#anthony mockler

[gawaincomic]

I was wondering and you seemed like a likely candidate to know, do you know when red-headed Gawain first became a thing? It seems to have become the standard for his character, but I've never come across a description in the original sources that mentioned his coloring whatsoever. Did this start with T.H. White's depiction? Or *is* there an earlier description in a source I haven't read yet? (I'd also be curious if there are any og sources which give him a different hair color entirely!)

@luanna801 Thank you for the question! As you have guessed, this is something that really interests me, and I have looked into it in the past.

To be sure, I haven't read *all* the sources (I'm still reading) and some of my reading happened ages ago, so - maybe someone can correct me on this. But here is what I have found:

I can't recall a single medieval source that mentions Gawain's hair colour. Not one. I assume that the colour of a knight's hair was of no interest to medieval authors and readers, as long as he had a 'noble countenance'. This fact is striking to me because today, we often like to describe characters' appearances in great detail, but - nope, I personally haven't found any descriptions of his appearance except in the most general terms. (His clothes, yes!)

As far as I have been able to ascertain, red-haired Gawains are indeed descendants of T. H. White's Gawaine. I'm not sure I'd call the red hair 'standard', really, because I've found blond and brown and black-haired Gawains in post-White books, but it's clear that White has had a very powerful influence. Then again, his Gawaine is a striking character. It's also White who made Gawain Scottish and Gaelic. Medieval sources don't touch upon that at all (indeed, some say Lot is the king of Norway, so that would make Gawain Norwegian, but whether he's British or Norwegian, none of it seems to have any real impact on his character). Also, I've noticed that when people write a red-haired Gawain, they often give him character traits that also come from White.

For me personally, red-haired Gawain was a no-brainer because I really only picked up on him as a character in The Once and Future King as a twelve-year-old, and next I read Rosemary Sutcliff and Anthony Mockler, both of whom write Gawains who are clearly influenced by White. So that's the image that got fixed in my mind. But clearly, there are also a number of post-White Gawains around who are not particularly White-inspired.

Off the top of my head: Phyllis Ann Karr's Gawain in The Idylls of the Queen is blond, and Gillian Bradshaw's Gwalchmei in the Hawk of May trilogy is dark. Bernard Cornwell's little Gawain is blond too. In Het Zwevende Schaakbord, a 1918 Dutch novel by Louis Couperus, Gawain / Walewein has brown hair and brown eyes (OK, this is clearly pre-White but I'm putting it out here anyway). I've also found blond and brown-haired Gawains (and, indeed, a Black Gawain) in comics - and of course, there isn't a single red-haired Gawain on screen, a fact I deeply deplore 😅.

[chuckbbirdsjunk]

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Dhagaxbuur Town

Degehabur is a town in the Somali Regional State.  it is located in the Jarar Zone of the Somali Region on the Jerer River, Degahbur sits at 1044 meters above sea level. The town is the administrative center of Degehabur District.Local landmarks include the White Mosque of Degehabur, which Anthony Mockler described as “the most important in the Somali Region.”During the nineteenth century,…

[alberto-alpozzi-fotografo-torino]

7 dicembre 1923 - Il Quadrumviero de Vecchi nuovo Governatore della Somalia italiana

7 dicembre 1923 – Il Quadrumviero de Vecchi nuovo Governatore della Somalia italiana

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La Somalia italiana fu "una colonia modello". Il governatorato del Quadrumviro de Vecchi mai raccontato

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Checché se ne sia detto in patria negli anni e se ne scriva a tutt’oggi la storia e gli storici stranieri hanno ampiamente dato ragione al primo governatore fascista della Somalia (1923-1928) Cesare Maria de Vecchi di Val Cismon. Prendiamo per esempio Anthony Mockler ne “Il mito dell’Impero” (Rizzoli, Milano, 1977). A proposito dei cinque anni di governo del primo governatore fascista della…