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Gawain is generally said to be the nephew of Arthur. His parents were
Lot of Orkney and Morgause (though his mother is said to be Anna in
Geoffrey of Monmouth). Upon the death of Lot, he became the head of
the Orkney clan, which includes in many sources his brothers Agravain,
Gaheris, and Gareth, and his half-brother Mordred.
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| Gawaine was
the brother of Gaheris, Gareth, and Agravaine. |
Gawain figures prominently in many romances.
In France he is generally presented as one who has adventures paralleling
in diptych fashion but not overshadowing the
hero's, whether that hero be Lancelot or Percivale. In the English
tradition, however, it is much more common for Gawain to be the principal
hero and the exemplar of courtesy and chivalry, as he is in Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight and the other Arthurian romances of
the Alliterative Revival. In Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, however,
he has a role similar to that in the French romances, in that Lancelot
is the principal hero.
The accidental death of Gawain's brothers at Sir Lancelot's hands
caused Gawain, one of the mightiest warriors at court, to become the
bitter enemy of his once greatest friend. He was mortally wounded
in a fight with Lancelot who, it is said, lay for two nights weeping
at Gawain's tomb. Before his death, Gawain repented of his bitterness
towards Lancelot and forgave him.
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