The knights Galahad and Gawain Essay Example for Free

The knights Galahad and Gawain Essay These two came from rather different backgrounds, yet there are similarities in that they both spent considerable time in search of the holy grail – a vessel or plate used a the last supper. Nowadays if we say we are looking for the holy grail we mean the almost unobtainable , perfect solution, but these were looking for a real, in their eyes at least, object, that really could be found if one’s character was perfect. Galahad was the illegitimate son of Lancelot and Elaine, and grew up in a nunnery. Merlin prophesied that Galahad would outdo his father’s deeds of bravery. In Malory’s   ‘Le Morte d’Arthur he is considered to be very pious and to this is imputed his success. He does not speak much to others, is totally chaste and must have seemed aloof, almost inhuman too good to be true. He eventually finds the grail, and because of his sinless life is   taken up to heaven. Gawain is a much more human character that we can better understand According to Welsh sources he was the son of king Lot and younger brother of Galahad, who has a rather different personality. He is portrayed as loyal and brave, helpful to others, but also rather brash. He is a ladies man, unlike the celibate Galahad. He is also said to have been a great healer and defender of the poor. For some reason his strength was said to vary considerably – perhaps this reflects the idea that his life wasn’t always pure. His character varies from a pure knight in the 12th century stories to an altogether more unpleasant version in later stories such as ‘Gawain and the Green knight’ from the second half of the 14th century, in which he is said to be a philanderer and one who doesn’t keep his word. Despite this he is associated in Welsh with the ancient Celtic sun god. Whether or not there really was an Arthur and his knights we cannot tell, but reading the stories we all know people like Gawain, complex characters, who vary in their personality from time to time. The saintly Galahad, man apparently without fault, is a much rarer find. Bibliography Drabble,M. editor, The Oxford Companion to English Literature, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996 Malory,T.   Le Morte d’Arthur first published   Caxton, 1485 Electronic Sources Arthur and Arthurian Legend http://membres.lycos.fr/pfv/ukversion.shtml Early British Kingdoms, found 2nd May 2007 at http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/gwalchgn.html