I. Introduction: Gawain's
Chequered Career
A. In Arthurian legend his name is everywhere and various
(Gauvain, Gawain, Gawein, Gwalchmei, Walewein, Walwanus) and so is
he.
B. Linked to Celtic myth (e.g., hero whose strength waxes and wanes
with the sun), he makes an appearance in the earliest Welsh accounts
("Stanzas of the Grave," "Triads," Culhwch and Olwen).
II. Our Knight of the Week appears in numerous and very
different pieces of medieval Arthurian literature.
A. In Geoffrey of Monmouth, Wace, and Layamon, we learn of Gawain's ancestry and relationship as nephew to Arthur (sister's son); his role as beloved counselor, representative of courtly behavior, love, and chivalry; his rash bravery; and his death while assisting Arthur against his brother Mordred.
B. In the French romance tradition, his character varies from serious (both good and evil) to comic and parodic.
1. In Chrétien's romans
he functions as friend of the hero and as a model whom young knights
aspire to emulate. In mimetic rivalry , the hero of the romance
becomes involved in an undecided combat with Gawain, who serves as a
foil to the central character: Yvain, Lancelot, Percival. In the
last, Gawain pridefully and blindly adheres to custom and displays a
frivolous attachment to the opposite sex, is unfavorably contrasted
with the hero and made the butt of some burlesque humor.
2. Although Gawain is the central figure of a few later romances,
poets generally follow Chrétien in making Gawain a foil
figure. Although he is admirable in some poems, most poets seized on
the flaws revealed in Chrétien's poems, making Gawain a
somewhat comical figure or a means of charting the progressive
decline of chivalry.
a. An admirable Gawain:
La Vengeance Raguidel (pp. 221-34) and Hunbaut (p. 331) display a Gawain of uncompromising virtue and fidelity.
In Yder he is unreservedly worthy of praise (pp. 244-48).
The Knight With Two Swords (pp. 317-26) and The Perilous Cemetery (pp. 326-33) make him the central hero of the stories.
In the Latin prose romance, The Rise of Gawain (pp. 337-46), the birth, boyhood, and early adventures of Gawain are so admiringly portrayed that he displays valor vastly superior to King Arthur's.
b. A flawed Gawain:
Giglois (White, pp. 258-61) has Gawain lose the lady he loves to a squire who serves her more humbly and devotedly.
La Mule sans frein (pp. 210-11) portrays him as a devoted knight but unstintingly pursuing a pointless quest.
c. A villainous Gawain:
In the Prose Tristan he is murderous , careless of persons and property.
In the Vulgate Grail Quest he is a feckless, hardened, and unrepentant sinner.
3. Outside France, all authors of Arthurian romances were familiar with the French tradition. In Germany, he remains much the same figure as in France but
a. Wolfram von Eschenbach in his Parzifal is less harsh on him than Chrétien in Perceval.
b. He is the central hero of Diu Krône by Heinrich von dem Türlin.
4. In Middle English there is marked reluctance to show Gawain as negative; he is restored to respect and dignity.
a. Yvain and Gawain (pp. 409-19) dispenses with Chrétien's psychologizing and presents Gawain as a laudable opposite to Yvain.
b. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight he is almost but not quite perfect.
c. In Syre Gawene and the Carle of Carlyle (456-59) he is an unimpeachably courteous and valiant knight.
d. In The Weddynge of Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell (481-90), Gawain is knight of the Loathly Lady episode, but unsullied.