#gaheriet

[gawrkin]

Following up on what I said about how Post-Vulgate Gawain should utterly despise Arthur - having absolutely no reason to like him - there is an additional context from the Post-Vulgate itself that I forgot to mention in the last post and should be considered:

Gawain will kill you even if you're his kin

(Also, Agravain, as his usual self, will gleefully join in the crimes if he can)

So yes, Blood Relation will not matter to a murderous Gawain, especially if the slight was done when he was a young impressionable kid (King Lot's death was when Gawain was eleven, if you recall). By Post-Vulgate's own logic, Gawain should itching for an opportunity to kill Arthur himself.

Coincidently, this cements another reason why T. H. White's The Once and Future King's Villainization of Morgause (and Morgause being evil in general) is a very BAD idea: it removes the last vestiges of any reasonable justification as to why Gawain is even a Knight of the Round Table - or even a hero! - in the first place.

In the Medieval Narratives, the reason why Gawain and his brothers are part of Arthur's Court in the first place is because of Morgause' insistence, in defiance of her husband. Morgause is a supporter of her brother, not another one of his enemies.

Without Morgause putting in a good word for her brother and actually scheming to destroy him, Gawain and his brothers will be right there working with their mother all the way.

Ironic, as one reason why many modern writers love to villainize Morgause is so that they can reframe Mordred's incestuous birth as some sort of evil scheme to usurp the throne. In reality, that's a really, really impractical, nonsensical and completely redundant rationale - Gawain, Agravaine, Gaheris and Gareth ARE Arthur's closest male relatives and therefore, legally in the best position to take the crown. And all without the taint of incest, an abominable act that would disqualify Mordred from inheritence if made known.

[thestoneheart]

Poor Company

        For the third time in as many days Gaheriet stared across a desk at Josselin Marin and contemplated throttling him. On good days he liked to think he was a patient man, but Gaheriet had left good days behind about four days ago. The desk wasn’t his, and a better man might have managed not to feel anything about the fact that he was calling this man into his Captain’s office for a lecture because the Captain wasn’t bloody well here to do it himself. 

           For a moment they stared at each other across that expanse of polished wood, over another man’s neatly arranged possessions. Gaheriet stood behind the chair rather than sitting in it, more out of the need to be on his feet rather than any misplaced respect for its absent owner. Josselin stared back at him, chin lifted, his pale blue eyes smoldering with resentment. 

           He might have been a good looking man, Gaheriet thought, studying the fine bones of his face under their pale skin, if he’d ever bothered to try. His snowy hair was the only thing in the room paler than that fine skin and if he’d bothered to do more than what looked like running a hand through it and tying the laziest tail at his nape he might have managed to look like someone’s idea of a soldier. And if…

           But Gaheriet stopped that line of thought in its tracks. He folded his arms across his chest and watched the way the smaller man across the desk tensed at the movement. Tensed but did not let himself flinch, he noted. Josselin’s chin lifted higher. Silence hung between them and Gaheriet was tempted to see how long it might take before Josselin would break it. But he did not have the luxury of a day to spend playing games of stubbornness with a man who seemed to prize that skill above all else.

           He eyed the bruise forming on Josselin’s cheek for a moment. Skin like that showed every mark of the man’s latest barracks brawl. He might have charted the last three days of idiocy on his arms if he had cared to. Gaheriet let out a breath. “I assume you know why I called you in here again.”

           “Because that bastard Guy ran his stupid face into my fist again?” Josselin asked with an infuriating little smirk.

           Gaheriet managed not to snarl but it was a near thing. “I heard how it started. You goaded him. You do nothing but deliberately stir up trouble and it would serve you right if I let the lot of them beat you bloody. This cannot continue. You have to stop.” He shoved the chair aside with a foot and planted his hands flat on the top of the desk to remind him to keep his temper.

           “I have to stop what? Living? Existing? Talking?”

           “If you can’t open your mouth without being an insufferable little shit then yes, try the not talking!”

           “I’m sure you’d like that wouldn’t you. Country boys ought to be seen and not heard and all that, right? Offend all you highborn sorts with my lack of fancy manners. Not enough la-di-da for any of you. Well you can just suck it Ser Gaheriet bluest of bloods Rosaire. Because I don’t have to shut my mouth to suit any of you. You can all suffer the way I talk and the way I take my tea and you can live with it or you can go cry into your velvet fucking pillows. I don’t care…”

           “No, you don’t, do you?” Gaheriet asked, keeping himself low and quiet despite the urge to come over the desk and close his hands around the idiot’s throat. “You don’t care. And you don’t bloody well understand it either.”

           “Understand what? Why a bunch of soldiers got to have drawing room manners?”

           Gaheriet’s palm hit the desk hard enough that the sharp sound of it rang through the small room and the sting of it made itself felt the length of his arm. He wasn’t sure he liked the part of himself that was pleased when Josselin flinched. “It’s not about the fucking manners.” He snarled. “That’s what you don’t understand!” He was shouting and he had not a doubt the room outside was getting an earful; the trouble was he no longer cared. “This is your company! You live and die by these men and if you were smart you’d be trying to make sure they didn’t all prefer it was ‘die’!”

           Something flickered in those defiant eyes that for a moment was so stricken Gaheriet almost wished he had not said the last words. It was gone as quickly as it had appeared. So swiftly he doubted he had even seen it.

           Josselin’s jaw was tight when he spoke. “And how the hell am I meant to do that. You’re the one who doesn’t get it. You don’t…” But there he stopped. “Hells with you!”

           “Hells with you too.” Gaheriet snapped. “Try not being obnoxious. Not sure if you can manage that for more than half a bell but give it a go. This is the third damned time this week, Marin. You’re disordering the whole company. Next time it will have to be a flogging. You don’t want that. Now get the hell out of…” Not his office, he recalled. “My sight.”

[saintsonnet]

please expand on the lancelot x gawain i keep seeing on your blog 🙏

okay sorry i took so long i decided to shower after you sent me this because i knew that if i started then i would never end up showering today. and then it was an unfinished routine so i had to lotion and brush my teeth and floss and do hair stuff too.

so, obviously, it's lancelot du lac and gawaine of orkney. both knights of the round table, etc etc. you know who they are. i hope. they're not exactly similar to their bbc merlin counterparts---lancelot is of noble birth in classic arthuriana, gawaine is arthur's nephew (though bbc merlin doesn't exactly...keep the familial relations that canon does), things like that---but i'd honestly say that their character personalities are similar enough that it's verging on acceptable! just as a reference point for you, i suppose.

gawaine has lost a fair fight only to six knights in his time, launcelot being one of them (Le Morte d'Arthur, Sir Thomas Mallory. book IV, chapter XVIII) (the other five being sir tristram, sir bors, sir percevel, sir pelleas, and sir marhaus). he is mentioned to throw fights against lancelot because he loves losing to him (cannot remember the source for the life of me) and, of course, lancelot always notices when he does.

then there's this famous quote:

(vulgate II, p140) where launcelot tells galehaut (another man that he arguably has...something...going on with) that he would share with gawaine everything he loves, save guinevere, in order to have gawaine forever. gawaine then goes on to say that, essentially, he would wish to be the most beautiful woman so that lancelot would love him as a wife.

also, in Morte, which i don't have photos of because my copy is a physical book rather than a pdf like how i'm reading vulgate and i don't want to take photos with my laptop camera. there is this quote "and Launcelot with this sword shall slay the man that in the world he loves best, that shall be Sir Gawaine." which is engraved in the hilt of the red hilted sword, balin's sword that merlin encases in stone and which galahad, lancelot's son, eventually wields.

^this, also. from vulgate IV, p140. after launcelot accidentally kills gawaine's brother gareth (named here as gaheriet; all the orkneys have...many ways of spelling their names. look up a list of all of gawaine's names over history, i dare you) who was guarding guinevere's cell...he begs gawaine to forgive him and even promises to swear himself and all his men into subservience to gawaine if gawaine would only forgive him. "I want to be your companion just as I used to be." mhm...

and "I'll swear to you on 'relics that I didn't kill your brother Gaheriet intentionally" is a huge promise. swearing on a holy relic in such a deeply, fundamentally christian society was the vow that you could make. the reason why honour was so important in that time was because the grand majority of people were illiterate, so one's word was the most one could give, in the majority of situations! and here is lancelot, saying that he'll swear on a holy relic that he did not mean to kill gareth if it means gawaine will forgive him and love him again.

there is also, right before gawaine eventually dies (from a sword wound to the head from lancelot) he writes a letter to launcelot begging forgiveness for having been so horrible to lancelot before his death, and wishing he could see him before he dies, for he knows he won't live long.

And then when paper and ink was brought, then Gawaine was set up weakly by King Arthur, for he was shriven a little to-fore; and then he wrote thus, as the French book maketh mention: Unto Sir Launcelot, flower of all noble knights that ever I heard of or saw by my days, I, Sir Gawaine, King Lot's son of Orkney, sister's son unto the noble King Arthur, send thee greeting, and let thee have knowledge that the tenth day of May I was smitten upon the old wound that thou gavest me afore the city of Benwick, and through the same wound that thou gavest me I am come to my death-day. And I will that all the world wit, that I, Sir Gawaine, knight of the Table Round, sought my death, and not through thy deserving, but it was mine own seeking; wherefore I beseech thee, Sir Launcelot, to return again unto this realm, and see my tomb, and pray some prayer more or less for my soul. And this same day that I wrote this cedle, I was hurt to the death in the same wound, the which I had of thy hand, Sir Launcelot; for of a more nobler man might I not be slain. Also Sir Launcelot, for all the love that ever was betwixt us, make no tarrying, but come over the sea in all haste, that thou mayst with thy noble knights rescue that noble king that made thee knight, that is my lord Arthur; for he is full straitly bestead with a false traitor, that is my half-brother, Sir Mordred; and he hath let crown him king, and would have wedded my lady Queen Guenever, and so had he done had she not put herself in the Tower of London. And so the tenth day of May last past, my lord Arthur and we all landed upon them at Dover; and there we put that false traitor, Sir Mordred, to flight, and there it misfortuned me to be stricken upon thy stroke. And at the date of this letter was written, but two hours and a half afore my death, written with mine own hand, and so subscribed with part of my heart's blood. And I require thee, most famous knight of the world, that thou wilt see my tomb. And then Sir Gawaine wept, and King Arthur wept; and then they swooned both. And when they awaked both, the king made Sir Gawaine to receive his Saviour. And then Sir Gawaine prayed the king for to send for Sir Launcelot, and to cherish him above all other knights. (Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Mallory. book XXI, chapter II)

(vulgate IV, p139). honestly? no comment here. it speaks for itself. this bit is where the ship name remarkable comes from.

of course, this is by no means a comprehensive post, just moments i can remember off the top of my head. and a lot of this can be attributed to today's view of male homosociality and how it's changed since the middle ages, skewing our view of what could have been, by all means, a platonic relationship. however it is my personal belief and interpretation that they were in love <3 muah the end i hope you enjoyed. i tried my best to explain both story and cultural context the best i could without going into irrelevant detail...i hope this is enough!

[queer-ragnelle]

hello. i was wondering sumn. what makes a knight of camelot ~A Knight of Camelot~? there are so many of them and they’re all different but do they have characteristics in common that are found in the average Famous Knight of Camelot and that when you see you think “ah yes that is very arthurian of them”. i hope my question is not a bother to you and too confusing.

Hi! Like every other answer I ever give, it’s highly dependent on the text.

In the Mabinogion, Arthur’s best knights tend to have special abilities, even magical powers. We all remember Kai’s fun list of attributes.

But generally speaking, fame in Camelot comes from 3 things:

Every successful knight is hot. I don’t make the rules.

They have to be good at beating the snot out of other guys. Obviously.

Branding. I’m so serious.

My basis for this comes from the Vulgate descriptions of the Orkney Bros. Specifically, Gaheriet/Gaheris. Not because he’s famous, but because he isn’t.

It’s no accident that Gaheris never makes it to the big screen the way his brothers do. He is, by design, basic. The quintessential middle child. He doesn’t have a Special Trait (such as Gawain’s courtesy or reputation as a ladies man or noontime powers etc.) and that makes Gaheris forgettable. To be a famous knight, you gotta put your whole pussy into it, in front of a live studio audience, or you won’t be famous no matter how good you are. Makes sense when you think about it!

Not sure if that answers your question, but that’s what I got. Take care. :^)

[templemoth]

Prompt 5: Stamp

“You promised!” Fane’s foot, currently ensconced in fine heeled boots, gave the ground a little stamp for emphasis.

The dark miqo’te’s voice lilted upward with some restrained emotion breaking loose, though his volume didn’t raise. Rather, the accusation came at a fierce near-whisper though there was absolutely no reason to be whispering. He held Ice in a stare that didn’t match the surprisingly fine theatre attire he was wearing. He didn’t break it even when the taller elezen began shuffling things around on his desk rather than look at the upset catte.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry. I haveta look into this, I’ll make it up to you.” When he looked up, it was with a charming smile, albeit one with a tinge of guilt at the corners.

“I assume you’re taking your new bodyguard…” came the sullen reply, and Fane crossed his arms over his chest, purposefully turning his back on the other.

No response meant yes, and the keeper heaved a loud sigh.

Ice, meanwhile, had turned to rifle through one of the nearby drawers.

“You know you’re my favorite, but we’ve got some loose ends that need tying up.” Their little… territorial dispute issue hadnt been wrapped up in a nice little bow yet.

“I promise next time I’ll go and we can-“ he paused when he turned back, finding his office empty save for himself and the door left ajar.

I stole @thedarknesssings ‘s Ice. And mentions of @houserosaire ’s Gaheriet. Sorry!

[houserosaire]

Baron Silvaineaux de Rosaire

—𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒔

Name: Silvaineaux Elouan Valère de Rosaire Nicknames: Silvain Age: 29 Summers Nameday: 17th Sun of the Fourth Astral Moon Race: Ishgardian Elezen Gender: Cis Male. Orientation: Homosexual Profession: Baron, Knight-Captain, Captain at Priarch Enterprises.

—𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔

Hair: Jet black, hip length. Eyes: The right is golden, the left sapphire blue. Skin: Golden brown Tattoos/scars: The most visible ones are the one on his right cheek and the small day to day scars on his hands. Under armor and clothing he wears the numerous heavy marks of a life spent in combat. Armor and clothing also hide a tattoo in black ink in the shape of a striking hawk on his right shoulder and in blue and white on the left side of his chest the design of a droplet breaking free of a wave.

—𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚

Parents: Baron Severin and Baroness Athenais de Rosaire (both deceased) Siblings: Older brother Seraphin de Rosaire (deceased*), Older sister Felicienne de Beauchene, and adopted brother Honore. Grandparents: Paternal: Baron Ghyslain and Baroness Mailys de Rosaire (both deceased) Maternal: Baron Évrard de Solepine and Baroness Geneviève de Solepine (both deceased) In-laws and Other: Numerous cousins and cousins by marriage as are typical of large old noble houses. Notable still living close relations include: A great Uncle: Ser Judicael de Rosaire, A Paternal Aunt: Dowager Viscountess Kasmae Sanguemont. Cousin once removed: Ser Gaheriet de Rosaire. Maternal first cousin: Baron Vaelanys de Solepine. Brother-in-law: Baron Gratien de Beauchene. Pets: Tempête, a hunting hawk as well as several other birds of prey.

—𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔

Abilities: Silvaineaux is extremely skilled in sword and shield combat, both mounted and unmounted. He is proficient with the jousting lance and passably versed in spear fighting. He is competent with a bow. He is also extensively schooled in military tactics and the commanding of men, since he was raised to serve as an officer. His family has raised and trained chocobos for some five centuries and he is very good at understanding and handling birds. From his mother's family he inherited the peculiar aethersight that comes with his odd hued eyes, as a side effect of this he can see ghosts, though he does not have any particular skills with the dead beyond this ability to perceive them.

—𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒔

Most Positive Trait: A strong sense of justice and a very fixed moral compass. Most Negative Trait: Stubborn and self-sacrificing.

—𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒔

Colors: Blue, black, gold. Smells: Sandalwood, leather, whiskey, oranges, clean straw. Textures: Metal, fur, leather, polished wood. Drinks: Whiskey, Ishgardian tea, Thavnairian chai.

—𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔

Smokes: Never. Smoke aggravates his lungs and makes him cough. Drinks: Excessively. Mostly whiskey. Drugs: Never. Mount Issuance: Silvaineaux's beloved Joyeux was bred out of his family's own stables. He chose the birds for the cross and sat with the egg while it hatched. He trained Joyeux for combat himself and counts him as one of his most loyal and dependable friends and comrades. (Joyeux is short for his full pedigreed name which means Joyous in Battle.) Been Arrested: No. Tagged by: @shroudkeeper Thank you so very much! Tagging: @bookbornexiv @dawning-star @thedarknesssings @blisteringstar @roses-and-grimoires @iron-roots @reddevil-xiv @liminal-storage @gorgagne-viperidae @tea-and-conspiracy @punches-and-cream-puffs @hiraethwyl @mimble-sparklepudding @avampyone and whoever else would like to do it and blame me. (please do tag, I would love to see)

[blogdemocratesjr]

How Sir Launcelot and His Kinsmen Rescued the Queen from the Fire by William Russell Flint + Galvagin (presumed Gwalchmai/Gawain) being followed by Galvariun (possibly Gwalchafed/Gaheriet) on the Italian Modena Archivolt (c. 1120-1240) + Sir Beaumains (Gareth)

The Deaths of Sir Gaheris & Sir Gareth

In the rushing and hurling, as Sir Lancelot thrust here and there, it happened by misfor- tune that he slew Sir Gaheris and also the noble knight Sir Gareth; these two were unarmed and unprepared. As the French book says, Sir Lancelot smote Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth on their heads, giving them blows that went down to their brains and killed them instantly in the field. In truth, Sir Lancelot did not see them. They were found dead where the press of battle had been the thickest.

Then when Sir Lancelot had done all this, slaying and putting to flight all who tried to withstand him, he rode straight to Queen Guenevere and gave her a kirtle and gown. Then he put her behind him on his horse and told her to be of good cheer. Know well that the queen was glad that she had escaped from death at that time. She thanked God and Sir Lancelot.

Morte Darthur by Sir Thomas Malory, a new English translation by Dorsey Armstrong (p.600)

[popomerrygamz]

Cherub Intermission: ???

Gaheriet and Bedivere!

[gellavonhamster]

reading lancelot, part 5

“and then Sagremor spoke in like fashion: “My lady, if you desire either of us, you would do well not to refuse me, for you could have what you want more easily from me than from my companion here, who is far too high-born a man. But I am a poor knight of lowly lineage and will serve you more faithfully than he. So take me with you, if you need a knight.” - for about 2/3 of this paragraph I was under the impression that he’s offering that girl to take him as a lover, I feel like being that forward would’ve been quite in character for him

Malory’s Gareth: baby boy. Baby. Vulgate’s Guerrehet: evil

“If he’s dead,” said Gaheriet, “truly that would be a most terrible loss. As God is my witness, there are at least forty knights of the Round Table whose death would not be so great a loss as his.” lmao

“and I swear to you, my lady,” he said to the queen, “that I would rather have lost the kingdom of Logres and all my nephews, excepting only Gawain.” lmao [2]

okay, Lancelot, this is a bit weird

could’ve been worse though. Could’ve been toenails

“And because they knew so much about magic, they enjoyed one another’s company and always rode together and ate and drank together”” - I NEED this in my life

is Queen Sedile here Sebile the Morgan’s girlfriend I’ve heard so much about?

“because I’m prettier and gayer and younger than you both” 

“I shouldn’t complain, my lady, I should just kill myself, because I’m the most unfortunate knight in the world.” this is literally how we talk on tumblr dot com

ah yes, the classic “Lancelot accidentally cuddles with some strange knight” scene

there’s something about King Bademagu that reminds me of the well-meaning but ultimately useless and pathetic adults of the Snicketverse/A Series of Unfortunate Events. He is like Jerome Squalor or Justice Strauss to me

“That sign won’t keep me out,” said Lancelot, “for nothing will stop me from going there.”

RIP Lancelot, you would have loved modern schoolkids apparently being obsessed with chess

“Then they urged Sir Gawain to play [chess], and he was more soundly defeated than any of the others” hehe

“Lancelot said to his companions that he feared for Bors’s life, for he was a young and tender child“ 😭

aww, a cute family reunion

where do I apply for the job of Morgan’s lady messenger?

Morgan just. Blew some drugs into Lancelot’s nose through a straw. Okay

some people? paint the whole story of their affair with a married woman on the walls of their prison cell?? to cope??? 

[rjalker]

When they came into the great hall, there were so many knights there who rose before them that I cannot call by name the tenth part of them, or the thirteenth, or the fifteenth. But I can tell you the names of some of the best of the knights who belonged to the Round Table and who were the best in the world.

Before all the excellent knights, Gawain ought to be named the first, and second Erec the son of Lac, and third Lancelot of the Lake. Gornemant of Gohort was fourth, and the fifth was the Handsome Coward. The sixth was the Ugly Brave, the seventh Meliant of Liz, the eighth Mauduit the Wise, and the ninth Dodinel the Wild. Let Gandelu be named the tenth, for he was a goodly man. The others I shall mention without order, because the numbers bother me. Eslit was there with Briien, and Yvain the son of Uriien. And Yvain of Loenel was there, as well as Yvain the Adulterer. Beside Yvain of Cavaliot was Garravain of Estrangot. After the Knight with the Horn was the Youth with the Golden Ring. And Tristan who never laughed sat beside Bliobleheris, and beside Brun of Piciez was his brother Gru the Sullen. The Armourer sat next, who preferred war to peace. Next sat Karadues the Shortarmed, a knight of good cheer; and Caveron of Robendic, and the son of King Quenedic and the Youth of Quintareus and Yder of the Dolorous Mount. Gaheriet and Kay of Estraus, Amauguin and Gales the Bald, Grain, Gornevain, and Carabes, and Tor the son of King Aras, Girflet the son of Do, and Taulas, who never wearied of arms: and a young man of great merit, Loholt the son of King Arthur, and Sagremor the Impetuous, who should not be forgotten, nor Bedoiier the Master of the Horse, who was skilled at chess and trictrac, nor Bravain, nor King Lot, nor Galegantin of Wales, nor Gronosis, versed in evil, who was son of Kay the Seneschal, nor Labigodes the Courteous, nor Count Cadorcaniois, nor Letron of Prepelesant, whose manners were so excellent, nor Breon the son of Canodan, nor the Count of Honolan who had such a head of fine fair hair; he it was who received the King's horn in an evil day; he never had any care for truth.

HOW MANY ARE THERE

[caer-gai]

Adding some relevant Vulgate quotes

(it's mostly agreed that Gaheriet is Gareth in this section though for most of the book Gaheriet is Gaheris.)

Sir Lancelot has killed Peace

[gawrkin]

Yo, what up with the hands/arms, tho?

(Source: Culhwch and Olwen)

(Source: Perceval: First Continuation - Livre de Cradoc) Note: "Briefbras" seems to be a French ,isunderstanding of the epithet Vreichvras, meaning "Strong Arm"

(Source: Le Morte D'Arthur, by Thomas Malory)

(Source: Vulgate Cycle)

(Source: Perceval, Story of the Grail, by Chretien de Troyes)

(Source: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight)

(Source: Nightbringer.org)

[thestoneheart]

2. Is your OC a loner or a social butterfly? Are they satisfied with how they come across to other people?

Gaheriet is more on the loner side of the spectrum but he still very much enjoys socializing in small groups or with select people. He's falling much more than usual to the loner side at the moment because he's carrying a lot and too much light socialization feels like extra weight but he's working on it. He hopes that he comes across calm and in control to other people. If he's managing that then he's satisfied with it.

[queer-ragnelle]

I am so sorry if you have answered this before, I was just wondering if you knew of a good way to get into Arthurian literature? Like… what to read first and what definitely not to read first?

Everything I can find when I search for a good list or order talks about modern retellings, but I am not sure how to get into the older ones. They are a bit hard to approach, so I am worrying that I may be going about it wrong.

I’ve just been slowly collecting different tellings from old book stores over the years, but there is so much that I am not sure where to begin..

hi there! no need to apologize, it's all very overwhelming and confusing. i've answered this question before, but have since added more literature, so i'll go in depth. :^) determining where to start really depends on what you're looking to get out of your reading experience.

lots of people recommend le morte d'arthur by sir thomas malory for an overall understanding of the basic premise without having to read the long and scary vulgate cycle. but as i said in this ask, it's not my favorite text, as it truncates the story so much it can cause confusion. yet it's the "shortest" (ie 1,000 pages lol) recounting of events from arthur's conception through his death, as well as incorporating the often-excluded story from the prose tristan, and adding character-defining elements we've all come to accept as part of the "canon" such as gareth beaumains's humble beginnings as a kitchen boy. (in the vulgate, his story is largely the same as the elder bros he tags along with. in fact, @lefresne and i discovered each of us had a transcription/translation of the vulgate which referenced two different manuscripts of the same story, but had swapped the names guerrehet/gaheriet [gareth/gaheris] and confused the hell out of us bc we had varied accounts of the same scene and were both right! scribes mistake? point is there's not a substantial differentiation between them until the post vulgate and le morte d'arthur, so reading that will give you needed context/depth!)

on the other hand, le morte d'arthur doesn't include some even later additions to the "canon" that are now famous and get incorporated into many retellings, such as sir gawain and the green knight and the wedding of sir gawain and dame ragnelle. (are these a deal breaker to comprehend a retelling? not necessarily. but despite gawain's track record with many ladies, if an author writes in a wife for him, on god, they always choose ragnelle. so that poem is a must<3)

so it's really your own judgment call! no matter what, you'll likely need to read more than one book for fuller context to understand the common "fandom" talking points and frequently adapted stories. in any case, i've just made an FAQ where you can go and figure out what stories will suit your needs. i hope this helps. have a nice day!

[queer-ragnelle]

If we refer to the Vulgate, specifically The Story of Merlin, Gawain is not given an exact age. (He, Agravaine, Guerrehet, and Gaheriet are referred to as “youths” which ranges anywhere from older teens to young adults.) But it’s after Gawain returns from a hunt that Morgause, while pregnant with Mordred, encourages him to take his brothers to King Arthur. So the four of them leave to join the fighting against Saxons for a few years. When we see Morgause and Lot again, they are fleeing Saxons, and their “little son” Mordred, as they call him, is said to be 2 years old.

So the age gap between Gawain and Mordred has to be pretty significant if fourth-born Gareth was also “a youth” and old enough to accompany Gawain when he left to battle Saxons and then be knighted after Morgause and little Mordred make it safely to Camelot. Medieval standards were different, of course, so they may have been “too young” to be treated as “men,” but based on characterization and actions, Gawain behaves as a grown adult when he leaves and his full brothers aren’t far behind him. So that’s something to consider.

I voted “More???”

Note: this assumes that Gawain is the eldest Orkney, Mordred is the youngest, and that they were both born in May

[talesfromtheenchantedforest]

Gaheriet with typical Orkney sensitivity

The situation:

They [Gaheriet and his guide] looked ahead at a fork in the road and saw six knights, three of whom were driving a knight who had his hands bound behind his back, and beating him the while; the others drove a young woman, naked except for her shift, and were beating her with thorny branches, and her shift was red with blood.

Gaheriet rescues the knight, and abandons the woman, but:

As they [Gaheriet and the knight he rescued] were talking, they looked across a road and saw Gaswain of Estrangort approaching with the woman of whom they were speaking, for they had rescued her from the three knights. When the companions saw one another, they could not have been happier and declared that God had brought them good adventure in finding one another. And the woman, who was in a pitiful state from the abuse she had suffered, begged them in the name of God to take her to a shelter that was nearby, where she could rest, for she was in great need. They said they were glad to do so, and she guided them until they came into a valley where they saw a small, recently built tower, which was very strong for its size and quite beautiful. They came to the gate, called out, and it was opened for them. When the people from the castle saw the state their lady was in, they wept bitterly. She had herself put to bed, for she was so weak she thought she would never recover, and indeed she did not, for she lived only six days more.

Gaheriet’s recap of the situation:

“Thank God,” she said, “and what’s become of the woman who was screaming in pain?”

“Upon my word,” answered Gaheriet, “no finer adventure has ever come to any woman than that which came to her, for one of our companions rescued her from her captors, and we rode along together afterwards.”

— Lancelot Part V, Chapter 143, William W. Kibler translation