows MaloryÆs depiction of a Gawain prone to savage rages, replaces him with a nephew of the same name when she adapts the story in The Green Knight (1975). The account of his wedding to Dame Ragnell allows Gawain to demonstrate his courtesy in several novels, including BergerÆs Arthur Rex and The SquireÆs Tale by Gerald Morris (1998). When they draw upon Welsh tradition, as do Nigel TranterÆs Druid Sacrifice (1993) and The DragonÆs Son (2001) by Sarah Thomson, they too usually emphasize his honorable behavior; Richard MonacoÆs Grail trilogy (1977-80), which is based upon Wolfram von EschenbachÆs Parzival rather than the Vulgate Queste, presents him as an attractive character despite his many flaws; and Gillian Bradshaw makes Gwalchmai, as she calls, him the admirable central hero of Hawk of May (1980) and Kingdom of Summer (1981), the first two books in her Arthurian trilogy. The former makes use of accounts of GawainÆs birth, the latter of his encounter with the maiden in the First Continuation of ChrétienÆs Perceval, as they portray his valiant struggle against the forces of darkness within, as well as outside, himself. In WinterÆs Shadow (1982), which concludes the trilogy, uses not verse but prose romance as the primary source of the story, and in this Bradshaw aligns herself with the majority of modern authors. Although her choice is appropriate to her darkening vision of the destruction of the Arthurian dream, it does cast Gwalchmai again in the role given him by Malory: that of the champion whose pride, anger, and vengefulness prevent any hope of reconciliation between Arthur and Lancelot. He manages to escape blame in works that do not involve him in the feud with Lancelot: in Firelord (1980), for instance, Parke Godwin accomplishes this by severing his uncle-nephew relationship with Arthur. Such changes are rare, however, and even novels that do not deal with the fall of ArthurÆs realm may prepare us for GawainÆs later role by showing us early signs of his dangerous impulses. Thus while in some accounts of his childhood, like that by Bradshaw, he struggles to escape his motherÆs malign influence, more often he shows the rashness and anger that were eventually to prove so fatal, most in notably T.H. WhiteÆs Witch in the Wood (1939, later retitled The Queen of Air and Darkness in The Once and Future King, 1958). In The SquireÆs Tale (1998), Gerald Morris completely exonerates him of any blame in the episode of Pelleas and Ettarde, whereas John Steinbeck censures him severely in The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights (1976). In The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf (2000), Morris again shows him to advantage in the story of Gareth, but E.M.R. Ditmas gives him a violent temper in Gareth of Orkney (1956). In Arthur Rex, Berger defends GawainÆs conduct in his feud with Pellinore, but most novelists are highly critical, especially Nancy Springer in I Am Mordred (1998). In novels based upon Perlesvaus, like Dorothy James RobertsÆ Kinsmen of the Grail (1963), he acquits himself creditably on the Grail Quest, but he reveals himself as badly unsuited for so spiritual a challenge in the more numerous novels which, like WhiteÆs Once and Future King, follow Malory. Since it leads to the downfall of ArthurÆs kingdom, GawainÆs feud with Lancelot is the deed that condemns him in the eyes of many authors, though even here views do differ. Some, like Berger and Sharan Newman in Guinevere Evermore (1985), emphasize his nobility and reluctance to perform his duty to avenge his brothers against his good friend; most who treat the love between Lancelot and Guinevere sympathetically, however, though they may acknowledge GawainÆs positive qualities, blame his pride, as is the case in Nancy McKenzieÆs The Child Queen (1994) and The High Queen (1995, both revised and issued in 2002 as one novel, Queen of Camelot). The harshest condemnation of his conduct is found in The Wicked Day (1983) by Mary Stewart, who allows him no redeeming features whatsoever. In her efforts to exonerate Mordred of responsibility for the final disaster, she shifts blame onto the rest of the wild, uncontrollable Orkney clan, Gawain included. GawainÆs treatment in the twentieth century thus reflects the influence of the conflicting traditions that authors inherited, as well as their own creative needs. Historical novelists who draw upon the chronicles usually portray him as a valiant and loyal follower of Arthur; writers who adapt material from the verse romances, especially Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the story of his wedding to Dame Ragnell, usually praise his courtesy and loyalty; those who follow Malory and the prose romances are usually more critical of his failings, particularly anger and vengefulness. The mingling of traditions, however, can lead to radical reinterpretations of GawainÆs conduct in familiar stories, and this often works to his benefit. Non-English Literature (Post-Medieval) After the Middle Ages, interest in Arthurian legend dwindled in all languages of Europe, and when it did revive at the end of the eighteenth century, it never attained the popularity it found in English. Those works that did treat it, moreover, paid more attention to other figures, notably Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guenevere, Parzival and Galahad, Merlin and Arthur himself. Gawain was more likely to appear, therefore, in translations from English of popular novels like WhiteÆs Once and Future King (translated into German in 1976 as Der König auf Camelot), and to be treated accordingly. Where authors did draw upon their own indigenous medieval versions, they were inclined to reduce or even eliminate GawainÆs role. Modern French Arthurian literature largely ignore Gauvain, preferring other figures. He is reduced typically to a minor character in works like Le Chevalier de neige (ôThe Snow Knight,ö 1953), a play by Boris Vian (later developed into an opera) that presents the story of Lancelot and Guenevere as found in the Vulgate Cycle. The exception to this pattern is Gauvain et le Chevalier Vert (ôSir Gawain and the Green Knightö), one of a series of plays under the title Graal Théâtre (1977) by Florence Delay and Jacques Roubaud. This condenses material from not only the English poem, but also ChrétienÆs Yvain and Perceval and its First (Gauvain-) Continuation. The play is enlivened by ironic commentary and some nice touches of humor, notably KayÆs incredulity when he hears that most of the armyÆs supplies have been sent to the very people it is besieging because Gauvain, Yvain, and Arthur gallantly took pity on two hungry damsels, and the insouciance of Flore de Lis when she tells her father and brother that she has just lost her maidenhood to Gauvain. Yet despite the humor at his expense, Gawain remains, as in the verse romances, an attractive and entertaining figure whose fondness for a fair damsel does not prevent him from rejecting the amorous advances of BercilakÆs lady, nor achieving partial success at the Grail Castle. When interest in medieval culture revived in German-speaking countries after the Romantic Movement, it focused upon their own mythical past in works like the Niebelungenlied rather than upon the Matter of Britain. Whenever it did turn to the Arthurian legend, moreover, it was to Gottfried von StrassburgÆs Tristan or Wolfram von EschenbachÆs Parzival. Although the former excludes Gawan, as he is called in German literature, the latter gives him a major role. Unfortunately, his adventures were the very ones most likely to be cut in later adaptations of the story, especially those for children, with the result that ArthurÆs nephew often becomes a marginal figure, just one more knight of the Round Table. Richard Wagner completely eliminates him from his last opera, Parsifal (1882), which exercised a powerful influence over subsequent reworkings of the story. Only when writers seek more widely for sources does Gawan command attention: he is the central character in Gawan (1901), one of eight Arthurian plays by Eduard Stucken collected under the title Der Gral: Ein dramatisches Epos (1924); he finds a place in Käthe RecheisÆ König Arthur und die Ritter der Tafelrunde (ôKing Arthur and the Knights of the Round Tableö), a novel for younger readers influenced by Malory; and he figures prominently in two of the most important plays in modern Germany, Merlin oder das Wüste Land (ôMerlin or the Wasteland,ö1981) by Tankred Dorst and Ursula Ehler, and Die Ritter der Tafelrunde (ôThe Knights of the Round Table,ö 1989) by Christoph Hein. He also benefited from the appetite for translations of English novels by authors like T.H. White, Mary Stewart, Gillian Bradshaw, and Marion Zimmer Bradley, whose Mists of Avalon was a German bestseller in 1983. During the Middle Ages, the Dutch had viewed Walewein, as Gawain was called, favorably, and Penninc and Pieter Vostaert made him the central hero of the Roman van Walewein. After the publication of its text in 1848, the poem was adapted in M.C.H. BetzÆs verse novel Walewein (1890); and Louis Couperus devised an ironic continuation of the story in Het zwevende schaakbord (ôThe Floating Chessboard,ö which appeared first in installments, 1917-18, then in a single volume, 1922), though this time the hero achieves less success. Jaap ter Haar, the best-known modern Dutch writer to deal with the legend, separates him into two characters in Koning Arthur (1967, translated into English in 1973 as King Arthur): Welwyn, who is King LotÆs son, is noble and idealistic, while Gawain is ôa great man, blinded by hatred.ö Unlike the other post-medieval literatures, Gaelic literature survived in oral tradition. As a result, some of the songs and tales collected down to recent times may have been handed down from the Middle Ages, often with considerable variations. Gawain, whose name appears in various forms, figures in several. In the Irish Eachtra an Mhadra Mhaoil (ôAdventures of the Crop-eared Dogö), Sir Bhalbhuaidh (Gawain) helps the son of the King of India, who has been transformed into a dog, regain his human form. By contrast in the Irish Eachtra an Amad in Mhóir (ôThe Adventures of the Great Foolö), which has similarities with the story of Perceval, he takes on KayÆs role by mocking the ignorant hero, slapping ArthurÆs daughter when she laughs, then being punished severely for his unkindness. In the Scottish Sir Uallabh OÆCorn, Sir Uallabh (Gawain) undergoes a series of fantastic adventures before marrying the daughter of the King of India and becoming King of Ireland. In one Scottish variant of the tale of Carados and the serpent found in the First Continuation of ChrétienÆs Perceval, Sheen Billy (Gawain) takes on the role of protagonist. Finally, the Scottish Am Bròn Binn (ôThe Sweet Sorrowö) recounts GawainÆs quest for a girl who has visited Arthur, usually in a dream. This exists in three versions, and although Gawain rescues the girl from a giant in one, in another she lulls him to sleep and beheads him. Elsewhere, Gawain has been portrayed mainly in translations from English. Spanish, for example, has been particularly interested in TennysonÆs Arthurian poems and modern Arthurian fiction. When Spanish authors create original works, they focus on other characters, particularly Merlin and Vivien. He makes a rare appearance in Darío Xoh n CabanaÆs novel Galv n en Saor (1989), which shifts between the present and medieval times: Galv n (Gawain) travels to Saor (Galicia), where he meets Merlin, now a bus driver. Cabana thus follows a common trend among Galician authors of transporting Arthurian characters and motifs to their home region. In these literatures, therefore, relatively little attention is paid to Arthurian legend, and when it is, it is to characters other than Gawain. The exceptions to this pattern occur in translations from popular English works and in Gaelic oral tradition. Visual Media 1: Art Arthurian art in a variety of media flourished in two main periods, the later Middle Ages and the Arthurian Revival in Victorian England. Gawain makes a promising start: on the Modena archivolt in northern Italy, the earliest representation of an Arthurian theme in monumental sculpture, the name Galvaginus (Gawain) is inscribed above one of the knights who ride to rescue Winlogee (Guenevere) from the castle where she is imprisoned by Mardoc, and this has led some scholars to argue that Gawain and not Lancelot was the original rescuer of the abducted queen. Attention, however, soon shifted to figures like Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot and Guenevere, Arthur and Galahad. The most popular subject featuring Gawain in medieval art, especially on ivories, was his adventure in the Perilous Bed, originating in the Perceval of Chrétien de Troyes, though he does appear in other scenes from the poetÆs works, such as his combat with the hero in Yvain, his warding off assailants with a chessboard and his encounter with a lion at the Castle of Marvels, both in Perceval. He also appears in pursuit of the Floating Chessboard in a miniature at the beginning of the Dutch Roman de Walewein. In illuminations of the highly popular Vulgate Cycle, he figures along with other knights as they ride through forests, approach castles, dine at feasts, and fight in battle or single combat. Such figures are not individualized other than by their coats-of-arms: in earlier manuscripts, Gawain sometimes bore a silver shield with a red quarter in the upper left corner, but in the fifteenth century this became purple with a double-headed gold eagle. This was his shield for war. In peace he bore a shield with his personal device, most famously the gold pentangle on a red background in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The four crude illustrations in the manuscript of this poem are a striking contrast to its literary merits, and they confirm ôthe limitations of English secular illumination ca. 1400,ö in comparison with the work on the continent. Nor were the earliest Arthurian woodcuts much of an improvement, for when Wynkyn de Worde reissued CaxtonÆs text of MaloryÆs Morte Darthur in 1498 with twenty-one illustrations, they were clumsily executed. Gawain does appear with Ector in one, wearing armor in the latest fashion, and it is of interest to observe in Arthurian illustrations how clothing fashions change as well as artistic styles. When English artists returned to the legend during the Arthurian Revival, they exhibited more talent, but the Pre-Raphaelites largely ignored Gawain in favor of an ecstatic Galahad and Elaine of Astolat (or her avatar the Lady of Shalott), whose brightly illuminated dead body floating down the dark river to Camelot appealed to the Victorian taste for morbid and sentimental scenes. Given GawainÆs unflattering portrayal by Tennyson and Morris, it was perhaps just as well he was passed over. William Dyce was commissioned by Prince Albert to paint a series of seven frescoes for the QueenÆs Robing Room in the new Palace of Westminster (1848-64), and his earliest design, Piety: The Knights of the Round Table departing on the Quest for the Holy Grail (1849), included an impatient Gawain on his rearing horse. That design was rejected, but Dyce did portray him in a later fresco, Mercy: Sir Gawain swearing to be merciful and never again be against Ladies (1854). Most often, however, he appeared as a failed Grail knight, as in Edward Burne-JonesÆ ôHow Gawaine sought the Sangreal and might not see it because his eyes were blinded by thoughts of the deeds of Kings,ö one of four stained glass panels in The Story of the Quest for the Holy Grail (1886), and ôThe Failure of Sir Gawaine and Sir Ewain,ö one of seven tapestries in The Quest of the Holy Grail (1891-94) woven by Morris & Co. Since most book illustrations are found in retellings of Malory for children, Gawain appears but rarely, though to judge from the unsavory seducer whom Howard Pyle depicts in the two illustrations for the Pelleas and Ettarde episode in his Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1903) this was perhaps just as well. Elsewhere he is included in one of Dan BeardÆs illustrations of Mark TwainÆs Connecticut Yankee in King ArthurÆs Court (1889) and another by Jessie King for Sebastian EvansÆ translation of The High History of the Holy Grail (1903), but in the twentieth century he is most likely to appear in the illustrations of retellings for children of his encounter with the Green Knight and his wedding with Dame Ragnell, the Loathly Lady: for example, the former was retold by Gwyn Jones with illustrations by Dorothea Braby (1952) and by Michael Morpurgo with illustrations by Michael Foreman (2004); and both were retold by Selina Hastings with award-winning illustrations by Juan Wijngaard, the former in 1981, the latter in 1985. Charles Keeping provides powerful black-and-white illustrations for The Tale of Sir Gawain (1987) by Neil Philip, in which the gravely wounded knight recalls a number of adventures, but none of them are of Gawain himself, interestingly enough. Visual Media 2: Films, Comics, Games To a populace increasingly oriented towards visual media, films, comics, and games have exercised a powerful influence, serving for many as a ôgatewayö to the Arthurian legend. Thus while they may strike some medievalists as pale imitations, or even trivializations, of a rich heritage, they do have a wider impact upon society in general than their artistic merits might recommend. If an author as popular and influential as Marion Zimmer Bradley can speak of the comic strip Prince Valiant as ôan early inspiration,ö clearly we need to take such works into account. Films on Arthurian subjects have proven almost as disappointing as plays, despite some worthy attempts. Only in adaptations of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has Gawain attracted much attention. Elsewhere, his role is cut or drastically reduced to focus on the central characters, usually the love triangle of Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot. The audience would need to be alert to spot him in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), John BoormanÆs Excalibur (1981), and First Knight (1995); he plays a minor role in Knights of the Round Table (1953) as a loyal retainer of Lancelot, in the confusing Lancelot: Guardian of Time (1999) as LancelotÆs valiant foe/companion, and in King Arthur (2004) as one of the Sarmatian knights who help the Britons defeat the Saxons; he is a good-hearted foil to the hero in two adaptations of Hal FosterÆs comic strip Prince Valiant (see below), the first in 1954, the second in 1997, as well as in The Legend of Prince Valiant (1992), an animated series by Sei Young Animation Company for the Family Channel; and he is ennobled by his love for Dame Ragnell in the 1985 CBS television film Arthur the King. We see more of Gawain in two impressive French films, Robert BressonÆs Lancelot du Lac (1974) and Eric RohmerÆs Perceval le Gallois (1978), but even they reduce his role from that he plays in their sources, the Vulgate Mort Artu and ChrétienÆs Perceval, in order to focus upon their central hero. His encounter with the Green Knight is included in King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (1981), an animated series, and it is the central plot in three films: Gawain and the Green Knight (1973) and Sword of the Valiant (1983), both directed by Stephen Weeks, and Thames TelevisionÆs Gawain and the Green Knight (1991). The first two were not successful, but the third has won praise for its thoughtful approach to the material. The dominant Arthurian figures in the comics have been Merlin and Morgan le Fay, Arthur and Mordred, joined by a wide variety of newcomers like the Shining Knight, the Black Knight, and the demon Etrigan (MerlinÆs half-brother). This reflects the popularity in the medium of figures with supernatural powers (Arthur wields his magical sword Excalibur, while Mordred is taught by Morgan), sharply divided into good and evil. Knights of the Round Table like Gawain often become little more than features to establish the Arthurian setting. Gawain does achieve some prominence in the best-known Arthurian comic strip, Prince Valiant, begun in 1937 by Harold R. Foster and continued first by John Cullen Murphy, then MurphyÆs son Cullen. The hero, Val, starts as the squire and then, after achieving knighthood, becomes the good friend of Gawain, who is portrayed as a heroic but merry character. Foster emphasized the historical context of fifth-century Britain, but since most comic strip creators preferred super-heroes, they usually pay little attention to Gawain. Two exceptions are Mike W. Barr in Camelot 3000 (issued in twelve installments 1982-85, reprinted in one volume 1988) and James Calafiore in Camelot Eternal (1990-91): in the former, Gawain is reincarnated as a black South African, closely bound to his family; in the latter, which offers an alternative conclusion to MaloryÆs story, he still refuses to forgive Launcelot for the death of his brothers and eventually kills him. He does occasionally appear in the comics in other languages: in Dutch, for example, Frank Herzen and Gerrit Stapel created a cartoon strip Gawain en de Groene Ridder (ôGawain and the Green Knight,ö 1980). GawainÆs rare appearances in the comics thus preserve his status as a valiant warrior. In games, Gawain is even less visible. He is not one of the five characters that one can play as in KonamiÆs video game version of the 2004 film King Arthur, and this is typical of his fate: to be excluded in order to focus upon other figures. Occasionally, however, the game player takes on the role of Gawain: in Brimstone (1985), an early computer game developed by Synapse Software and published by Br°derbund, Gawain encounters both the Green Knight and Morgan le Fay during his adventures in the underworld, and he is the newly created knight who is sent to defeat Morgana in Chronicles of the Sword (1996), an adventure video game from Psygnosis. He is one of the Famous People available to the game master in Greg StaffordÆs role-playing game King Arthur Pendragon (1985, 4th edition 1993), which notes that he is gracious and generous, but also lustful and vengeful where his family is concerned; and he is similarly characterized in La Table Ronde (n.d.), a French role-playing game designed by Anne Vétillard for Jeux Descartes. In 1989, Stafford also designed a story-telling game based on Hal FosterÆs Prince Valiant, in which Gawain is described as ôa lusty, freedom-loving knight whose only fear is marriage.ö Because his abilities are so far above those of ordinary characters, he is normally reserved for the game master in role-playing games. He is one of the ancient characters in Duel of the Ages, a card game, and one of the ButtonLords in Pendragon ButtonLords (2000), a board game from Green Knight. GawainÆs portrayal in visual media thus demonstrates a lack of attention. He figures most frequently in illuminations of medieval manuscripts, but less often than knights like Lancelot and Tristan. The English verse romances in which he was the hero were rarely illuminated, while the influence of Malory and Tennyson dampened enthusiasm for him among artists in the nineteenth century and book illustrators in the twentieth. In films, comics, and games his appearances are rare and often fleeting. Only when these media turn to the stories of his encounter with the Green Knight and Dame Ragnell is he given the opportunity to display the courtesy and loyalty for which he was famed in medieval romance. Conclusion The wide fluctuations in the treatment of Gawain offer us a figure that appears full of contradictions. The chronicles praise him as ArthurÆs mightiest warrior, unsurpassed in future generations. In French romance, however, this supremacy is increasingly challenged by the younger heroes who are attracted to ArthurÆs court, and his defeats at the hands of Lancelot, Tristan, and others, steadily accumulate until challengers begin to wonder how he ever gained a reputation for prowess in the first place. The earlier French verse romances present him as the standard of courtesy and discretion against whom all others are measured (and whom very few can equal), and this image is largely preserved in English, German, and Dutch verse. In later French verse, however, his idealism often leads to embarrassing situations that create humor at his expense, while in the prose tradition his conduct becomes totally reprehensible. The modesty and compassion that serve him so well in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and accounts of his wedding to Dame Ragnell are replaced by the pride that takes affront at the achievements of others in the Prose Tristan, and by vengefulness in accounts of the Death of Arthur by Malory and others. That his reputation has recovered from such calumny does suggest that he possesses certain traits that continue to appeal to us down the ages. First of all, Gawain is unswervingly loyal to Arthur, a trait that commends itself to readers in whom the kingÆs struggle to build a better world strikes a sympathetic chord. Secondly, once the fashion for courtly love has passed and the clerical exaltation of chastity grown less persuasive, GawainÆs involvement with unattached damsels, always less frequent than often assumed, may seem less offensive than an adulterous relationship that destroys a kingdom or a religious fervor that abandons other responsibilities to seek personal salvation. Indeed, the excesses of religious fanaticism are often condemned as a serious threat to ArthurÆs rule. Finally, the courtesy for which he is so famed goes beyond polite manners to embrace generosity to the poor (in ChrétienÆs Perceval), kindness to the aged (in Claris et Laris), and aid to ladies who need someone to protect their rights, and their gratitude for his service wins for his ghost the opportunity to deliver to Arthur a warning in his dream on the eve of the Battle of Camlann. He is even fond of animals, as is demonstrated by his attachment to his horse Gringalet and his anger at the killing of his dogs on his first quest in Malory and elsewhere. Gawain will always find detractors, for authors, like the rest of us, seek a convenient figure upon whom to fasten blame and so excuse the faults of their own hero, whether it be Tristan in the Prose Tristan, Lancelot in MaloryÆs Morte Darthur, or Mordred in The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart. Ironically, however, the very contradictions in his conduct that have emerged in different works have also created interesting possibilities for the figure of Gawain. In shedding the perfection that precluded character development and discouraged his adoption as central hero, he has sprung to prominence in some of the finest works of Arthurian literature: Chrétien de TroyesÆ Perceval in the twelfth century, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in the fourteenth, and in the twentieth Rosemary SutcliffÆs Sword at Sunset, Gillian BradshawÆs Arthurian trilogy, and Thomas BergerÆs Arthur Rex. His heroic struggle against the enemy, both without and (more importantly) within, here and elsewhere, will always win the admiration and touch the hearts of those lured by the Arthurian dream of a better world. Contents of this Volume Of the nineteen essays in this volume, three are new compositions, four are excerpts from books and long articles, and twelve are reprinted articles. Translations of quotations have been provided by the authors or the editors where warranted. They trace the evolution of GawainÆs character, from earliest mention in the chronicles to most recent appearance in literature and film. B.J. WhitingÆs ôGawain: His Reputation, His Courtesy and His Appearance in ChaucerÆs SquireÆs Tale,ö is the classic wide-ranging survey of the treatment of the hero in French and English literature, from Wace to T.H. White. In this substantial excerpt, Whiting attributes the decline in GawainÆs reputation to the ôepic degenerationö that affects all popular heroes, and to his being supplanted in medieval literature by newer champions who follow the dictates of courtly love on the one hand, and the increasingly ascetic demands of the Grail quest on the other. To these impersonal forces Whiting adds deliberate vilification at the hands of two writers in particular: the author of the Prose Tristan and Tennyson. Courtesy emerges as GawainÆs most outstanding characteristic in the Middle Ages. Rachel BromwichÆs ôGwalchmei m. Gwyarö is excerpted from the Notes to Personal Names in the second edition of Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Welsh Triads. She scrutinizes the appearance of the Gwalchmei in William of MalmesburyÆs chronicle and in Welsh tradition, the variations in his name and parentage, and the courtesy and valor he displays in the three Welsh romances. She speculates that his origins, like that of many figures, are probably northern. The next two essays deal with Chrétien de Troyes. In ôThe Character of Gauvain in the Romances of Chrétien de Troyes,ö William A. Nitze examines his role in the chronicles before turning to ChrétienÆs romances. He concludes that it is to the latter we owe our conception of Gauvain as ôan exemplar of perspicacity and judgment, a model of courtesy and understanding, to whom the entire courtùladies as well as knightsùis beholden, and never lacking in a sense of reality and humor.ö While acknowledging GauvainÆs virtues, Douglas Kelly argues, in ôGauvain and FinÆ Amors in the Poems of Chrétien de Troyes,ö not only that he is an unreliable counselor in matters of courtly love, but that courtly love is superior to ômere chivalryö in ChrétienÆs Arthurian world, thus setting the stage for his decline in later romances. The next three essays survey French verse romance after Chrétien. ôArthurian Adventure or Quixotic æStruggle for LifeÆ? A Reading of Some Gauvain Romances in the First Half of the Thirteenth Centuryö by Friedrich Wolfzettel judges that in these works Gauvain illustrates not just the comic frustration of his good intentions, but ôthe tragic inadequacy of the fictional Arthurian world under the real conditions of life.ö ôDiverging Traditions of Gauvain in Some of the Later Old French Verse Romancesö by Keith Busby examines Hunbaut, Le Chevalier aux deux Epées, L'Atre Périlleux, and Les Merveilles de Rigomer, and he concludes that ôthe overwhelming impression left by these late romances is one of the esteem and affection in which Gauvain is held by other characters in the romances, by authors, and above all, one must suppose, by their audiences.ö An example of this response is demonstrated in ôThe Formation of a Gauvain Cycle in Chantilly Manuscript 472ö by Lori Walters. After summarizing the nine romances in the manuscript, she decides that ôthe person ultimately responsible for producing the thirteenth-century Chantilly MS 472 seemed to make a conscious attempt to create a multi-branch romance centered upon Gauvain.ö The results are comparable to the Roman de Renart. Moreover, material omitted from some romances, notably ChrétienÆs Lancelot and the Perlesvaus, not only sharpens the focus upon Gauvain, but also lowers the prestige of competitors by showing their failures rather than successes, evidence of a strong partiality for the hero. By contrast, the prose romances demonstrate an inexorable process of denigration. In ôThe Character of Gauvain in the Thirteenth-Century Prose Romances,ö Fanni Bogdanow traces his sorry decline. Although he remains a generally admirable figure in the earlier Vulgate branches, the Queste del Saint Graal reveals his spiritual limitations and the Mort Artu his vengefulness. The Prose Tristan transforms him into a villainous knight, the very antithesis of his earlier self, and this approach is followed by the Post-Vulgate Cycle and the Palamedes, which add episodes to demonstrate his treachery and vindictiveness. In ôThe Character of Gauvain in the Prose Tristan,ö Keith Busby examines in detail GauvainÆs crimes in the Prose Tristan, quoting from two manuscripts of the romance (largely unpublished in 1977), Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fr. 757 and 772. His basic fault is that he, ôquite simply, wishes to do as he pleases, with no thought of others.ö Like Bogdanow, Busby believes that the author disgraces Gauvain to make the central hero look better. ôGawain Against Arthur: The Impact of a Mythological Pattern upon Arthurian Tradition in Accounts of the Birth of Gawainö by Raymond H. Thompson examines the story of GawainÆs birth and early years as preserved in the Perlesvaus, Les Enfances Gauvain, and De Ortu Waluuanii (ôOn the Rise of Gawainö), a Latin prose romance probably composed in the thirteenth century. It fits the pattern that is widespread among legendary heroes: the father or his representative tries to kill the infant, who survives in the care of lowly people and returns to punish the father and reclaim his birthright. It explains the hostility between uncle and nephew, whose relationship elsewhere is marked by its devotion. French romance provided a model for poets and authors in other countries as well as their own, and the remaining essays trace the spread of Arthurian legend throughout Europe and beyond. ôCrisis and Triumph in the World of Medieval Knighthood and Chivalry: Gawan in Wolfram von EschenbachÆs Parzival,ö an essay written specially for this casebook by Albrecht Classen, assesses GawanÆs role in one of the greatest and most influential German poems of the Middle Ages. Wolfram modifies and reinterprets ChrétienÆs Perceval, providing Gawan with a much more positive role than in his source. Although Parzival remains pre-eminent, Gawan is developed into ôthe human hero, the protagonist who, despite his own shortcomings and failings, fights for those in need and restores justice, happiness, and love to this world.ö In Dutch romance as in German, Gawain is usually portrayed favorably, as Bart Besamusca demonstrates in ôGauvain as Lover in the Middle Dutch Verse Romance Walewein.ö Walewein, as the hero is called in this poem by the Flemish poets Penninc and Pieter Vostaert, proves himself ôthe ideal knight and lover,ö lacking not a single virtue in his devotion to the fair Ysabele. Besamusca offers two explanations for this treatment: first, WaleweinÆs favorable image in Flemish oral tradition; and second, the emergence, in literature outside France, of a new type of hero who does not develop, but rather illustrates types of ideal behavior. In another new essay, ôThe Transformation of the Figure of Gauvain in Italy,ö Marie-José Heijkant discusses GauvainÆs appearance on the Modena archivolt as well as in literature. After noting that he is, in general, more positively portrayed in translations of the Prose Tristan than in their French source, she provides a close analysis of the Cantare di Ponzela Gaia, where ôGauvain plays a role only rarely assigned to him. He is the hero who, propelled by the force of love, mends his reputation after having damaged it by his own unwise behavior.ö Phillip C. BoardmanÆs ôMiddle English Arthurian Romance: The Repetition and Reputation of Gawain,ö marks a shift to English literature, in which the figure of Gawain has received the most attention, both good and bad, since the thirteenth century. Boardman notes that Gawain ôgains stature as an individual English hero as the English romances establish an identity separate from the French cycle.ö Drawing upon the concept of ôrepetitionö as defined by Peter Haidu and others, he surveys the romances in which he figures, before considering in more detail two examples of what he calls ôthe romance of contrast,ö The Avowing of Arthur and the Alliterative Morte Arthure, as well as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, ôa masterfully structured single-hero romance.ö It is this poem, the finest Arthurian romance in English, that W.A. Davenport examines in ôSir Gawain and the Green Knight: The PoetÆs Treatment of the Hero and his Adventure,ö an excerpt from his book The Art of the Gawain-Poet. He argues that ôthe reader is made conscious of the difficulty of fulfilling a heroic role and is asked to respond to a hero who has sufficient imagination to feel fear and to be sensitively aware that at the end of the road waits death.ö Despite his failure, Gawain gains our sympathy because we come to view him as a human being, rather than the idealized hero of romance. Unfortunately for Gawain, it was not this poem but MaloryÆs Morte Darthur that was to prove most influential for later writers, and in ôGawain and Heroic Knighthood,ö an excerpt from her book Knighthood in the Morte Darthur, Beverly Kennedy offers an explanation for MaloryÆs decision to present him so negatively. He chose Gawain to represent Heroic knighthood, which defines honor strictly in relation to family, and to show its inferiority to Worshipful knighthood represented by Lamorak, Tristan, and Arthur himself, and to True knighthood represented by Lancelot and Galahad. With the last three essays we shift out of the Middle Ages. In a new essay entitled ôGawain in Post-Medieval English Literature,ö Raymond H. Thompson conducts a broad survey of the heroÆs appearance, and he discerns the persistence of three distinct medieval traditions of the hero: chronicle, verse, and prose. He then focuses upon three novels: Rosemary SutcliffÆs Sword at Sunset, Gillian BradshawÆs In WinterÆs Shadow, and Thomas BergerÆs Arthur Rex. These mingle elements from the different traditions in order to develop the controlling vision in their own work. This mingling of traditions does mitigate the negative image of Gawain handed down by Malory. In ôSir Gawaine at Liberty Castle: Thomas BergerÆs Comic Didacticism in Arthur Rex: A Legendary Novel,ö Klaus P. Janofsky offers a detailed analysis of this adventure, which is based, albeit very loosely, upon the story of GawainÆs encounter with the Green Knight. The hero learns that ôthings are not what they seem,ö and this lesson helps him develop into ôan ever more congenial foil for ArthurÆs self-criticism and a worthy successor on the throne because of his spirit and moral stature.ö Finally, in ôSir Gawain in Films,ö David J. Williams examines GawainÆs appearance on the screen. His role is invariably curtailed, except in the three adaptations of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Of these the only ôconscientious attemptö is Thames TelevisionÆs 1991 production, which offers instructive insights into the problems of translating a ôverbal text . . . into a visual.ö Acknowledgements The editors wish to thank the authors and the editors of journals and presses who gave permission to reprint previously published material. Full acknowledgement is given with each essay. We also thank the authors who wrote and updated original essays and who provided translations, as well as Norris Lacy, the series editor, for his patience and guidance. On a more personal note, we thank family and friends: in particular, my wife Hilary offered understanding and support during my long hours on the computer, and our son Gawen (unsurprisingly) sent enthusiastic exhortations (Ray Thompson); and, as ever, to José (Keith Busby). Notes Works cited in full in the Select Bibliography appear in these Notes in abbreviated form.
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication:
Gawain (Legendary character) -- Romances -- History and criticism.
Gawain (Legendary character).