Sir Gawain facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sir Gawain
Matter of Britain character
Sir Gawaine the Son of Lot, King of Orkney, by Howard Pyle from The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1903)
Information
Occupation	Knight of the Round Table
Title	Prince, Sir
Family	Various members of King Arthur's family Le Morte d'Arthur: Lot and Morgause (parents); Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth and Mordred (brothers)
Spouse(s)	Ragnelle, Orguelleuse, Amurfina (in different stories)
Children	Various, including Gingalain
Relatives	King Arthur (uncle)
Religion	Christian
Origin	Orkney and/or Lothian
Weapon	Caliburn, others

Gawain is a character in Arthurian legend. He is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest Welsh sources. He has appeared in many Arthurian stories in Welsh, Latin, French, English, Scottish, Dutch, German, Spanish, and Italian, notably as the protagonist of the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Gawain is usually depicted as King Arthur's closest companion and an integral member of the elite Round Table. He is the son of Arthur's sister Morgause and King Lot of Orkney and Lothian.

In the early Welsh texts, Gawain is portrayed as a formidable but courteous and compassionate warrior, fiercely loyal to his king and his family. He is known as a friend to young knights, a defender of the poor and the unfortunate, and as the "Maidens' Knight", a rescuer of women. Other notable recurring motifs include his learned healing skills, his special swords that may include the famed Caliburn (Excalibur), and his mighty warhorse named Gringolet. In the later version of his legend, he possesses superhuman strength connected to a day and night cycle, adding to his already outstanding martial prowess and making him an invincible swordsman around noon, when the sun is at its height.

Name

Gauvain's attributed arms

Gawain is known by different names and variants in different languages. The element Gwalch means hawk, and is a typical epithet in medieval Welsh poetry. The meaning of mei is uncertain. It has been suggested that it refers to the month of May (Mai in Modern Welsh), rendering "Hawk of May". John Koch suggests the name could be derived from a Brythonic original *Wolcos Magesos, "Wolf/Errant Warrior of the Plain."

Gawain

"Galvagin" depicted in the Italian Modena Archivolt (c. 1135)

The first known references to Gawain outside Wales began to appear in the first half of the 12th century. However, it was Geoffrey of Monmouth's version of Gawain in the Historia Regum Britanniae, written around 1136, that brought the character to a wider audience. As in the Welsh tradition, Geoffrey's Gawain (Gualguanus) is the son of Arthur's sister, here named Anna, and her husband is Lot (Loth), the prince of Lothian and one of Arthur's key supporters. Geoffrey mentions that Gawain was twelve years old at the time when King Lot and Arthur began a war with Norway, and that he had previously served Pope Sulpicius in Rome. Gawain later plays a major role as one of the leaders in Arthur's victorious war against the Romans, having personally started this great conflict by killing the Roman envoy Caius (Gaius Quintilianus) who had insulted him and Arthur. Geoffrey's Gawain is depicted as a supreme warrior (even calling him and Hoel the two "warriors than whom no better had ever been born") and potential heir to the throne until he is tragically struck down by the forces of his traitorous brother Mordred (Modredus) at Richborough, during an attempted sea landing that turned into a disaster.

Geoffrey's work was immensely popular and was adapted into many languages.

See also

In Spanish: Gawain para niños

• King Arthur's family

Images for kids

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  "In the morning one of these ladies came to Gawaine." William Henry Margetson's illustration for Legends of King Arthur and His Knights (1914)

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  "Now you have released me from the spell completely." William Henry Margetson's illustration for Hero-Myths and Legends of the British Race (1910)

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  Sir Gawain bends over the exhausted Maid Avoraine in concern after she has proved her love by running after his horse for two days. John Everett Millais' and Joseph Swain's wood engraving illustration for Robert Williams Buchanan's poem "Maid Avoraine" published in Once a Week magazine in 1862

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  John Tenniel's illustration for "The Song of Courtesy", George Meredith's take on Gawain and the Loathly Lady published in Once a Week magazine in 1859

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  "Nevertheless You, O Sir Gauwaine, Lie." Florence Harrison's illustration for Early Poems of William Morris (1914)

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  "Walewein" follows a flying checkboard in a 14th-century Dutch manuscript Roman van Walewein (en het schaakspel)

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  "Sir Gawain seized his lance and bade them farewell", Frank T. Merrill's illustration for A Knight of Arthur's Court or the Tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1910)

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  "The Passing of Sir Gawaine", Howard Pyle's illustration from The Story of the Grail and the Passing of King Arthur (1910)

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  Parzival's Gawain in a capital relief at the Church of Saint-Pierre, Caen

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  "Sir Gawaine finds the beautiful Lady", Howard Pyle's illustration from The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1903)