Gaheris
Encyclopedia
Gaheris ɡəˈhɛrɨs is a figure of Arthurian legend, a knight of the Round Table
, and a son of Morgause
and King Lot of Orkney and Lothian
. His brothers are Gawain
, Agravaine, Gareth
and Mordred
, a half-brother. His mother is a daughter of Gorlois
and Igraine
, and a sister of Elaine
and Morgan le Fay
. She is also an older maternal half-sister of King Arthur
.
In Thomas Malory
's Le Morte d'Arthur
, Gaheris is squire to his elder brother Gawain before being knighted himself, and helped moderate Gawain's fiery temper. He participates in the murders of King Pellinore
, his father's slayer, and Sir Lamorak
, Pellinore's son and the lover of Gaheris' mother. More notorious is his murder of his own mother, Morgause, after catching her in flagrante delicto
with the youthful and handsome Lamorak. Gaheris beheads his mother. Lamorak meanwhile escapes, to be hunted down by all the brothers except Gareth, and Mordred stabs him in the back. Since in Malory Lamorak is greater than any knight except Lancelot
and Tristram
, this act of revenge is deemed cowardly and a blot on the Orkney brothers' honour. When Arthur and the brothers discover Gaheris is Morgause' slayer, he is ejected from court.
Gaheris is killed accidentally (along with Gareth) by Lancelot, during the rescue of Guinevere
. Gaheris and Gareth will have nothing to do with Agravaine and Mordred's plot to entrap Lancelot and Guinevere, and when Arthur asks the brothers to help guard the Queen's execution, Gaheris and Gareth reluctantly agree, though Gawain refuses. They decline to wear armor, and Lancelot (unable to distinguish friend from foe in his blind wrath, and rush to save the woman he loves), cuts down the unarmored princes. This later causes Lancelot much emotional anguish when he is told what had happened, for he had loved Gareth almost like a son. Gawain's fury at this outrage is terrible and the resulting feud largely destroys the Round Table.
Gaheris is often little more than a supporting character to his brothers Gawain
and Gareth
, with the murder of Morgause an odd exception, leading modern authors such as T. H. White
(who describes Gaheris repeatedly as dull, or dull-witted), to give the act of matricide to Agravaine instead. Again, White gives his own individual interpretation to the story, by depicting Agravaine as having an unhealthy love/lust obsession for his own mother. Gaheris even marries the sister of Gareth's wife Lyonors, the haughty damsel Lynette
. It is likely Gaheris and Gareth were the same character in origin, as their names in French
sources, Guerrehes (Gaheris, usually) and Gaheriet (Gareth, usually), are easy to confuse and adventures ascribed to the brothers are often interchangeable. Furthermore, only one brother is ever named for Gwalchmai ap Gwyar, the character from Welsh mythology
traditionally identified with Gawain. This character, Gwalchafed, is a likely source for Gaheris and Gareth if Gawain did indeed derive from Gwalchmai.
Round Table (Camelot)
The Round Table is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his Knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status. The table was first described in 1155 by Wace, who relied on previous depictions of...
, and a son of Morgause
Morgause
Morgause , known in earlier works as Gwyar or Anna, is the sister or half-sister of King Arthur in the Arthurian legend. In her earliest appearance she is Arthur's full sister by Uther Pendragon and Igraine; Gwyar is her name and she is the mother of Gwalchmei...
and King Lot of Orkney and Lothian
Lothian
Lothian forms a traditional region of Scotland, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills....
. His brothers are Gawain
Gawain
Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...
, Agravaine, Gareth
Gareth
Sir Gareth was a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian Legend. He was the youngest son of Lot and of Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, and half brother of Mordred...
and Mordred
Mordred
Mordred or Modred is a character in the Arthurian legend, known as a notorious traitor who fought King Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where he was killed and Arthur fatally wounded. Tradition varies on his relationship to Arthur, but he is best known today as Arthur's illegitimate son by his...
, a half-brother. His mother is a daughter of Gorlois
Gorlois
Gorlois was a Duke of Cornwall and Igraine's first husband before her marriage to Uther Pendragon, according to the Arthurian legend...
and Igraine
Igraine
Igraine , in Arthurian legend, is the mother of King Arthur. She is also known in Latin as Igerna, in Welsh as Eigyr, in French as Igerne, in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Ygrayne— often modernized as Igraine—and in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival as Arnive...
, and a sister of Elaine
Elaine (legend)
Elaine is a name shared by several different female characters in Arthurian legend.-Elaine of Astolat:Elaine of Astolat, also known in some texts as Elaine the Fair or the Fair Maid of Astolat and as The Lady of Shalott in Lord Alfred Tennyson's same-titled poem, is a maiden who falls in unrequited...
and Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay , alternatively known as Morgane, Morgaine, Morgana and other variants, is a powerful sorceress in the Arthurian legend. Early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay or magician...
. She is also an older maternal half-sister of King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
.
In Thomas Malory
Thomas Malory
Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author or compiler of Le Morte d'Arthur. The antiquary John Leland as well as John Bale believed him to be Welsh, but most modern scholars, beginning with G. L...
's Le Morte d'Arthur
Le Morte d'Arthur
Le Morte d'Arthur is a compilation by Sir Thomas Malory of Romance tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the Knights of the Round Table...
, Gaheris is squire to his elder brother Gawain before being knighted himself, and helped moderate Gawain's fiery temper. He participates in the murders of King Pellinore
Pellinore
King Pellinore is the king of Listenoise or of "the Isles" , according to the Arthurian legend. Son of King Pellam and brother of Kings Pelles and Alain, he is most famous for his endless hunt of the Questing Beast, which he is tracking when King Arthur first meets him...
, his father's slayer, and Sir Lamorak
Lamorak
Lamorak is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend. He is the son of King Pellinore and the brother of Tor, Aglovale, Percival, the Grail maiden Dindrane and sometimes others....
, Pellinore's son and the lover of Gaheris' mother. More notorious is his murder of his own mother, Morgause, after catching her in flagrante delicto
In flagrante delicto
In flagrante delicto or sometimes simply in flagrante is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence...
with the youthful and handsome Lamorak. Gaheris beheads his mother. Lamorak meanwhile escapes, to be hunted down by all the brothers except Gareth, and Mordred stabs him in the back. Since in Malory Lamorak is greater than any knight except Lancelot
Lancelot
Sir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...
and Tristram
Tristan
Tristan is one of the main characters of the Tristan and Iseult story, a Cornish hero and one of the Knights of the Round Table featuring in the Matter of Britain...
, this act of revenge is deemed cowardly and a blot on the Orkney brothers' honour. When Arthur and the brothers discover Gaheris is Morgause' slayer, he is ejected from court.
Gaheris is killed accidentally (along with Gareth) by Lancelot, during the rescue of Guinevere
Guinevere
Guinevere was the legendary queen consort of King Arthur. In tales and folklore, she was said to have had a love affair with Arthur's chief knight Sir Lancelot...
. Gaheris and Gareth will have nothing to do with Agravaine and Mordred's plot to entrap Lancelot and Guinevere, and when Arthur asks the brothers to help guard the Queen's execution, Gaheris and Gareth reluctantly agree, though Gawain refuses. They decline to wear armor, and Lancelot (unable to distinguish friend from foe in his blind wrath, and rush to save the woman he loves), cuts down the unarmored princes. This later causes Lancelot much emotional anguish when he is told what had happened, for he had loved Gareth almost like a son. Gawain's fury at this outrage is terrible and the resulting feud largely destroys the Round Table.
Gaheris is often little more than a supporting character to his brothers Gawain
Gawain
Gawain is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table who appears very early in the Arthurian legend's development. He is one of a select number of Round Table members to be referred to as the greatest knight, most notably in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...
and Gareth
Gareth
Sir Gareth was a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian Legend. He was the youngest son of Lot and of Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to Gawain, Agravain, Gaheris, and half brother of Mordred...
, with the murder of Morgause an odd exception, leading modern authors such as T. H. White
T. H. White
Terence Hanbury White was an English author best known for his sequence of Arthurian novels, The Once and Future King, first published together in 1958.-Biography:...
(who describes Gaheris repeatedly as dull, or dull-witted), to give the act of matricide to Agravaine instead. Again, White gives his own individual interpretation to the story, by depicting Agravaine as having an unhealthy love/lust obsession for his own mother. Gaheris even marries the sister of Gareth's wife Lyonors, the haughty damsel Lynette
Lynette and Lyonesse
In the Arthurian Legend, Lynette is a woman who travels to King Arthur's court to seek help for her beautiful sister Lyonesse , whose lands are under siege by the Red Knight of the Red Lands.Since Lynette refuses to reveal her name for reasons which are not...
. It is likely Gaheris and Gareth were the same character in origin, as their names in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
sources, Guerrehes (Gaheris, usually) and Gaheriet (Gareth, usually), are easy to confuse and adventures ascribed to the brothers are often interchangeable. Furthermore, only one brother is ever named for Gwalchmai ap Gwyar, the character from Welsh mythology
Welsh mythology
Welsh mythology, the remnants of the mythology of the pre-Christian Britons, has come down to us in much altered form in medieval Welsh manuscripts such as the Red Book of Hergest, the White Book of Rhydderch, the Book of Aneirin and the Book of Taliesin....
traditionally identified with Gawain. This character, Gwalchafed, is a likely source for Gaheris and Gareth if Gawain did indeed derive from Gwalchmai.