Who Is Gawain?
King Arthur's nephew, who learned his oath through failure
Sir Gawain
Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and one of the leading Knights of the Round Table. He is the eldest son of King Lot of Orkney and Morgause, and the older brother of Gaheris, Agravain, and Gareth. In Malory's text his name is spelled "Sir Gawaine."
In Episode 4, he has just been made a knight on the day of Arthur's wedding. He sets out on a quest to chase a white hart that bursts into the feast, but when his hounds are killed, he flies into a rage and refuses mercy to Sir Ablamar, who has surrendered. He accidentally cuts off the head of a lady who throws herself between them, and is rebuked by his brother Gaheris. Back at court, he is judged by the queen and her ladies and swears to protect women all his life and never refuse mercy to anyone who asks for it.
In Malory's stories, Gawain is a knight whose strength grows from morning until noon. He is also famous as the hero of the 14th-century English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Episodes featuring this character2
NEWEpisode 4
The Mistake That Wrote the Knights' CodeGawain and the Pentecostal Oath
Knighted on King Arthur's wedding day, young Gawain is desperate to win glory. When his hounds are killed, he flies into a rage, refuses a beaten knight's plea for mercy, and the lady who throws herself between them dies by his hand. He doesn't run. He carries his shame back to the court, and the vow he swears there becomes the oath of every Knight of the Round Table.
19 pages
NEWEpisode 7
She Mocked Him. He Kept Winning.Beaumains, the Kitchen Knight
Mocked as "Fair Hands" and worked to the bone in the castle kitchen for a whole year, a nameless youth called Beaumains finally gets his quest. With his guide Lynette insulting him every step of the way, he quietly defeats the Black, Green, Red and Indigo knights, then faces the deadliest foe of all: the Red Knight of the Red Launds, who grows as strong as seven men at noon.
19 pages