Gaheris
Fictional character
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Gaheris (/ɡəˈhɛrɪs/ gə-HERR-iss) is a Knight of the Round Table and a relative of King Arthur in the chivalric romance tradition of the Arthurian legend. He is usually described as the third son of one of Arthur's half-sisters and her husband Lot, rulers of either Orkney or Lothian. In the popular version found in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, Gaheris is the son of King Lot of Orkney and Queen Morgause, making him the younger brother of Gawain and Agravain, the elder brother of Gareth, and the half-brother of Arthur's son Mordred.
Thomas Malory (as Gaheris)
| Gaheris | |
|---|---|
| Le Morte d'Arthur character | |
 The attributed arms of Gaheriet and Guerrehet | |
| First appearance | Perceval, the Story of the Grail |
| Created by | Possibly Chrétien de Troyes Thomas Malory (as Gaheris) |
| Based on | Likely Gwalhafed, later aspects of the pre-Malory characters Gaheriet and Guerrehet |
| In-universe information | |
| Title | Prince, Sir |
| Occupation | Knight of the Round Table |
| Family | King Arthur's family In Le Morte d'Arthur: Lot, Morgause (parents); Agravain, Gawain, Gareth, Mordred (brothers) |
| Spouse | Lynette |
| Home | Orkney, Camelot |
The character of Gaheris may have originated from the figure of Gawain's sole brother in early Welsh Arthurian tradition, who was later variably divided into two separate but often more or less interchangeable brothers, known as Gaheriet and Guerrehet among many other forms spellings, one of whom eventually became known as Malory's distinctive Gareth. Outside Malory's work, however, the division between the two has been varying and often confusing and uncertain. In German medieval poetry, where no equivalent of Gareth exists, Gaheris appears instead as Gawain's cousin rather than his brother.
In Le Morte d'Arthur, Gaheris is portrayed largely as a supporting character to Arthur's chief nephew, Gawain, with the notable exception of his killing of their mother after finding her in bed with Lamorak. His role is more substantial in the French prose cycles that served as Malory's sources, where the corresponding Gaheris-figure becomes the target of murderous sibling rivalry from his elder brother Agravain in the Vulgate Cycle. Ultimately, both in these French texts and in Malory, he is slain unrecognised alongside his brother Gareth during Lancelot's rescue of Guinevere, an event that results in the downfall of Arthur's realm.
Origin
Gaheris and his brother Gareth are thought to have originated from a single figure — the only brother traditionally named for Gwalchmai ap Gwyar, the figure from Welsh mythology generally identified with Gawain. This character, a prince named Gwalchafed (Gwalhafed) or Gwalhauet (Gwalhavet) — Old Welsh for "Hawk of Summer" — ap Gwayr or mab Gwyar, is mentioned in Culhwch and Olwen.[3] He is regarded as the likely common source for both Gaheris and Gareth, assuming that Gawain himself was derived from Gwalchmai.[4] A later French-influenced Welsh romance, Seint Greal, in fact refers to Gwalchmai's brother as Gaharyet.[5]
Medieval literature
The names of Gaheris and Gareth, as standardised by Thomas Malory in his compilation Le Morte d'Arthur, are used here for the purpose of simplicity and clarity. However, in Malory's sources — the various Old French prose romances — the two are found under a range of similar variants (such as a duo of "Guerrehés and Gaheriés"[6]). Their adventures and character traits are often interchangeable or indistinguishable, and in some manuscripts the two are even conflated within the same text.[7] Due to the numerous confusing French spellings, David R. Miller of the International Arthurian Society has even described Malory's Gaheris and Gareth as "entirely different characters from Gaheriet and Guerrehes", while also suggesting that Malory may not have intentionally altered them, given the uncertainty surrounding his exact sources.[7] According to R. H. Wilson, however,
In the first place, except for one unimportant slip, Malory keeps the two brothers carefully distinguished. The general rule, as seen operating in Books XX-XXI especially, is that Gareth corresponds to Gaheriet, Gaheris to Guerrehet. Gaheriet, however, is rendered by Gaheris under certain conditions:
a. in reference to him as a knight before the story of Gareth's coming to court in Book VII;
b. where the part assigned to Gaheriet is not entirely praiseworthy;
c. on one occasion where the source reverses the ages of the brothers;
d. sometimes apparently at random, including the one case where Gareth should have been used to correspond to the rest of the story.
But, save for case c above, Guerrehes is always rendered Gaheris. Gareth could have been made a somewhat more important figure if his name had been used for all the honorable appearances of Gaheriet after Book VII. Why this was not done can only be conjectured, but a likely hypothesis is that Guerrehet appears so rarely in the sources that Malory thought it advisable to give him some sort of history even at the expense of sacrificing Gareth's prominence, which is not an essential part of his character, and concentrating attention on his more personal traits.[7]
There are numerous French name variants used in the two brothers' adventures that Malory seemingly selectively used to write the story of his Gaheris, or that have been tentatively identifed as corresponding characters to these of the Gaheris prototype(s) in other works. Such names include (according to different lists compiled by Robert W. Ackerman, Christopher W. Bruce, R. M. Lumiansky, and Max Niemeyer): Ahariés, Caheriet, Caherihés, Chaheriet, Gadriet, Gahenet, Gaheret, Gahereit, Gaheres, Gaheries, Gaheriet, Gaherjet, Galeres, Galerot, Garrers, Gariés, Gariens, Garriés, Gerehes, Gueheres, Gueheret, Guaheries, Guerehes, Guerhees, Guerhes, Guerrehers, Guerrehes, Guerrehet, Guerrehiers, Guerreiers, Guerreet, Guerrers, Guerrier, Gwerehers, Gwerehes, Gwerers, Gwerreheres, Gwerrehes, Gwerrehez, Gwerrehys, Gwerreiez, Gwerriers, Kaheret, Kaheriet, and Waheriés.[8][9][10][11] There have been also many other forms and variants in the different texts and languages; for example, one manuscript of the Didot Perceval uses the corrupted form Agavez.[12]
Early appearances in French and German poetry
In continental literature, he first appears as Gaheriet (Gaherïet) among King Arthur's knights in the late 12th-century French poem Erec and Enide by Chrétien de Troyes. Gaheriet and Guerehet (and variants, such as Gaherriez and Guerrehés[13]) also appear in Chrétien's later Perceval, the Story of the Grail, described as sons of King Lot and younger brothers of Gawain and Agravain.[note 1]
In Wolfram von Eschenbach's German poem Parzival, the figure of Gaheriet is represented by Gawain's cousin Gaherjet (Gaherjêt). Der Pleier’s Meleranz mentions Gaharet (also rendered Kaheret in Tandareis and Flordibel), a son of Arthur's sister Anthonje and the unnamed King of Gritenland,[15] presented as one of Gawain's (Gawan) cousins alongside the protagonist Meleranz.[16] As Karjet (Karyet), he also appears in Ulrich von Zatzikhoven's Lanzelet, where he assists Lancelot in rescuing Guinevere from King Valerin's abduction.[17]
French cyclical prose and their foreign adaptations
In the Prose Lancelot, a part of the Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate Cycle) prose cycle of the early 13th century, Gaheriet is portrayed as valiant, agile and handsome (with "his right arm longer than the left"), but reticent in speech and prone to excess when angered; he "was the least well-spoken of all his peers."[18] The youngest of Gawain's four brothers, Guerrehet,
"was a fine knight, valiant and diligent, who never ceased seeking adventures during his whole life. He was strong and had a marvellously handsome face; he always comported himself more elegantly than any of his brothers. He had such great endurance that he could suffer great pain; even so, he did not have Gawain's prowess. He was a lover of ladies, and they loved him greatly; he was very generous, and he did many good deeds as long as he lived."[18]
One narrative recounts how the nobles of Orkney (Orcanie), which his father King Lot once ruled, wish to make Gaheriet their king, believing him better suited than any of his brothers. He declines to be crowned until the completion of the Grail Quest. The Prose Merlin similarly depicts him as the finest warrior among Gawain's brothers, at least equal to Gawain himself.
As a youth, Gaheriet joins his bother Guarrehet, Gawain and Agravain in defecting from Lot to support Arthur in his wars against the rebel kings and the Saxons (replaced by Saracens in some English versions such as Arthour and Merlin). Distinguished for his valour, he is knighted by Arthur along with his brothers in the Vulgate Cycle; in the later Post-Vulgate Cycle he is knighted first among them. In the Post-Vulgate Merlin, he receives flowers from the Queen of the Fairy Isle, who prophesies that he would surpass all Round Table knights save for two (presumably Galahad and Lancelot) were it not for the destined sin of killing his mother. He later rescues Gawain and Morholt after defeating his envious elder brother Agravain in combat on two occasions, subsequently accompanying Morholt to Ireland.
Throughout the prose cycles, Gaheriet participates in Arthur's wars and frequently accompanies Gawain on his adventures, in addition to undertaking quests of his own — such as rescuing King Bagdemagus. Some of these episodes are retold in Malory's English Le Morte d'Arthur, where Gaheris (also rendered Gaherys or Gaheryes) initially serves as Gawain's squire, tempering his brother's anger, before being knighted. He later marries Lynette (Linet, etc.), sister of his younger brother Gareth's wife, Lyonesse (Lyonors, etc.).
In the Post-Vulgate tradition, including Malory's version (with the following account therefore using Malory's names), Gaheris (Gaheriet) participates in the revenge killing of King Pellinore, who slew King Lot. He later murders his mother, Queen Morgause, after discovering her in flagrante delicto with Lamorak, Pellinore's son and one of Arthur's greatest knights. Lamorak escapes, but is later ambushed and killed by Gaheris and three of his brothers (excluding Gareth), an act condemned as cowardly and dishonourable. When Arthur learns that Gaheris killed Morgause, he banishes him from court. Gaheris narrowly avoids execution by Mordred and Agravain through Gawain's intervention and then joins Gawain, Agravain and Mordred in the ambush and murder of Lamorak. After his exile, he joins Perceval on the Grail Quest, having previously been rescued from captivity by Palamedes.
In the Prose Tristan, the Gaheris figure is depicted as a friend and ally of Tristan, opposing the villainous King Mark and compelling him to revoke Tristan's banishment from Cornwall. The Belarusian version Povest' o Tryshchane portrays him as Arthur's son, named Garnot.[19] In Malory's account, however, Gaheris despises Tristan for being favoured by Arthur, considering him an enemy. When Gaheris and Agravain attack Tristan, the Cornish knight denounces them and Gawain as "the greatest destroyers and murderers of good knights" before defeating them.[20]
His death during Lancelot's rescue of Guinevere from execution is recounted in the Mort Artu, the concluding section of the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate cycles.[21] After he joins the plot of Mordred and Agravain against Lancelot and Guinevere (Guerrehet does not in the English Stanzaic Morte Arthur), Arthur commands the brothers to guard the queen's execution. Two of them reluctantly comply, though Gawain refuses the king's order. In Malory, when Lancelot arrives to save Guinevere, he kills the both brothers present there, despite them being unarmed, by accident. In the Vulgate Mort Artu, Guerrehet (Malory's Gaheris) is killed by Bors in combat. Their deaths drive Gawain into a vengeful rage against Lancelot, and the ensuing feud contributes to the fall of Arthur and his kingdom.
Other Gaheris characters
In the Post-Vulgate version of the Mort Artu, a knight from North Wales also named Gaheris takes the vacant Round Table seat that had belonged to the work's Gareth'[22] following the latter's death. This 'new' Gaheris (Gaheres de Norgales) participates in the ensuing civil war, fighting on the side of Arthur and Gawain against the followers of Lancelot.
Adding to the confusion, there is also Gaheris of Karaheu, another Knight of the Round Table. Both are entirely distinct from Gaheris, the brother of Gawain.[7]
Modern culture
- In T. H. White's The Once and Future King, the act of matricide is attributed to Agravaine rather than Gaheris. White offers his own interpretation of the story, depicting Agravaine as harbouring an unhealthy obsession with his mother, while Gaheris is repeatedly described as "dull" or "dull-witted".
- In Vera Chapman's 1976 novel The King's Damosel, the protagonist Lynette is wed to Gaheris but she loves Gareth.
- The 1977 short story "Buried Silver" by Dennis Moore (Keith Taylor) has Gaheris as a part of the group searching for a Roman treasure.
- In the 1995 film First Knight, Gaheris is portrayed by Alexis Denisof. He takes part in the final battle for Camelot and survives the conflict against Malagant and his army.
- In Gerald Morris's book series The Squire's Tales, Gaheris is portrayed as one of the main protagonists. He is depicted as a witty and quietly courageous man who prefers agriculture to warfare. The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf (2000) has him marry with Lynet after she travels with Gareth.
Notes
- A list of the four brothers (excluding Mordred, who does not appear in the work) is given in Perceval, when Gawain tells the "white-haired queen" (his grandmother Igraine) their names: "Gawain is the oldest, the second Agravain the Proud [...], Gaheriet and Guerehet are the names of the following two." (verses 8139–8142 in the Dufournet edition; verses 8056–8060 in the Méla edition). A similar portrayal of the five brothers (including Mordred) occurs in the prose Lancelot.[14]