The Mammoth Book of King Arthur (59 page)

There are some stories, however, in which Gawain has the central role. These include two superb adventures,
Diu Krône
and
The Rise of Gawain.
He appears in Geoffrey of
Monmouth’s
History
where he is portrayed both as the intermediary and the hothead, the two roles that epitomize him. Thankfully Gawain survived being pushed aside in the major
Arthurian cycle of legends to rise again in what many regard as the finest of all Arthurian stories,
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
, a story which clearly takes us back to his mythic
origins.

LE BEL INCONNU
(The Fair Unknown), Renaud de Beaujeu (French, late 1180s) 6,266 lines.

One of the earliest Arthurian-related “fair unknown” motifs. This phrase is so often applied to male heroes that it could as well be translated “The Handsome Stranger”.
In this case it is Guinglain, son of Gawain, who must free the daughter of the king of Wales, who has been transformed into a serpent and is being kept prisoner by two enchanters. He encounters
many adversaries en route, but achieves his goal and his identity is revealed. The story was absorbed into the Arthurian saga via the first continuation of Chrétien’s
Perceval
,
in which Guinglain becomes Lionel (not the same as Lancelot’s cousin), and was reworked by Robert de Blois with
Beaudous
(
c
1260s) and Thomas Chestre in
Libeaus Desconus
(
c
1380s). The best known “Fair Unknown” theme appears in Malory, with the story of Sir Gareth (“Beaumains”).

LA MULE SANS FREIN
(The Mule Without a Bridle), Paien des Maisières (French, late 1190s) 1,136 lines

A short poem written in such a clipped form as to be almost a parody of the Arthurian conventions, though, as most of these had yet to be established, this may be seen as an
attempt to cash in on Chrétien’s popularity by offering up other well-known but as yet undeveloped traditional material. The author’s name – which translates as
‘Pagan’ – may itself be a pun on Chrétien (Christian).

A damsel comes to Arthur’s court to seek help in the recovery of a mule bridle which has been stolen. Kay sets off but fails. Gawain takes up the challenge, and is able to use the
damsel’s magical mule. He overcomes a succession of challenges, including a revolving castle and a beheading game, before he triumphs.

Part of this story reappears in more detail in Heinrich von dem Türlin’s
Diu Krône.

LE CHEVALIER À L’EPÉE
(The Knight with the Sword), anon. (
possibly
Paien des Maisières) (French, pre-1210) 6,182 lines.

Gawain is lost in a forest and accepts the hospitality of a knight at a castle. The knight even allows Gawain to spend the night with his daughter. Gawain discovers there is an
enchanted sword suspended over the bed, but although it proves a trifle inconvenient, Gawain survives the night. The next day the knight is surprised to find Gawain alive, and so believes he must
be the best of knights, and offers him his daughter in marriage. They marry, but while Gawain is away fetching the lady’s hounds his bride is taken by another. Gawain challenges him, but
although the bride chooses the other knight her hounds choose Gawain. Gawain defeats the suitor, and when his bride returns Gawain rebuffs her.

LA VENGEANCE RAGUIDEL
(The Avenging of Raguidel), Raoul (possibly but not conclusively Raoul de Houdenc) (French, 1210s), 6182 lines.

A longer poem which has as its overall framing device the separate quests by Gawain and Yder to avenge the death of the knight Raguidel. The two knights are selected because
only Gawain can draw the lance from the dead body, and only Yder can remove his rings. They undergo various unrelated adventures, including some which seem to be echoes of
Le Chevalier à
L’Epée
, such as when Gawain rescues the damsel Ydain from one ravisher only to lose her to another. When Gawain kills that rival, he takes Ydain back but soon rejects her. Gawain
also rejects La Pucele del Gaut Destroit (the Maid of the Narrow Wood), she intends to decapitate him, but fails to recognise him when he returns. In fact, quite a few people fail to recognise each
other in what is clearly an amalgam of tales brought together for effect, but not properly integrated. Gawain kills Raguidel’s murderer Guengasoain, and Yder marries Guengasoain’s
daughter.

LES ENFANCES GAUVAIN
(The Youth of Gawain), anon. (French, c1220s) 712 lines survive.

This is all that remains of a French romance on the youth of Gawain. Gauvain, the illegitimate child of Arthur’s sister Mor-cades and her page Lot, is given to a knight,
Gauvain le Brun, to raise, but le Brun sets him adrift in a casket and he comes into the care of a fisherman who takes him to Rome. There he is educated, knighted by the pope and earns a reputation
in tournaments. There the fragments end, but it is clearly part of an old tradition about Gawain because Geoffrey of Monmouth also refers to
Gawain as having been sent as a
child to Pope Sulpicius, who later dubbed him a knight (
ix
.11).

DIU KRÔNE,
Heinrich von dem Türlin (Austrian, c1230s) 30,041 lines

A clever, creatively developed verse romance which brings much original thinking and treatment to various standard Arthurian themes. The poem is in two distinct halves, each
made up of a series of interlinking adventures. But, as Heinrich intended by allusion in the title, which implies that each tale is like a jewel in a crown, all of the adventures come together to
reflect a greater glory. That glory is essentially Arthur’s court, which, as the story steadily unveils, remains a rock around which chaos and uncertainty lurk but never prevail. At the
outset, a bizarre dwarf arrives at court with the drinking horn which enables the chastity test. It reveals that Guenevere was betrothed to a former love, Gasoein, who abducts her, and both Arthur
and Gawain battle for her recovery. Gawain is the real hero of the poem as, when not seeking Guenevere, he is involved in a quest against a giant, and becomes beguiled by an enchanter. After
Guenevere’s recovery, he sets out on the Grail Quest after Parzival’s failure. Although this is modelled to a degree on Chrétien and
Parzival
, Heinrich brings his own
original interpretation to events, and even has Gawain succeed in the Quest. This adventure is itself interlaced with other marvels and Gawain’s testing by Dame Fortune, all of which suggests
that Heinrich is parodying the standard Arthurian motifs, whilst at the same time weaving a clever story. Were it not that
Diu Krône
does not take itself entirely seriously and was
instantly overshadowed by the giant Vulgate Cycle, it might have been better remembered.

LIVRE D’ARTUS,
anon. (French, late 1230s)

This is a variant prose but incomplete continuation of Robert de Boron’s
Merlin.
It clearly borrows from the other continuations,
including
the Vulgate and Huth
Merlins
, but adds its own interpretations, and substitutes Gawain for Lancelot as the main hero. Although it follows much of the plot of the Vulgate
Lancelot
, it
weaves in several new stories and characters, but adds nothing to the overall concept. It has been suggested that this book may have had an earlier origin and been one of the archetypal texts
behind the development of the Vulgate
Lancelot
, but most scholars no longer believe this.

MÉRIADEUC, or LE CHEVALIER AUX DEUX EPÉES,
anon. (French, late 1230s).

Lore, Lady of Garadigan, acquires a sword and belt from the corpse of Bleheri and puts it on, but then finds she cannot remove it. All attempts by Arthur’s knights fail
bar one, whose identity is not known, but who thereby wins a second sword. After freeing the Lady, the Nameless Knight departs but Lore proclaims she will marry no other man than him. Gawain is
thus sent in search of the Nameless Knight. He undergoes various adventures, including undertaking single combat with the Nameless Knight without knowing who he is. At the end it is discovered that
his name is Mériadeuc, and that he is the son of Bleheri, who had been killed unwittingly by Gawain. Mériadeuc had vowed to take his revenge upon his father’s killer, but in the
end all are reconciled and Mériadeuc weds Lore.

HUNBAUT,
anon. (French,
c
1250s), 3,818 lines.

A minor verse romance of passing interest. Gawain is sent by Arthur to demand the submission of the King of the Isles. He is accompanied by Hunbaut. The two deliver their
message but on their return are separated. They each undertake various adventures, usually rescuing damsels, before both return to Arthur’s
court. One episode involves
the Beheading Test. The main interest of the story is how the chivalric and courtly demeanour of Hunbaut is contrasted against the coarser actions of Gawain.

L’ATRE PÉRILLEUX
(The Perilous Cemetery), anon. (Norman French,
c
1250s), 6,676 lines.

A highly derivative but no less entertaining romance with Gawain as the central character, although he remains nameless almost throughout. Arthur’s new cup-bearer
(interestingly, female, a parallel with the Grail bearer) is abducted by Escanor, and Gawain sets out to rescue her after Kay fails. He meets three damsels who believe that Gawain had been killed
by three knights. He remains incognito, and promises to avenge Gawain. Much of the story takes place in a graveyard under the power of a demon who has trapped a maiden in a tomb. Gawain succeeds in
beheading the demon and rescuing the damsel. He eventually also rescues the cup-bearer and defeats Escanor. Woven throughout the story are various episodes about resurrection and the reunion of
hostile partners, suggesting that the origins of this story were in a Celtic legend of rebirth.

DE ORTU WALUUANII
(The Rise of Gawain), anon. (Anglo-Norman, late 1270s).

An unusual merger of later Arthurian romance with earlier Gawain tradition. Gawain is the illegitimate son of Arthur’s sister Anna and King Lot, but is ignorant of his
name and origins (as in the “Fair Unknown” motif). The infant is left in the care of merchants, along with a chest of treasure which also declares his true parentage, but he is stolen
by another merchant, Viamandus, who raises him. Through his wiles, Viamundus secures the favours of the Roman emperor and becomes a senator, but dies suddenly when Gawain is twelve. Before his
death, he reveals
Gawain’s parentage to the emperor and pope. The emperor raises Gawain to a knight and he becomes known as the Knight of the Surcoat. He proves his
military prowess in a war against the Persians in the Holy Land, an episode in which he also rescues the emperor’s niece, and in which there is a description of a sea battle, unusual in
Arthurian romance. Gawain wishes to help Arthur in his battles against his enemies and the emperor agrees, hoping this may bring the island of Britain back under Roman rule. As he nears Caerleon,
Gawain is challenged by Arthur whom he defeats, along with Kay. Arthur welcomes Gawain to his court where he learns, from the emperor’s message, that Gawain is his nephew. To prove
Gawain’s valour, Arthur takes him on an expedition against the Picts. Gawain excels himself and Arthur accepts him as a knight, and reveals his nephew’s true parentage. The author of
this story, who Loomis suspects was a cleric of English or Norman blood living in the Welsh marches, almost certainly also wrote the
Historia Meriadoci
(
see
Chapter 19).