King Arthur & the Matter of Britain
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Gawain is the eldest son of Lot of Orkney and Morgause. He is the nephew of Arthur and one of his closest companions. He is the brother of Gareth, Gaheris and Agravaine, and the half-brother of Mordred.
Gawain figures prominently in many romances. In France he is generally presented as one who has adventures paralleling in diptych fashion but not overshadowing the hero's, whether that hero be Lancelot or Perceval. In the English tradition, however, it is much more common for Gawain to be the principal hero and the exemplar of courtesy and chivalry, as he is in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the other Arthurian romances of the Alliterative Revival." -- from the Introduction at The Camelot Project, The University of Rochester
The English Romances
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Middle English, edited by J.R.R. Tolkien and E.V. Gordon, revised by Norman Davis, 1967 (at the University of Virginia), in the original orthography:
SIŽEN že sege and že assaut watz sesed at Troye
Že bor3 brittened and brent to bronde3 and askez
<!-- The version called
Sir Gawayne
and the Grene Knyght at Douglas Johnston's Arthurian
Home Page is also based on the Davis revision
of Tolkien
& Gordon, but with modern orthography:
THEN the sege and the assaut watz sesed at Troye,
The borygh brittened and brent to brondeygh and askez
-->The version called
Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knyght at the University of Pennsylvania is also based on the Davis revision of Tolkien
& Gordon, but with partially modernized orthography:
THEN the sege and the assaut wat3 sesed at Troye,
The bor3 brittened and brent to brondeygh and aske3
Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales edited with extensive introductions and commentary by Thomas Hahn, at TEAMS:
- The Grene Knight
- The Awyntyrs off Arthur [The Adventures of Arthur]
- The Avowing of Arthur
- The Jeaste of Sir Gawain
- The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain
- The Marriage of Sir Gawain
- Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle
- The Carle of Carlisle
- The Turke and Sir Gawain
- The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnell
- King Arthur and King Cornwall
Ywain and Gawain, edited by Mary Flowers Braswell, from
Sir Perceval of Galles and Ywain and Gawain, also at TEAMS.
Online Resources for Tales of Gawain
Gawain: Texts, Images, Basic Information at the Camelot Project.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Anniina Jokinen is part of the
Anthology of Middle English Literature and includes links to essays and student projects on Gawain.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Kim Neininger at Pace University includes
A Character Analysis of Sir Gawain as Presented in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
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