Gaheris — Loredex

Gaheris is a knight of the Round Table in Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, brother to Gawaine and nephew to Arthur. He first appears as a squire alongside Gawaine, urging restraint at court before seeking knighthood and vengeance in due time (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book III, Chapter IV). His career spans tournament combat, diplomatic missions, and a defining act of violence: the killing of his own mother upon discovering her liaison with Sir Lamorak, an act that reverberates through the final books of the text.

Gaheris's story culminates in the tragedy of the Grail quest's aftermath. Commanded by Arthur to attend Queen Guenever's execution, both he and Gareth went reluctantly and unarmed, declaring "it shall be sore against our will" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XX, Chapter VIII). They were slain by Launcelot in the rescue of the queen, a death that Arthur mourned with such intensity that "the king swooned for pure sorrow" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XX, Chapter IX).

All forty-five citations derive from Le Morte d'Arthur, but Gaheris occupies two distinct registers within the text. In the middle books, he functions as a competent but secondary tournament knight. He jousts with Sir Tristram at a lodging, and "Sir Gaheris had a fall" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IX, Chapter XXIII). He and Dinadan fight together, with "Sir Gaheris and Sir Dinadan" separating quarrelling combatants (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IX, Chapter XXIII). He bears news to King Arthur, reporting on Tristram's deeds at tournament: "Right so came Sir Gaheris and told King Arthur how Sir Tristram had smitten down Sir Palomides" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IX, Chapter XXXIV). At King Mark's court in Cornwall, he receives "great cheer" and reports on Arthur's realm: "the king reigneth as a noble knight" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IX, Chapter XXXVII). When Mark's treachery is exposed, Gaheris smites the king from his horse and strikes down Sir Andred, denouncing them: "Fie on you both, for a false traitor, and false treason hast thou wrought" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book IX, Chapter XXVIII).

He releases prisoners from Sir Turquine's castle after Launcelot's victory, throwing "the porter unto the ground and took the keys from him" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VI, Chapter IX). He later testifies to King Arthur about the battle, saying he "saw all the battle from the beginning to the ending" and that Turquine was "the strongest knight that ever he saw except Sir Launcelot" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book VI, Chapter XVIII). At tournament he encounters Sir Ossaise of Surluse and "Sir Gaheris smote him over his horse's croup" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XLVIII).

The matricide episode transforms Gaheris from a tournament figure into a tragic one. Finding his mother with Sir Lamorak, "Sir Gaheris... came to their bedside all armed, with his sword naked, and suddenly gat his mother by the hair and struck off her head" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XXIV). He told Lamorak: "the offence hast thou done... notwithstanding a man is born to offer his service; but yet shouldst thou beware with whom thou meddlest" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XXIV). Arthur banished him from court: "when it was known that Gaheris had slain his mother the king was passing wroth, and commanded him to go out of his court" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter XXIV).

In the final books, Gaheris and Gareth refuse fellowship with Agravaine's conspiracy: "So God me help, said Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth, we will not be knowing, brother Agravaine, of your deeds" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XX, Chapter I). Commanded to attend the queen's execution, Gaheris protested: "it shall be sore against our will" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XX, Chapter VIII). Their deaths at Launcelot's hands cause Arthur such grief that "the king swooned for pure sorrow" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XX, Chapter IX). Arthur ordered them interred together (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book XX, Chapter X).