Gawain
Gawain is one of the central figures of Arthurian literature, attested across three sources in this entity's record: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Le Morte d'Arthur, and the Roman de Brut.
Gawain is one of the central figures of Arthurian literature, attested across three sources in this entity's record: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Le Morte d'Arthur, and the Roman de Brut. He is Arthur's nephew, brother to Agravaine, a member of the Round Table, and throughout the sources is presented as a model of knightly virtue -- though the nature of that virtue varies significantly between texts.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain is the poem's protagonist and moral centre. He accepts the Green Knight's challenge to exchange blows with an axe, striking off the Green Knight's head only to see the stranger pick it up and ride away, demanding that Gawain meet him at the Green Chapel in a year and a day. The intervening narrative tests Gawain's adherence to the five virtues symbolized by the pentangle on his shield: franchise, fellowship, cleanness, courtesy, and pity (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part II, Wherefore Sir Gawain bare the pentangle).
The temptation sequence at Hautdesert, where the lord's wife visits Gawain's chamber on three successive mornings, is the poem's moral core. Gawain resists her sexual advances with courtesy but ultimately accepts her green girdle, which she claims will protect him from death. By concealing this gift from his host -- breaking their exchange-of-winnings covenant -- Gawain introduces the sole moral failure that the Green Knight later reveals at the Chapel. The knight's judgment is measured: the nick on Gawain's neck represents his one faltering, but "I hold thee polished as pure, as clean of sin, as though thou hadst never sinned since thou wast born" (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part IV).
Gawain's response to this qualified absolution is shame rather than relief. He wears the green girdle as a badge of his fault, and when he returns to Camelot, the court adopts it as a collective honour. The author "faithfully preserves Gawain's original character as a model of knightly virtues and courtesy" while simultaneously demonstrating the impossibility of perfect adherence to that model.
The three sources present Gawain in markedly different registers. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, with the overwhelming majority of citations, treats him as a figure of psychological depth. The poem narrates his journey from the marvel of the Green Knight's arrival at court (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part I, The marvel of the Green Knight) through the making of the covenant (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part I, The making of the covenant) and Gawain's daring the venture and giving the blow (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part I, How Sir Gawain dared the venture; The giving of the blow). His arming is described in ceremonial detail (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part II, The arming of Sir Gawain), and the pentangle's significance is expounded at length (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part II, Wherefore Sir Gawain bare the pentangle). His journey north (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part II, Of Sir Gawain's journey) brings him to the castle where he is welcomed (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part II, How Sir Gawain was welcomed), encounters the lady of the castle (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part II, The lady of the castle), and makes a covenant with his host (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part II, Sir Gawain makes a covenant with his host).
The temptation unfolds across three mornings: the lady comes to his chamber (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part III, How the lady of the castle came to Sir Gawain), kisses him (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part III, How the lady kissed Sir Gawain), and strives to beguile him with words of love (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part III, How the lady strove to beguile Sir Gawain with words of love). She offers her ring and then her girdle (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part III, She would give him her ring; Or her girdle). Gawain takes the girdle (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part III, How Sir Gawain took the girdle), fails to exchange it fully with his host (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part III, How Sir Gawain kept not all the covenant), and takes his leave (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part III, How Sir Gawain took leave of his host).
At the Green Chapel, the squire warns him (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part IV, The squire's warning) but Gawain is undismayed (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part IV, Sir Gawain is none dismayed). The Green Knight arrives and deals the blow (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part IV, The coming of the Green Knight; How the Green Knight dealt the blow). The reproaches follow (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part IV, Of the Green Knight's reproaches), and Gawain confesses his fault (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part IV, Sir Gawain makes confession of his fault). His shame is acute (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part IV, The shame of Sir Gawain), and he wears the girdle home as a token of failure (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part IV, How Sir Gawain would keep the girdle; How Sir Gawain came again to Camelot).
Le Morte d'Arthur mentions him in the context of the eleven kings' rebellion (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter XII). The Roman de Brut places him in the war with Rome. The poem's genius lies in making Gawain's failure minor by any external measure but devastating by his own standards. The pentangle demands perfection; the girdle represents the gap between ideal and human capacity.