The Mammoth Book of King Arthur (58 page)

→ A prose version exists as
Historij von Herrn Tristrant und der schönen Isalden
, printed in Germany in 1483, somewhat toned down, but which enabled the
original text of the poem to be reconstructed.

LE CHÈVREFEUIL,
Marie de France (French, 1170s) 118 lines

In this
lai
Marie recounts an episode in which the banished Tristan attempts to see the queen at a council the king has called. They are able to meet briefly in the
forest. Marie likens them to the honeysuckle that clings to the tree – inseparable. She also remarks that she has known this tale for some time and has seen it written down.

TRISTAN,
Béroul (French, 1190s) 4,485 lines survive

A lengthy fragment survives, perhaps about half the original. Béroul favours the common version of Eilhart, though his use of humour at certain delicate moments suggests
recognition of a more courtly mode. He has the philtre potent for only three years. King Arthur features in this version, and Iseult insists that he be present when she swears her oath of innocence
and loyalty to Mark. Béroul emphasises the duplicitous nature of their relationship and emphasises the moral message of love, trickery and deception.

LA FOLIE TRISTAN
(The Madness of Tristan), anon. (French, 1190s) 998 lines

A poem set after Tristan’s banishment, which has him disguised as a court fool in order to meet Iseult. He is so well disguised that even Iseult is unsure until Tristan is
recognised by a hound.

TRISTAN,
Gottfried von Strassburg (German, 1200s) 19,500 lines

This established the courtly version, championed by Gottfried. It emphasises the chivalrous nature of the story and concentrates on Tristan’s upbringing and early
adventures. However, Gottfried demonstrates that even though lovers may act falsely, God may still favour them if they are the victims of fate. The last section of Gottfried’s poem, from the
point when Tristan marries Iseult of the White Hands, was unfinished when he died. It was completed by Ulrich von Türheim
c
1235.

TRISTAMS SAGA OK ÍSÖNDAR,
Brother Robert (Norwegian, 1226)

Although translated for the Scandinavian court (at the behest of King Haakon), and slightly reworked, this is the only surviving complete document of the courtly version.
Brother Robert edited it for an audience not used to the courtly romances of Normandy and Germany, but otherwise it follows what is known of Thomas’s version.

TRISTAN MÉNESTREL
(Tristan as Minstrel), Gerbert de Montreuil (French, 1230s) and
TRISTAN ALS MÖNCH
(Tristan as Monk), anon (German, 1230s) 2,705
lines

Two similar poems featuring the ‘disguise’ motif in which Tristan adopts different disguises in order to see Iseult. Gerbert’s version was inserted into
his continuation of Chrétien’s
Perceval.

PROSE
TRISTAN
, anon. (French, first version 1240s, second version 1250s)

This is the first version to fully integrate the Tristan and Arthurian stories. It is clearly heavily influenced by the Vulgate Cycle, but also draws upon both the courtly and
common strains of the Tristan story. Here, Tristan’s father is Meliadus. His mother dies in childbirth, and Meliadus’s new wife takes on the wicked stepmother role. She tries to poison
Tristan but accidentally kills her own son. Tristan nevertheless asks that she not be punished. Meliadus is later murdered, and the young Tristan is raised by his tutor Governal at the court of
King Pharamont of Gaul, before moving on to King Mark in Cornwall. The story then follows the traditional thread until after Tristan marries Iseult of the White Hands. When Mark discovers Tristan
and Iseult’s affair he determines to murder them. Tristan escapes, rescues Iseult from the lepers, and flees to Logres where he becomes involved with Lancelot, staying for a while at Joyeus
Gard. He proves his worth as a knight, even besting King Arthur at a tourney, while his joust with Lancelot is declared a draw. He becomes a member of the Round Table, taking the seat previously
occupied by Morholt, whom he had killed. This version is the first to introduce Dinadan and Palamedes as Tristan’s companions. The Tristan > Iseult > Mark triangle serves as a parallel
to the Lancelot > Guenevere > Arthur triangle, and Dinadan becomes the conscience that questions what is right or wrong in the Arthurian world.

PALAMEDES,
anon. though attributed to [the fictitious] Elie de Borron (French, 1240s)

Written between the two versions of the prose
Tristan
, this story begins at the time of Arthur’s coronation, but otherwise the Arthurian world simply provides a
background to a series of
rambling adventures of the fathers of Arthurian heroes, including Esclabor (father of Palamedes), Meliadus (father of Tristan), and Lac (father of
Erec). Although written as a whole, and probably intended to develop an “elder” version of
Tristan
and
Lancelot
, the story is episodic and uncontrolled. It was usually
printed in two halves. The first half,
Meliadus
, concerns the war between Meliadus and the king of Scotland, whose queen Meliadus has abducted. The second half,
Guiron le Courtois
,
tells of the adventures of Meliadus in his search for Guiron, who had helped him win the war, and the various fortunes and misfortunes of Gurion.

→ A subsequent French version, known as the
Compilation
or
Roman de Roi Artus
, was made by Rusticiano da Pisa, friend and amanuensis of Marco Polo, sometime
in the 1270s. Rusticiano’s miscellany is like an anthology of Arthurian episodes, interpolated between and around the stories of Meliadus and Guiron, and including various stories of Tristan
and Lancelot and a truncated story of Erec and Enide.

SIR TRISTREM,
possibly by either Thomas of Erceldoune or Thomas of Kendal (English,
c
1290s) 3,344 lines.

The original Tristan story rendered in English. Although several names are changed it otherwise follows the traditional story and ignores the Arthurian embellishments.

14

GAWAIN – THE FIRST HERO

Of all the warriors closely associated with Arthur, Gawain is the only one to appear in every story and legend, yet unlike Lancelot or Tristan, he has no separate story cycle
of his own. He was always depicted as the most heroic until his career was eclipsed by Lancelot’s and his reputation suffered. Curiously, Gawain’s origins show just why that may have
happened.

1. The original Gawain

In the Welsh tales, Gawain is
Gwalchmai ap Gwyar
, and is always referred to as the son of Arthur’s sister. Since she is usually called Anna, Gwyar must have been
his father. However, Gwyar is a female name. The only Gwyar in the pedigrees is the daughter of the ubiquitous Amlawdd Wledig (which would make her Arthur’s maternal aunt), the wife of
Geraint ab Erbin. Most pedigrees list Geraint as Arthur’s cousin, but none show him as the father of Gwalchmai. So already we have a problem.

The later legends all make Gawain the eldest son of Lot. If we accept Gwyar as the proper name of Arthur’s sister (rather than Anna) and that she married Lot, the brother of Urien, this
would make Gawain a prince of Rheged. In later legends, such as that recorded by William of Malmesbury, Gawain – here called Walwen – is remembered as the ruler of Walweitha (Galloway),
the northern part of Rheged. That would make Gawain the cousin of Owain, and these two knights are frequently associated in the early romances. Gawain would have been active in the
latter half of the sixth century, and thus a contemporary of Artúir of Dyfed. He may well have been involved in most of the major battles in the North, including Arderydd and
Catraeth, though he is not mentioned in either account. Some of the later tales covered below associate Gawain with Cumbria, and this may be part of a long-standing tradition.

William of Malmesbury mentions that the tomb of Walwen/ Gawain had been found on the seashore at Rhos in North Wales. It was fourteen feet long. The
Stanzas of the Graves
records
Gwalchmai’s burial at Peryddon, which may be Periton, just south of Minehead in Somerset, but there is otherwise no association with Gwalchmai/Gawain in that area.

In
Culhwch and Olwen
, Gwalchmai is described as “the best of footmen [meaning a good traveller or scout] and the best of knights”, and it is noted that he never returned home
without achieving his quest. In later tales he is shown as courteous, friendly and chivalrous, always happy to let another take the credit for something he has achieved. He is also amazingly
persuasive, and on many an occasion it is Gawain who will resolve a difficult problem. It is only in the late romances, such as the Prose
Tristan
and Malory, that Gawain’s good nature
is changed for that of a surly, irascible lecher, and this only in comparison to Tristan or Lancelot. In almost all other tales, he is the greatest of knights and serves as a yardstick against
which the achievements of others are measured.

In many of the romances, Gawain’s strength varies with the time of day and doubles by noon. His nickname,
Gwalltafwyn
, which means “hair like reins”, is translated as
“Golden Hair”. Both of these attributes show that the character of Gwalchmai is based on a solar deity. In a remarkable piece of etymological analysis explored in
Celtic Myth and
Arthurian Romance
, Roger Sherman Loomis showed that the derivation of Gwalchmai can be traced back to the legendary Irish hero Cú Roí mac Dáiri, whom Loomis also believes
was based on a solar deity. Cú Roí was a king of Munster, and in the story
Fled Bricrenn
(discussed further below) it is Cú Roí who is the challenger in the
beheading game with which Gawain is associated. Loomis shows that Cú Roí, sometimes written as Curi, would have been translated into Welsh as
Gwri.
In the list of warriors at
Arthur’s court in
Culhwch and Olwen
is one Gwrfan
Wallt Afwyn
, “Wild Hair”. Loomis shows that Gwrfan (which means “little man”)
becomes in turn Gwrvan, Gorvan, Gauvain and Gawain, whilst the epithet becomes Gwalltafwyn, Gwalltavwin, Galvagin, Galvain, Gawain, and that
Gwalltafwyn
is the origin of Gwalchmai, usually
interpreted as “Hawk of May”.

This means that Gawain appears in
Culhwch and Olwen
as both Gwrfan and Gwalchmai, but Gwrfan was already a derivation of another hero. His name was corrupted from Gwri
Wallt Eurin
,
who appears in
Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed
, the first story of the
Mabinogion.
In that story Pwyll has a son who is stolen the night after he is born. At the same time Teirnyon, lord of
Gwent Ys Coed, who is guarding his horses, discovers a baby boy left in swaddling clothes at his door. He calls the boy Gwri Golden-Hair. The boy grows rapidly, twice as fast as any other child.
After four years the truth of his birth is discovered, and he is renamed Pryderi by his mother Rhiannon. He later succeeds his father as Lord of Dyfed. The four branches of the
Mabinogion
each tell us something about Pryderi, including how he wanders throughout Logres whilst under an enchantment and is trapped in a magic castle until released by Manawydan, and finally how he is
killed in single combat by Gwydion.

There are various aspects of Gwri/Pryderi – such as his doubling in size, and, in the final tale in the
Mabinogion
, his refusal to sell any pigs until they have doubled in number
– which are similar to Gawain’s waxing strength, and which seem to support Loomis’s assessment that they are one and the same. This means that Gawain is the same as the original,
all-encompassing hero of the
Mabinogion
, the standard hero of Welsh legend. It explains why he appears in all the Arthurian stories, because he was the essential hero to resolve all quests.
Regardless then of any historical basis to Gawain – and maybe Arthur of the Pennines did have a nephew called Gwrfan – the Gawain of the legend is drawn from an Irish sun deity via
Pryderi.

2. Tales of Gawain

Although Gawain appears in every Arthurian story, he is not always the central character. He is usually the comparator against
whom knights demonstrate
their prowess. We might think of him as a universal standard of bravery. In the later Grail stories, he fails in the quest because he is too lustful, perhaps an indication that he was a primeval
hero, and thus not suited to the Middle Ages. But in the early stories he goes a long way to succeeding, and it is possible that there were stories in which Gawain achieved the Grail, but which are
now lost. Gawain was an ideal counterpart against which to measure the more spiritual attainment of Perceval, and it is unfortunate that in the later versions Gawain is supplanted by Bors.