The Faithful Companion Sir Gawain
- Role: The Loyal Knight
- Gawain is often the archetype of the steadfast friend, a knight known for his bravery, loyalty, and sense of justice.
- Symbolism: Gawain represents the virtues of brotherhood and perseverance. His tale often explores themes of honor and redemption, such as in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
“Another dimension of the Grail Temple, known as the Castle of Wonders, offers a different kind of adventure, that of Gawain and the magic chessboard. Gawain, a sun hero whose strength grows greater towards midday and subsides towards evening, enters the feminine realm of the circular castle, where he finds a square chessboard set out with pieces that move of their own accord at the will of either opponent. Gawain proceeds to play a game against an unseen adversary—and loses. Angrily, he tries to throw the board and the pieces out of the window of the castle into the moat, and it is at this moment that a woman rises from the water to prevent him. She is identified by her raiment, which is either red or black, spangled with stars, as an aspect of the Goddess, and after first rebuking Gawain for his anger and thoughtlessness, she becomes his ally and tutor, reappearing later in a different guise as his guide on the Grail Quest” - Arthurian Magic, John Matthews, Virginia Chandler
“Then he saw coming from a chamber the damsel who had previously borne the Holy Vessel through the hall. In front of her came two tapers and two censers. When she came to the middle of the palace she laid the Holy Grail on a table of silver. Sir Gawain saw ten censers giving forth perfumes and all the sweet voices began to sing, “Blessed be the Father of Heaven.” When the song had lasted a long time, the damsel took the Vessel and carried it into the chamber she had come from. The voices were silent and all the windows opened and then closed, and the hall grew so dark that Sir Gawain could see nothing. He became aware that he felt healthy and whole again, and that the wound in his right shoulder was healed. He arose joyfully and went to seek the knight who had fought with him, but could not find him. Then he heard the sound of people approaching and felt them lay hold of him and carry him from the hall and bind him to a cart in the middle of the court. With that he fell asleep. Sir Gawain awoke in the morning to find he was lying in a vile cart and his shield was bound onto the shaft in front of him and his horse was tied behind the cart, while in the shaft was a thin and meagre horse. He felt deeply shamed to find himself in such a sad state, and he wished he were dead. A damsel came towards him bearing a whip, and she began to hit the horse and to lead it through the streets of the town. When the minstrels saw the knight in the cart they followed, shouting and pelting mud and old rags at him.” —adapted from The Crown by Heinrich von dem Türlin, translated by J. L. Weston. (John Matthews)
Library of Light Edition 1.0 — Last revised: April 2026