Renowned hero of medieval French romance, son of King Lot, nephew of King Arthur, and one of the pre-eminent knights of the Round Table. Although less known today than his peers Lancelot or Perceval, Gauvain (or Gawain) was one of the most popular and most frequently treated figures in the matière de Bretagne. Oral stories about this stock character doubtless preceded and spread alongside Gauvain's literary characterization, which develops in the hands of different authors throughout the evolution of romance. The knight's status as a paragon of prowess and courtesy is established in his first vernacular appearance in Wace's Brut. In Chrétien de Troyes's Yvain he is the ‘sun of chivalry’, the standard against which other knights are measured. But, as early as Yvain and Lancelot, and more strikingly in the Conte du Graal, Gauvain finds himself in situations that compromise his status as the perfect knight: he backs the wrong side in a judicial case; he fails to protect women to whom he owes allegiance; his amorous dalliances lack commitment; compared with Lancelot or Perceval, his adventures have no emotional or moral purpose. In the verse continuations of the Conte du Graal, the authors play up the contrast between Perceval's seriousness and Gauvain's superficiality, sometimes portraying Gauvain with humour, sometimes presenting a darker picture.
Gauvain's failure to live up to his perfect reputation made him a favourite figure of romancers who sought to burlesque or critique courtly conventions; he is featured in a number of 13th-c. verse romances that demystify the courtly ideal (i.e. Raoul de Houdenc's La Vengeance Raguidel). By the time of the monumental Vulgate cycle [see Lancelot; Grail Romances], Gauvain's character as a ladies' man was well established. As a result of his superficial attraction to female beauty he is clearly unqualified to complete the Grail quest. Although he remains a model of courtesy and Arthur's closest advisor, he recedes in the hierarchy behind Lancelot, Perceval, and Galahad. In the Queste del Saint Graal and La Mort le roi Artu, Gauvain displays a violent streak that culminates in his final, tragic vengeance against Lancelot. His wrath brings about his own death and contributes to the eventual destruction of the Arthurian kingdom. Gauvain's complex, often ironic, presentation in Old French romance inspired one of the masterpieces of English medieval literature, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
[Roberta Krueger]
Bibliography
- K. Busby, Gauvain in Old French Literature (1980)
