Gareth

( Sir ), according to Ancient romance, was the youngest son of Lot, king of Orkney and Morgawse, Arthur’s [half] sister. His mother, to deter him from entering Arthur’s court, said, jestingly, she would consent to his so doing if he concealed his name and went as a scullion for twelve months. To this he agreed, and Sir Kay, the king’s steward, nicknamed him “Beaumains,” because his hands were unusually large. At the end of the year he was knighted, and obtained the quest of Linet, who craved the aid of some knight to liberate her sister Lionês, who was held prisoner by Sir Ironside in Castle Perilous. Linet treated Sir Gareth with great contumely, calling him a washer of dishes and a kitchen knave; but he overthrew the five knights and liberated the lady, whom he married. The knights were—first, the Black Knight of the Black Lands or Sir Pere´ard (2 syl. ), the Green Knight or Sir Per to lope, the Red Knight or Sir Perimo´nês, the Blue Knight or Sir Persaunt of India (four brothers), and lastly, the Red Knight of the Red Lands or Sir Ironside.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur , i. 120-153 (1470). ⁂ According to Tennyson, Sir Gareth was “the last and tallest son of Lot, king of Orkney, and of Bell i cent his wife.” He served as kitchen knave in King Arthur’s hall a twelvemonth and a day, and was nicknamed “Fair-hands” ( Beaumains ). At the end of twelve months he was knighted, and obtained leave to accompany Lynette to the liberation of her sister Lyonors, who was held captive in Castle Perilous by a knight called Death or Mors. The pa ages to the castle were kept by four brothers, called by Tennyson, Morning Star or Phos´phorus, Noonday Sun or Meridies, Evening Star or Hespĕrus, and Night or Nox, all of whom he overthrew. At length Death leapt from the cleft skull of Night, and prayed the knight not to kill him, seeing that what he did his brothers had made him do. At starting, Lynette treated Gareth with great contumely, but softened to him more and more after each victory, and at last married him. He that told the tale in olden times Says that Sir Gareth wedded Lyonors; But he that told it later says Lynette. Tennyson, Idylls of the King (“Gareth and Lynette”). Gareth and Linet´ is in reality an allegory, a sort of Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progre , describing the warfare of a Christian from birth to his entrance into glory. The “Bride” lived in Castle Perilous, and was named Lionês; Linet´ represents the “carnal world,” which, like the inhabitants of the City of Destruction, jest and jeer at everything the Christian does. Sir Gareth fought with four knights, keepers of the roads “to Zion” or Castle Perilous, viz., Night, Dawn, Midday, and Evening, meaning the temptations of the four ages of man. Having conquered in all these, he had to encounter the last enemy, which is Death, and then the bride was won—the bride who lived in Castle Perilous or Mount Zion. ⁂ Tennyson, in his version of this beautiful allegory, has fallen into several grave errors, the worst of which is his making Gareth marry Linet instead of the true bride. This is like landing his Pilgrim in the City of Destruction, after having finished his journey and pa ed the flood. Gareth’s brother was wedded to the world ( i.e. Linet), but Gareth himself was married to the “true Bride,” who dwelt in Castle Perilous. Another grave error is making Death crave of Gareth not to kill him, as what he did he was compelled to do by his elder brothers. I must confe that this to me is quite past understanding.—See Notes and Queries , January 19, February 16, March 16, 1878.