French literature An enumeration of the four sons of
King Lot (excluding
Mordred) can be found in
Chrétien de Troyes's
Perceval, the Story of the Grail when Gawain tells the "white-haired queen" (his grandmother
Igraine) the names of the four brothers ("
Gawain is the oldest, the second
Agravain the Proud [...], Gaheriet and Guerehet are the names of the following two." A brief portrait of the five brothers (including Mordred) can be found in the prose
Lancelot. A Gareth figure appears in a major role in the First Continuation of
Perceval: as the protagonist of the story's final episode, he slays the giant known as "Little Knight", thus avenging the death of fairy king Brangemuer, son of
Guingamuer and the fay Brangepart. the spelling of the names of the two brothers as appearing in their original adventures within Malory's sources, selectively combined (along with their more positive traits) by Malory for these of Gareth, vary depending on the text and the specific manuscript. Such names of theirs have been tentatively indentified as
Carahés,
Charahes,
Charehes,
Charheries,
Gahanet,
Gahenet,
Gahereit,
Gaheres,
Gaheret,
Gaherez,
Gahereth,
Gaheries,
Gaheriert,
Gaheriet,
Gaheriez,
Gaheryet,
Gheryes,
Gharyez,
Gaherss,
Gaheryes,
Gaheryet,
Gheryez,
Gaherys,
Gariet,
Gariette,
Garrett,
Ghaharies,
Ghaheriet,
Generez,
Gerehes,
Guerrehet,
Gwerrehers, and
Gwerrerw, among others. In the
Old French La Mort le roi Artu, the form
Gaheriet appears in the
oblique case and
Gaheriez in the
nominative case. Elsewhere, it can appear as
Gahariet (oblique) and
Gaharies (nominative).
Phyllis Ann Karr in
The Arthurian Companion names Gaheris as
Gaheriet and
Guerrehes, and Gareth as
Guerrehet. His adventures are narrated thorough the Vulgate Cycle, the
Post-Vulgate Cycle, and the
Prose Tristan. In
Merlin Continuation, the French 'Gareth' (here understood as the youngest of the sons of
Lot's wife,
''Le Morte d'Arthur'' In Malory's Arthurian compilation ''
Le Morte d'Arthur'', Gareth is a
composite character combining the explicitly good aspects of the two similarly named younger brothers of Gawain from the work's French sources (i.e. the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate cycles and different versions of the Prose
Tristan), the other of whom became Malory's character of
Gaheris. His name was invented by Malory and was also appearing as
Garethe in the
Winchester Manuscript. According to
Roger Sherman Loomis writing in 1927, Gareth's "name has been long recognized by scholars as a variant of Gaeres, Gaheries, Guahries or Gwarehes." The issue of the exact prototype(s) of Gareth has been debated, especially by the early scholarship. For example,
Jessie L. Weston wrote in a 1901 polemic with Heinrich Oskar Sommer: Conversely, according to Robert H. Wilson, Malory did not want "to present Gareth, the personally admirable hero of an episodic romance [i.e. his
Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney], as a minor and despicable figure. What Malory does instead is to keep Gaheriet as Gaheris up through the killing of his mother, and then to reverse the identities of the two brothers." According to
Helen Cooper, As the initially youngest and enduringly most
chivalrous of the royal
Orkney clan, Gareth prevents his brothers Gawain and Agravain from killing Gaheris in revenge for the murder of their mother Queen
Morgause, condemns his brothers for their killing of
Lamorak, and attempts to dissuade Agravain and Mordred (later the youngest of the Orkney brothers) from exposing the secret love affair between Lancelot and King Arthur's wife, Queen Guinevere. In Malory, there are only two knights that have ever successfully held against Lancelot: Sir
Tristan and Gareth. This was always under conditions where one or both parties were unknown to the other, for these knights loved each other. In a distinctively new origin story, compared to his French counterpart knighted by either Arthur or his own immediate elder brother (Malory's Gaheris), In this scene (based on the English
Stanzaic Morte Arthur rather than on the French original) in Book VII (Caxton XVIII), "The Death of Arthur", Gareth arrives unarmed in protest after he is ordered by King Arthur to help guard the execution of Queen Guinevere. Nevertheless, he ends up accidentally killed by the battle-mad Lancelot during the rescue of the queen, along with his brother Gaheris. Gawain refuses to allow Arthur to accept Lancelot's sincere apology for the deaths of his brothers. Lancelot genuinely mourns the death of Gareth, whom he loved closely like a son or younger brother, but Arthur is forced by Gawain's insistence to go to war against Lancelot. This leads to the splitting of the
Round Table warring factions, Mordred's treachery in trying to seize Guinevere and the throne, Gawain's own death from an unhealed wound he suffered in his duel with Lancelot, and Arthur and Mordred slaying each other in
the final battle.
The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney File:Boys King Arthur - N. C. Wyeth - p102.jpg|thumb|"The lady Lyoness [...] had his [Gareth's] dwarf in examination."
N. C. Wyeth's illustration of her and Melot in ''
The Boy's King Arthur'' (1922) A young Gareth is notably the hero of Book IV (Caxton VII), "The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney", Malory's own original story of the
Fair Unknown type, which tells how he became a knight. It is partially a creative retelling of an episode from the Post-Vulgate
Suite de Merlin, which featured a considerably older Gaheriet on his quest to defeat the
Red Knights, ending with his knighting. In the "Tale of Gareth", the teenage hero seeks to prove himself worthy of
knighthood through his deeds instead of just his lineage. For this reason, he arrives at
Camelot in disguise as a kitchen boy as
le bel inconnu (i.e. the Fair Unknown), who comes without a name and therefore without a past. He is set to work by
Sir Kay, who always gives him difficult work, teases him as a lowly kitchen boy, and mockingly nicknames him "
Beaumains" or "Good Hands" (alternatively "Beautiful Hands" or "Fair Hands"). Gareth receives much better attention from Sir Lancelot, who gives him gifts of clothes and gold for spending money. After a year passes, Gareth finally embarks on a knightly quest. He goes to the aid of an unknown woman, later revealed to be the Dame Lynette, to save her sister
Lyonesse (both also appearing under various alternate spellings) from the Red Knight of the Red Lands. Gareth is accompanied by the dwarf Melot, who knows his true identity. However, Lynette takes Gareth as a mere kitchen boy and constantly derides him. On the way, he defeats Sir Perarde, the terrible
Black Knight, and takes his armour and horse. He then meets Sir Pertolope, the
Green Knight, who mistakes him for his brother, the Black Knight. Lynette tells the Green Knight that he is a kitchen boy and begs him to rid her of him. Gareth overcomes the Green Knight but spares his life in return for the knight's swearing to serve King Arthur. He then in much the same fashion defeats Sir Perymones, the Puce Knight (sometimes called the Red Knight, but not to be confused with the Knight of the Red Lands), and Sir Persaunte (Persant of Inde), the Indigo Knight, both of whom also swear loyalty to Arthur. Finally, he arrives at Lyonesse's castle, where she is besieged by Sir Ironside, the Red Knight of the Red Lands. Gareth fights him all day and finally prevails, although the Red Knight has the strength of seven men, and intends to slay him just like Ironside had slaughtered all the other knights who came to save the lady Lyonesse. However, the Red Knight explains that he did so because the lady he loved made him swear to kill Lancelot, and the only way to get Lancelot's attention was to first kill these knights. Hearing this, Gareth decides to spare the Red Knight, making him swear to serve Arthur and also go to Camelot and apologise to Lancelot. Lustily in love with Lyonesse, Gareth conspires to consummate their relationship before marrying. Only by the magical intervention of Lynette is their tryst unsuccessful, thus preserving Gareth's virginity and, presumably, his standing with God. Gareth later counsels Lyonesse to report to King Arthur and pretend she does not know where he is; instead, he tells her to announce a tournament of his knights against the Round Table. This allows Gareth to disguise himself and win honour by defeating his brother knights. The heralds eventually acknowledge that he is 'Sir Gareth' right as he defeats his brother Gawain. ==Modern Arthuriana ==