Gawain

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Sir Gawaine the Son of Lot, King of Orkney , by Howard Pyle in The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (1903)

Gawain von Orkney , Welsh Gwalchmei fab Gwyar [ 'gwalxmei vaːb' guiar ], also Gawan or Gawein , is a legend from the Welsh mythology and Arthurian legends derived from it. In the earlier traditions of the nephew Arthur plays' as Gwalchmei initially only a minor role as a companion for adventures, while the medieval Artusepik the Matter of Britain him as a knight of the Round Table a significant position in the quest , the search for the Holy Grail can get, .

More recently, Gawain's character has appeared in comics, films, and television series.

etymology

Gawain appears in the literature under a few names: Gwalchmai, Gwalchmei, Galvaginus, Galvanus, Gawan, Gwaine, Gavan, Gavin, Gauen, Gauvain, Walewein, Waweyn, Walwen, Balbhuaidh , depending on the language and age of the work. All these variations are probably from the Welsh (Welsh) name Gwalchgwn ( "white hawk") derived ( Gwalch , "hawk"; wyn , "white"). Gwalchmai , also Gwalchmei ("falcon of the field", "May falcon") is another translation option, the father or mother name fab Gwyar ( son of Gwyar , the latter "blood"?) Remains a mystery. Another theory says that Gwalchmei with its French variations of the Cymrian epithet (addition, attribute) Gwallt advwyn ("with light hair") should come, a "youth name", which is not proven in connection with Gwalchmei . The etymological connection of the Cymrian name Gwalchmai / Gwalchmei with the old French Gauvain (precursor Galvagin ), Latin Galvanus or other variations has not been established with certainty.

Origin and environment

Gawain is usually mentioned as the eldest son of King Lot of Orkney and Morgause , or of Anna, the sister of King Arthur (at Geoffrey of Monmouth ). He has three brothers - Gareth , Gaheris, and Agravain - as well as a foster brother named Mordred and one or two uniquely named brothers Gwalhauet and Gwalchavad (possibly two versions of the same name). They are all members of the Round Table. Soredamors is once named as Gawain's sister, Guiglain or Wigalois as sons , and Lifort Gawanides as grandson. His cousin is Owein fab Urien , like him he is known as the "man of the north" ( gwr y Gogledd ) of Galloway (near William of Malmesbury ). Because of his eloquence, mocked by the knight Cei fab Cynyr ( "... as long as your tongue and your beautiful words remain with you, a cloak of thin Bliantseide [linen batiste ] will suffice as armor , ..." , Peredur fab Efrawg , verse 32) he will called the "gold-tongued".

In the late (14th / 15th century) fragment of Arthur's birth and how he became king (manuscripts Llanstephan Ms. 4, fol 505, Ms. 201), Gawain's parents Llew ap Kynwarch and Gwyar ferch Gwrleis, his brother Medrawt, his sisters Gracia, Graeria and Dioneta and his half-brother Hywel.

King Arthur's Round Table in the Great Hall of Winchester Castle

In contrast to Mordred, Arthur's adulterous nephew, Gawain is portrayed as the faithful nephew and protagonist . The Welsh author Grooms can be read that Gwalchmei / Gawain was a giant of stature, like all the prominent fighters for King Arthur.

The fact that Arthur's position as uncle on his mother's side is more important than that of his biological father in Gawain's biography corresponds to the high position of the mother's brother attested to in the island Celtic. This matrilinear gender sequence can be recognized, for example, in the Ogham script , where the ancient Celtic * neāts ("nephew") and * neits ("hero") coincide to form Ogham NET (T) A. Likewise, MAQQI (“son”) is often replaced by NET (T) A plus the genitive of the uncle's name.

In the inscription of the "Round Table of legendary King Arthur" kept in Winchester Castle , Gawain (here in the old French spelling gauen ) and his brother Gareth (garethe) can be read. According to a translation by the American scholar couple Loomis, Gawain sits fourth in a clockwise direction next to Arthur, Mordred (murder speech) first on the other side. According to a dendrochronological review, this table was made around 1275 from oak wood with a diameter of 6 m and during the reign of Henry VII (1485–1509) in the Tudor colors green and white and with the Tudor rose of this Welsh family in the Center repainted.

Gawain in literature

Welsh sagas (recorded in the 12th to 14th centuries)

In the chronological listing of works with Gawain, the Welsh sagas occupy a special position: on the one hand, the old oral traditions are predecessors of the Arthurian saga, on the other hand those in Llyfr Gwyn Rhydderch ("The White Book of Rhydderch") and in Llyfr Coch Hergest (" The Red Book of Hergest ”) was strongly influenced by the old French Arthurian novels that already existed at the time.

[The Y Tair Rhamant ("The Three Romances") are] Welsh adaptations of French texts, but against the background of an independent saga tradition from which those had been branched off earlier and changed in the manner typical of the novel.

These so-called "Arthurian romances", in which Gawain appears as Gwalchmei, are more recent than the four branches of Mabinogi , where King Arthur and his knights are not yet mentioned. As already mentioned, they are a mixture of orally transmitted folk legends from the 6th to 9th centuries and a courtly way of thinking influenced by the continent. Breton singers and storytellers spread the old legends about Arthur and Gawain on the continent and brought them back to the islands in a more developed form. These romances formed the "ideological" foundation for the medieval knightly culture. Gwalchmei is named in the Y Tair Rhamant as the old Cymrian model for the Gawain of the Matière de Bretagne as an exemplary knight at the court of Arthur.

In Iarlles y Ffynnawn ("The mistress of the spring") he finds his missing cousin, the knight Owein fab Urien (later name variations Yvain, Iwein). Since he and Owein do not recognize each other because of the armor-clad cover door ( cwnsallt , throw), they fight each other bitterly for three days. Only when the helmets are knocked down in a sword fight do they end the duel and offer each other victory.

And immediately Owein said: “Mr. Gwalchmei, I did not recognize you because of your robe. You are my first cousin. Take my sword and my weapons. ”-“ You, Owein, are master of me ”, replied Gwalchmei,“ for you have won. Take my sword . "

In Peredur fab Efrawg ("Peredur, the son of Efrawg") he welcomes the titular hero in the name of King Arthur after Peredur had prevailed victoriously against Kei (Cei) and becomes his companion. Together they set out from the king's court, Peredur to solve the mystery of the bloody lance, Gwalchmei to help a distressed maiden. After a few adventures, they fight together against the witches of Gloucester ( gwidonot Caer Loyw ), who murdered Peredur's cousin with the lance, and kill them all.

In Gereint fab Erbin ("Gereint, the son of the heiress") it is said of Gwalchmei that he ... stood out most of the nine captains because of his fame, his martial prowess and the dignity of his descent. When Gereint and his young wife Enit returned to the realm of his father's heir, Gwalchmei accompanied him there with some of the knights of the court and gave him good advice for the government.

Thereupon Gwalchmei said: “It is best for you if you satisfy the supplicants today. Tomorrow you may then receive the homage [of the men] of your kingdom . "

In other, partly older, stories there is no discernible influence of the continental Arthurian novels. One of the oldest Welsh legends about Arthur is Culhwch ac Olwen ("Kulhwch and Olwen"). Gwalchmai fab Gwyar is mentioned as a nephew of King Arthur, he is the fastest runner and the best rider of the warband, who fulfills every task to the satisfaction of the king. In the later novels of the Matière de Bretagne, these magical abilities are reinterpreted as Gauvain's martial skills and courtly behavior. Together with Gwalchmei, his brother Gwalhauet, who is not mentioned anywhere else, is given, both in the list of the knights participating in the procession against Ysbaddaden . They are no longer mentioned in the plot itself.

In the only fragmentary surviving Ystoria Drystan , Gwalchmei is called "Lord of Peace" because he was commissioned by Arthur to settle the dispute between Drystan fab Tallwch and his uncle March fab Meirchiawn over the love of Essyllts . He succeeds in doing this, if only for a while, by trying to change the mind of the two enemies by singing Englyns (a traditional Kymric stanza form ).

The infinite wave roars
When the ocean wave is at the height of the tide.
Who are you, fiery warrior?
[...]
Drystane with morals without blame,
I found no mistake in your speech
Gwalchmei was your companion.

Drystan initially reacts angrily to Gwalchmei's attempts to appease him (see Cei's mock talk above), but finally lets himself be changed and accepts Arthur as a mediator.

The satirical work Breuddwyd Rhonabwy ("Rhonabwy's Dream") is the latest known autochthonous (on-the-spot) Arthurian tale from Wales. Here Gwalchmei is counted only once in the dream period among Arthur's advisors.

In an early edition of the Trioedd Ynys Prydein ("The Triads of the Isle of Britain") Gwalchmei is called one of the "three wealthy men of Britain".

Medieval Arthurian legends and the beginning of the Matière de Bretagne (12th to 14th centuries)

The English historian William of Malmesbury reports in De Gestis Regum Anglorum II, 342 (around 1125) that although Walwen's (Gauvain's) tomb was found, it was mortal, but Arthur's tomb was not, because he was returning.

At this time (1066-87) 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. [...] But the tomb of Arthur is now here 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, [...]
(“At this time (1066–87) the grave of Walwen, Arthur's nephew, who was not degenerate, was found in the Welsh province of R (h) os by his sister. […] But Arthur's grave is nowhere to be seen, which is why old songs of his were found The other's grave, however, as I said, was discovered at the time of King Wilhelm on the seashore, [...] ")

In the Lai (short poem) Lanval by the French poet Marie de France , written around 1170, Gauvain is Lanval's only loyal friend in an intrigue that Queen Guinevere is spinning against him. Walewein / Walewijn (= Gâwân) by the Dutch authors Pennic ("Pfennig") and Pieter Vostaert is the title of a story from the 12th century.

Gauvain et le prêtre , from Le Chevalier de la charrette by Chrétien de Troyes (15th century)

Four other works in which Gawain appears are the novels Erec et Enide , Le Chevalier de la charrette ("The Cart Knight", 1177–1181), Yvain ou Le Chevalier au lion ("Iwein or the Lion Knight", 1180 to 1190) and Li Contes del Graal ou Le roman de Perceval (around 1190, unfinished) by the French founder of the courtly novel , Chrétien de Troyes . In Chrétien's first Arthurian novel, Erec et Enide , the king encourages the hunt for the white stag. Gauvain advises against, since it is part of the custom of this hunt that the person who killed the white stag should kiss the most beautiful maiden in the court and that would provoke this quarrel. When it really comes to that, Gauvain is asked for advice again, advising to wait and see.

But I can tell you the names of some of the noblest barons, namely those of the Round Table, who were the best in the world. Of all these good knights, Gauvain deserves the first rank, the second Erec, son of Lac, and the third Lancelot of the lake.

In the cart knight , Gawain fails in an attempt to free Guinevere, kidnapped by Meleagant , while Lancelot succeeds in this out of true love for the queen. Another novel by Chrétien, Cligès (around 1176; also Cligés , from the Greek Γλυκύζ "sweet"), is about Gauvain's sister, Soredamors, and her relationship with the Byzantine Alexander - their son is the eponymous hero. According to the author, he conceived this novel as anti-Tristan, but it does not contain any traditional content on the Celtic Arthurian theme. Hartmann von Aue , an important epic of the Middle High German Classical period, wrote Iwein, a free adaptation of Chrétien's work Yvain , around 1200 . The climax of the novel is an anonymous duel as a divine judgment between old friends Iwein and Gwain, who only recognize each other after a long struggle and, with Arthur's help, can end the dispute that led to God's judgment.

Perlesvaus , also Li Hauz Livres du Graal ("The high story of the Holy Grail"), a continuation of Chrétien's Li Contes del Graal , is considered to be the first old French prose novel, which is said to have been written between 1200 and 1240: Perlesvaus, Gauvain and Lancelot reach the Grail Castle. Gauvain succeeds here in winning the sword with which John the Baptist was beheaded.

In Parzival - Epic (end of the 12th century originated) of the German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach , who for Chrétien's Perceval used as a model, Gawain, the secular counter-figure for spiritual Gralsrittertum Parzival is Gawain in Wolfram. Of tavelrunder hôhster pris (301 V. , 7), in contrast to other knights, when conquering Klingsor's Schastelmarveil Castle, he has the skills to withstand all dangers safely, because he is equipped with the right skills and the best equipment: experience in affairs of the minnesia, martial arts, the heavy oak shield and the right prayer at the right time. But he is no longer the flawless knight of earlier stories, because when he first met the king's sister Antikonie in a previous episode, he put her under her cloak and he ruort irz hüffelîn (v. 407,2), although it is not entirely clear which one Body part he touches. Here, and in other later novels, his strong love of ministry is cited as the source of his shortcomings.

In entstandenem the same time Roman de l'Estoire dou Graal of the Anglo-Normans Robert de Boron is Perceval / Parzival and Gawain go in search for the Holy Grail and the Holy Lance . Gauvain cannot find either the Grail or the Lance, but he frees hundreds of women captured.

In the Arthurian novel Diu Crône (around 1230) by the Middle High German epic poet Heinrich von dem Türlin , Gawain is an equal main character alongside King Arthur. In the Other World of his lover Amurfina, Gawain almost loses his identity, while doppelgangers represent him at Artus Court:

He's so forgiven
That he is his own name
Neither bechant nor vernam
Still enwest who he same what. (Verses 8673-8676)

The topic of the “beheading game” is dealt with in an episode (verses 13164-13175), here Gawain faces the ax of the magician Gansguoter , who also spares him.

Rustichello da Pisa , better known as the co-author of the travelogue Il Milione by Marco Polo , wrote several chivalric novels in Old French on behalf of Edward I of England from 1270 to 1275. Two that have survived deal with stories about King Arthur and his knightly round, in which Gawain plays an essential role. These are Gyron le Courteois aveque la devise des armes de tous les chevaliers de la table Ronde ("The courtier Gyron with the battle stories of all the knights of the round table") and Meliadus de Leonnoys; Ensemble plusieurs autres nobles promesses de chevalerie faites par le Roy Artus, Palameses et Galliot de Pré ("Meliadus de Leonnoys; many other knightly deeds of King Arthur, Palamedes and Galliot de Pré").

The French stories written in the 13th century, such as Chevalier aux deux Epées , Les Merveilles de Rigomer , Escanor , Vengeance Raguidel and L'Átre Périlleux , depict Gawain in an exaggeratedly negative way, in contrast to the early courtly novels, as a broken word , murderer and rapist. He sometimes loses his knowledge of his own name and only through an act of gallant generosity can he free himself from the entanglement of guilt ( L'Átre Périlleux , v. 5734-5744).

Gawan and the Green Knight, medieval manuscript representation

The alliteration -Ritterromanze Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1400, author unknown) reported in 101 stanzas of unequal length with a total of 2,530 lines in four fyttes (chants) of Sir Gawain's discussion of the "Green Knight". He challenges the round table to a "beheading game", which Gawain agrees to do against the will of his uncle Arthur. The plot follows the Irish legend Fled Bricrenn ("Bricrius Fest"). However, the main focus here is on Gawain's encounter with the beautiful castle wife of the Green Knight Sir Bertilak, who wants to seduce him on behalf of her husband in order to tarnish the honor of the round table by this misstep of one of her knights.

And from her church seat she came with many handsome maids. In body and face, skin and shape, color and movement, she was more beautiful than all the others, even more lovely than Guinevere, it seemed to Gawain. He walked across the choir room to pay homage to her grace. (39.951-8)

Again, Gawain does not behave flawlessly, he shows a lack of courage in the (apparent) decapitation and steals a green belt from the castle woman. When this became known on his return to the Artus Court, the other knights of the round table show solidarity with him despite his guilt and from then on they all wear such a green belt.

The subject of Gawan's marriage deals with Wife of Bath's Tale by the English writer Geoffrey Chaucer , where the hero remains nameless, but is clearly recognizable as Gawan. Gawan's descent is settled in Rome in the Middle Latin prose novel De ortu Waluuani Nepotis Arturi ("From the origin of Gawans, Arthur's nephew"). There Gawan, the son of Arthur's sister Anna, made a career as a cavalry officer. In a fight with Persians and pirates he tries in vain to free Jerusalem , fights unrecognized and victorious with Arthur and Keie and is finally accepted into the round table. The author of the work is unknown. Arthur's sister Anna is also mentioned as the mother of Gualgu (i) nus' (Gualgwinus, Walwan (i) us) in the Historia Regum Britanniae of the Welsh historian and clergyman Geoffrey of Monmouths (IX, 9).

Gawan's son and grandson Lifort Gawanides ("the strong Gawanid") are the protagonists of the so-called Gawanid novels , which include Le Bel Inconnu , Wigalois , Libeaus Desconnus and a few others.

In the post-Arthurian verse novel Wigalois by the Middle High German poet Wirnt von Grafenberg , written at the beginning of the 13th century, Gawan and Florie von Syrie have a son, the title hero Wigalois.

Gawain's son Guiglain, also Sir Gingalain or Le Bel Inconnu ("The beautiful stranger") is in the novel of the same name, written between 1185 and 1190 by the French Renaut de Beaujeu (De Bâgé), the savior of the "Miss with the white hands", who by a vicious knight is worshiped against their will. The English version of Libeau's Desconnus (around 1340) also takes up this theme .

Late medieval matière de Bretagne (up to the 16th century)

The Irish story Eachtra an Mhadra Mhaoil ("The adventures of the dog with the clipped ears") was probably written in the 15th and 16th centuries. Century as a reflection of the Matière de Bretagne in the British Isles. Here, similar to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , Gawain, under the Irish name Balbhuaidh, is opponent of the Rídíre an Lóchrainn ("Knight with the Lantern"), who challenges the Arthurian court . The king's residence is called Halla Deirg ("Red Hall"). Balbhuaidh's helper is the eponymous dog with cropped ears and tail, but in truth the bewitched brother Alastrann Iongantach ("Alastrann the miraculous") of the knight with the lantern. He once enchanted him into a dog out of revenge, because in contrast to the continental stories, the protagonists are shown here with mythical / magical abilities based on old Irish legends. So Balbhuaidh's opponent can disappear at any time with the help of a magic mist ( Fíth-fáth ) . The plot is reminiscent of the old Irish Immramas (adventurous sea voyages like Immram Brain or Immram Curaig Maíle Dúin ) with the chase across some islands described therein . The name Balbhuaidh is likely to be derived from the Dutch Walewijn , just as the content could also be traced back to Dutch traditions (see above).

In a novel from the so-called Post-Vulgate cycle, the knight Pelleas loves the beautiful arcade. Although he wins a tournament on her behalf, she refuses to see him. Sir Gawain vows to help Pelleas by going to Arcade in his armor and pretending to have killed him. However, Gawain falls in love with Arcade himself and cheats on Pelleas with her. He looks for them and finds them in bed together. He leaves his bare sword between the two and returns home. The next morning, Arcade recognizes the sword, and Gawain remembers his promise. He convinces Arcade to hear Pelleas and leads them to each other.

The Death of Sir Lamorak - Book Illustration by Newell Convers Wyeth (1882–1945)

In the post-Vulgate version of Le Morte Darthur (around 1470) by Sir Thomas Malory , a Welsh or Englishman, the swan song for ancient chivalry, the group of Orkney brothers Gawaine, Gaheris, Agravaine and Gareth, related to Arthur, is named shown here as an element of unrest and tension within the knighthood. Gawaines brother Gareth is freed from low service by Lancelot and knighted, which he thanks him with the transfer to the rival group around Lancelot and his relatives Ector, Lionel and Bors . This leads to tragic events as a result. For example, a knight named Sir Lamorak from Wales is slain by the Orkney Brothers under Gawaine's leadership in a dishonorable fight (“They fought with him on foot more than three hours, both before him and behind him.”) . His cousin Sir Pinel le Savage then poisoned the dessert fruit because he knew Gwalchmai’s preference for apples and pears, but the attack hits the innocent knight Parise. Gawaine accuses Guinevere of this act, believing that she wanted to murder him. For the divine judgment that was therefore imposed on the queen , a duel for life and death, Bors first reports as a fighter for her, and then Lancelot victoriously fights in his place. In revenge, Gawaine later reveals Lancelot's love for Guinevere and again Lancelot has to stand up for her lover, who is threatened by fire, in a divine judgment. The story of Pelleas and Ettarde (instead of Arcade) is also incorporated into this plot by Mallory. In these tales, Gawaine is by no means the impeccable knight of the old round table.

In the treated here texts of European Arthurian tradition Gawain stands out as inextricably ambivalent figure, according to how widespread before a fama chivalrous excellence of the true, but at the same time with harsh accusations innerworldly transgression (violation, violation, transgression) is confronted without ever being able to completely refute or shake it off. (Quote Eva Bolta)

Modern receptions (from the 19th century)

In the more recent stories, Gawain is portrayed much more controversially. Another version of the story about Pelleas with his wife Ettarre is described by the Victorian poet Tennyson in his gloomy Idylls of the king (1859), again Gawain is the seducer and adulterer. At William Morris , a London painter, poet and printer in one scene of his work The Defense of Guinevere, and Other Poems reported (1858) as Guinevere, betrayed by Gauwaine, this by describing her love for Lancelot ( "[... ] more than Arthur's great name and his little love ") to the unsuccessful retraction of his accusation.

In humorous Professor Roman also one (1878) of the German literary scholar Vischer is the chapter 's visit referred to in a stilt village in Helvetia a Celt called Gwalchmai, which has nothing to do with the Arthurian heroes, it is only a Namensentlehnung (a Gwennywar happens).

Gawân: Ein Mysterium is a drama in five acts by the German writer Eduard Stucken and waspremieredin 1907 at the Residenztheater in Munich . It follows the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with some changes. So the Virgin Mary intervenespersonally to protect Gawan and, contrary to the usual tradition, he finds the Holy Grail at the end.

The Irish poet William Butler Yeats wrote his prose drama The Golden Helmet in 1908 , which was followed in 1910 by the Alexandrian version of The Green Helmet , which he himself referred to as An Heroic Farce . Yeats follows the plot of Fled Bricrenn with close involvement of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , although he draws on characters from the ancient Celtic saga of Cú Chulainn . He surprises his companions in green clothes, which is why they consider him a monster, the actual opponent (in the Arthurian novel the Green Knight ) appears all in red. The dialect coloring of the text creates a comedy that the poet intended.

Gawain is one of the main characters in the Prince Iron Heart comic series (from 1937) by the American Hal Foster . The expelled Prince of Thule settles with some faithful in the British marshland, while exploring the country he is able to save the knight Gawain from robbers and a giant sea crocodile. Gawain takes him under his care as a squire, brings him to Camelot and ensures that Eisenherz becomes a knight of the round table. Later they have some adventures together.

In the drama Les chevaliers de la table ronde (1937) by the French writer, director and painter Jean Cocteau , Merlin is a figure traced back to Mephistopheles . He sends his servant Ginifer in various guises, including as Gauvin, Galaad and Guinèvre, to Arthur's court in order to intoxicate everyone there (intoxiquer) . Only Galaad breaks the spell and thereby causes Merlin's death.

The Briton Terence Hanbury White portrays Gawain as a barbarian from the northern islands (Orkney), who speaks an involuntarily comical mixture of Celtic-Nordic-English dialects in his novel The Once and Future King (“The King on Camelot”, 1958). As in Malory's Le Morte Darthur, he and his brothers are the troublemaker at the royal court. As Arthur's personal squire, White lets the poet Malory perform himself.

In the translation of N. Davis' Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1967) from Middle English is an essay by the British philologist and fantasy author JRR Tolkien from his volume The Monsters and Their Critics. To read collected essays as an afterword. Tolkien names Gawain in the commentary on his temptation and confession (third chant of the original), a sun-like mythical figure who shines through the polite Sir Gawain, King Arthur's nephew [...] [...] . The main focus of his treatise Tolkien puts on the word keeping opposite the "green" and the temptation that Gawain is exposed to by the lady of the castle of the "white castle" and why he can resist it.

In 1980 the American writer Gillian Bradshaw also deals in a trilogy with Gawan, whom she calls Gwalchmai following the Kymrian tradition. The first part, The Hawk of May ("Falcon of Light") is told from the perspective of Gwalchmai. He is the father of Gwyn, who serves as a page to Queen Gwynhwyfar and is killed by Bedwyr , Gwynhwyfar's lover. The subsequent volumes Kingdom of Summer and In Winter's Shadow are told from the perspective of Gwalchmai's servant Rhys ap Sion and Empress Gwynhwyfar. While the second volume still places the person of Gwalchmais in the center of the story, he only appears as a minor character in the final volume of the trilogy, but occurs very often and causes the war against Little Britain because he avenges the murder of his son Gwyn want. Throughout the cycle, Gillian Bradshaw tells of Gwalchmai's youth in the Orkneys and of his service under Arthur in the Battle of Camlann until his death.

The conglomerate (quote from Birkhan ) Merlin or Das wüsten Land (1981–1982) by Tankred Dorst , a German playwright and writer, shows a Merlin disguised as a puffmother who wants to seduce Sir Gawain. It fails because he does not allow himself to be distracted from the search for the Grail.

The feminist - esoteric fantasy novel The Mists of Avalon (1982) by the American Marion Zimmer Bradley about the downfall of Avalon from Morgaines point of view names Gawain Morgause and Lot's eldest son. He is the most famous knight at Arthur's court after Lancelot. The number of fantasy novels in which Gawain also appears is almost unmanageable ( e.g. Mordred, son of Arthur by Nancy Springer, 2004).

In the five-part Pendragon cycle by the American Stephen Lawhead , Gwalchavad, Gwalchmai's brother (here disfigured for Galahad) reports to the wounded King Arthur about the Grail (part 5, Grail ; 1997).

In The Knights of the Round Table (1989), the German writer and essayist Christoph Hein lets Gawain, who has grown old, reside at Chastell Merveille, the “Castle of the Hundred Women” (the Schastel marveile in Wolframs von Eschenbach's Parzival ), where he, from the Round Table formally resigned, just want to start a family and cultivate the land.

Medieval pictorial representations

Gawain fighting with Iwein. (Princeton University Library, Garrett MS. 125; circa 1295)

On the Porta della Pescheria of Modena Cathedral you can see a depiction of the storming of a castle (originated between 1100 and 1140). Some people are identified by name, such as Artus , Winlogee (Guinevere), Che (Keie) and Galvaginus (Gawain). He fights with the giant Carrado for entry into the fortress.

Gawain is represented as Gabein together with Parzival and Iwein around 1390 on the wall paintings on the summer house of Runkelstein Castle as a representative of the knight ideal . Another part of the fresco, which has the Wigalois von Wirnt von Grafenberg as its theme, can only be reconstructed on the basis of earlier copies.

Gawain can be found on numerous illustrations of medieval manuscripts , for example on a miniature of the prose Lancelot (around 1475). Here you can see the grail tablet , presided over by Galaad , Gawain sits as the third knight on his right.

Movies and television

Due to the large number of films with and about Gawain, only a few titles can be named as examples:

See also

swell

  • Les romans de Chrétien de Troyes. Édités d'après la copie de Guiot (Bibl. Nat., Fr. 794). 5 volumes. H. Champion, Paris (text in old French, introduction and glossary in French):
    • Volume 2: Cligés. ( Les Classiques Français du Moyen Âge. No. 84). Publié by Alexandre Micha. 1957, (Reprint 1982, ISBN 2-85203-045-4 ).
    • Volume 3: Le Chevalier de la Charrete ( Les Classiques Français du Moyen Âge. No. 86). Publié by Mario Roques. 1958, (Reprint 1997, ISBN 2-85203-807-2 ).
    • Volume 5 Part 1: Le Conte du Graal (Perceval) ( Les Classiques Français du Moyen Âge. No. 100). Volume 1: Verses 1-6008. Publié by Félix Lecoy . 1972, (Reprinted 1990, ISBN 2-85203-039-X ).
    • Volume 5 Part 2: Le Conte du Graal (Perceval) ( Les Classiques Français du Moyen Âge. No. 103). Volume 2: Verses 6009-8960. Publié by Félix Lecoy. 1975, ISBN (Reprinted 1998, ISBN 2-85203-910-9 ).
  • Wolfram von Eschenbach: Parzival. Peter Knecht (Ed. And transl.), Reclam, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-15-010708-9 .
  • Text edition: Robert de Boron: Le roman du Saint-Graal. Monica Schöler-Beinhauer (ed. And transl.), 1981.
  • Manfred Markus (ed. And transl.): Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Reclam, Stuttgart 1974.
  • Wigalois. Reprint of the Strasbourg 1519 edition, Helmut Melzer (Hrsg.), Deutsche Volksbücher in facsimile prints; Series A, Volume 10, Hildesheim 1973.

literature

Web links

Commons : Gawan  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gwalchmai with Helmut Birkhan: Gwalchmei with Bernhard Maier; the syllable -mei, -mai is uncertain, possibly from the Middle Cymrian ma (field) or from the modern Welsh month name May (with Rachel Bromwich)
  2. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 1, pp. 44, 254 note 37.
  3. ↑ a b Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 108 f, and note 4.
  4. ↑ Arthur is the older Celtic, Arthur is the old French spelling, which was also adopted in the other-language continental Arthurian novels
  5. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 1, p. 254, note 37.
  6. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2, p. 143.
  7. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 93.
  8. ↑ Chris Grooms: The Giants of Wales. Cewri Cymru. (= Welsh Studies. 10). Lewiston / Queenston / Lampeter 1993, p. 230.
  9. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. P. 1026.
  10. ↑ Article Loomis in the English language Wikipedia.
  11. ↑ RS Loomis, LH Loomis: Arthurian Legends in Medieval Art. New York 1938. (New edition: Kraus Reprint, 1975, ISBN 0-527-58300-6 ) p. 40 f, Fig. 18. The clockwise order is: arthur , galahallt , launcelot deu lac, gauen, percivale, lyonell, trystram de lyens , garethe, bedwere , bloberrys, la cote maletayle, lucane, plomydes , lamorak, born de ganys, safer, pelleus , kay, ector de marys, dagonet , degore , brumear, lybyus dysconyus, alynore, murder speech.
  12. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 181.
  13. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 1, p. 41.
  14. ↑ Wolfgang Meid: The Celts. P. 225 f.
  15. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 1, p. 88 ff. (Full paragraph Iarlles y Ffynnawn )
  16. ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture. P. 155.
  17. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 1, p. 135 ff.
  18. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 1, pp. 177 f, 208. (whole paragraph Gereint fab Erbin )
  19. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 136.
  20. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2, p. 46 f. (full paragraph Culhwch ac Olwen )
  21. ↑ see Englynion Gereint # englyn
  22. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2, p. 115 f. (full paragraph Ystoria Drystan )
  23. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celtic stories from the emperor Arthur. Part 2, pp. 140, 202.
  24. ^ A b c Thomas Green: Arthuriana. Paragraph Gwalchmei (see web link)
  25. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 152.
  26. ^ Edmund Kerchever Chambers : Arthur of Britain , London, 1927, p. 17.
  27. ↑ Ray Dunning: The Celts. P. 96 f.
  28. ↑ Volume 7 of Text in context : Whale wine. Amsterdam University Press, 2006, ISBN 90-5356-791-7 .
  29. ↑ Hermann Reichert : The Arthurian novel - its origin and its social environment. Lecture text at the University of Vienna , 2009, pp. 7, 12, 19.
  30. ↑ Ingrid Kasten (Ed.): “Cligès” by Chrétien de Troyes. Based on the text by Wendelin Foerster . de Gruyter, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-11-018854-6 .
  31. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 189.
  32. ↑ Kurt Ruh : On the interpretation of Hartmann's "Iwein". In: Hugo Kuhn, Christoph Cormeau (eds.): Hartmann von Aue. (= Paths of Research. Volume 359). Darmstadt 1973, pp. 408-425.
  33. ↑ Armand Strubel: Le Haut Livre du Graal (Perlesvaus). Librairie Générale Française, Paris 2007, ISBN 978-2-253-08224-8 .
  34. ^ A b Eva Bolta: Gawain in the European context. P. 13 f.
  35. ^ Wolfram von Eschenbach: Parzival. Book XIII.
  36. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, pp. 200, 205.
  37. ^ Eva Bolta: Gawain in the European context. P. 19 f.
  38. ↑ a b Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 217 f.
  39. ↑ Frances Wood: Marco Polo did not get to China. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1995, ISBN 3-492-03886-7 , p. 58 f.
  40. ^ Eva Bolta: Gawain in the European context. P. 22 ff.
  41. ^ A b Hans J. Schütz (transl.): Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-608-93263-1 , appendix JRR Tolkien, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight .
  42. ^ A b Eva Bolta: Gawain in the European context. P. 26 f.
  43. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, pp. 220 f, 228, footnote 1.
  44. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 244.
  45. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, pp. 192, 216.
  46. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 224 f.
  47. ↑ Between 1215 and 1230 the so-called “ Vulgate cycle ” was created, a five-part work on the Grail, Merlin and Lancelot (Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 213); later works of this type are assigned to the "Post-Vulgate cycle".
  48. ↑ Janet Mackay Ferrier: Forerunners of the French novel; The story of Pelleas and Arcade. Manchester University Press, 1954, pp. 104 ff.
  49. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 238 ff.
  50. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 261 ff.
  51. ↑ Friedrich Theodor Vischer: Also one: A travel acquaintance . tredition, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-8424-2143-1 (524 pages, limited preview in Google book search).
  52. ↑ a b c d Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 290 ff.
  53. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 661.
  54. ↑ a b c Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 306 ff.
  55. ^ Marion Zimmer Bradley: The Fog of Avalon, S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 2000, 25th edition, ISBN 3-596-28222-5 , pp. 1117-1118.
  56. ↑ Representation of Gabein at Runkelstein Castle around 1390 ( Memento from November 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  57. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Nachantike Keltenrezeption. 2009, p. 325 f.
  58. ↑ Ulrich Rehm: "Daz was ein dinc, das hiez der Grail." On the iconography of the Grail in the Middle Ages. In: The Grail. 1995, p. 50, fig. 20 (Bibliothèque nationale de France 116, fol. 610).