Global InformationThe Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain information
The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain (also commonly spelt Golagros and Gawane) is a Middle Scots Arthurian romance written in alliterative verse of 1362 lines, known solely from a printed edition of 1508 in the possession of the National Library of Scotland. No manuscript copy of this lively and exciting tale has survived.[1][2]
Though the story is set during Arthur and his band's journey of pilgrimage to the Holy Land, most of the action takes place in France,[1] with Sir Gawain, King Arthur's nephew as its main hero. The tale actually contains two episodes borrowed from the First Continuation to Chrétien de Troyes's Perceval, the Story of the Grail.[2][3][4]
In the first episode, which ostensibly occurs in France somewhere west of the Rhone River,[1] Sir Gawain succeeds in obtaining provisions merely by graciously asking, rather than by confiscating the supplies by brute force as Sir Kay tries to do. In the second, far longer, episode, Arthur and his men come to a castle on the Rhone, and learn that its lord (named Gologras), pledges allegiance to no higher sovereign. Aghast at the thought, Arthur returns to the castle after completing his pilgrimage, and besieges it. The bitter conflict is decided by single-combat between Sir Gawain and Gologras.
The tale upholds the longstanding Arthurian tradition that Sir Gawain represents the paragon of chivalry, and his characteristic fairness makes him gain more for King Arthur than will violence alone.[5] In the Gologras episode, Gawain's soft-spoken words alone fail to achieve results, but Gawain prevails by in combat where the others have failed. And even there, it is the combination of both "knightly honor and prowess"[2] that stamps the hallmark of Gawain's chivalry: for Gawain, ever the gracious victor, agrees to participate in a charade pretending to be the vanquished loser, in order to save face for his adversary Gologras.[2] Striking friendship with such dreaded foe is reminiscent of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
- ^ a b c Hahn 1995a, "Introduction".
- ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference
NAEwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Madden 1839, pp. 338–340, gives summary of the parallel episodes from the First Perceval Continuation
- ^ Lupack 2005, pp. 304–305.
- ^ Hahn 1995, [page needed].