Gawain

[ Gaw´’n ], son of King Lot and Morguase (Arthur’s sister). His brothers were A grav a in, Ga´her is, and Ga´reth. The traitor Mordred was his half-brother, being the adulterous offspring of Morgause and Prince Arthur. Lot was king of Orkney. Gawain was the second of the fifty knights created by King Arthur; Tor was the first, and was dubbed the same day (pt. i. 48). When the adulterous pa ion of Sir Launce lot for Queen Guenever came to the knowledge of the king, Sir Gawain insisted that the king’s honor should be upheld. Accordingly, King Arthur went in battle array to Benwicke ( Britt any ), the “realm of Sir Launce lot,” and proclaimed war. Here Sir Gawain fell, according to the prophecy of Merlin, “With this sword shall Launce lot slay the man that in this world he loved the best” (pt. i. 44). In this same battle the king was told that his bastard son Mordred had usurped his throne, so he hastened back with all speed, and in the great battle of the West received his mortal wound (pt. iii. 160-167).—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur (1470). Of Arthur i an knights, Gawain is called the “Courteous,” Sir Kay the “Rude and Boastful,” Mordred the “Treacherous,” Launce lot the “Chivalrous,” Galahad the “Chaste,” Mark the “Dastard,” Sir Palomides ( 3 syl. ) the “Saracen,” i.e. unbaptized, etc.