Gareth of Orkney () is a Knight of the Round Table in the Le Morte d'Arthur version of the Arthurian legend and many modern works based on it. He is depicted as the youngest son of King Lot and the Queen of Orkney, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as the youngest brother to Gawain, Agravain and Gaheris.
The author Thomas Malory created (and named) his composite character of Gareth by combining elements of similar figures from French sources (appearing under various names, but originally having been known as Chrétien's Gaheriet and Guerrehet), specifically constructing him as the 'good' Orkney brother. He thus contrasted the virtuous and honourable Gareth with his morally imperfect or even villainous siblings. These include Malory's own Gaheris, whose corresponding figure had been often conflated with the Gareth-like youngest of the Orkneys (besides their half-brother Mordred, if he does appear) by other medieval authors, with some texts even having the two as one and the same character.
In Le Morte d'Arthur, one of its eight volumes is named after and largely dedicated to a young Gareth, where he is also known by his nickname Beaumains. The story tells, Fair Unknown-style, of his quest on the behalf of the sisters Lynette and Lyonesse, ending in his marriage with the latter and earning his knighthood through both his martial prowess and humility. At the end of Le Morte, Gareth is accidentally killed by his mentor and friend, Lancelot, during the rescue of Guinevere from the stake, an event that leads to the doom of Arthur's kingdom.
Arthurian legend
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."Verses 8139–8142 in the Dufournet edition; verses 8056–8060 in the Méla edition. A brief portrait of the five brothers (including Mordred) can be found in the prose Lancelot.Norris J. Lacy, ed., Lancelot-Grail: Lancelot Parts III and IV, Volume 4 of Lancelot-Grail: The Old French Arthurian Vulgate and Post-Vulgate in Translation, Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2010, pp. 392–4. . 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.
Although Thomas Malory seems to have based the name of Gareth on that of Guerrehes (Guerehes, Guerrehet, etc.) from the Vulgate Cycle (Lancelot-Grail Cycle), 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 identified 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.Jean Frappier, ed., La Mort le roi Artu, Paris: Droz, 1996, p. 291. . 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. The youngest of Gawain's four full brothers in the Vulgate Lancelot, 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."
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, besides the later arriving Mordred) and his older brothers defect from their father King Lot and take service with King Arthur (their mother's half-brother), participating in the early battles against the Saxon invaders of Britain and in the war against King Claudas on the continent. His death during Lancelot's rescue of Guinevere from being burned at the stake is related in the Vulgate Mort Artu (Death of Arthur).Norris J. Lacy, ed. and trans., Lancelot-Grail: The Death of Arthur, Volume 7 of Lancelot-Grail: The Old French Arthurian Vulgate and Post-Vulgate in Translation, Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2010, p. 69. .
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), the youngest Orkney prince is knighted by Lancelot after his adventures with Lynette. Later, Gareth tells Tristan he had parted ways with Gaheris and Agravain due to their dislike of him and their murderous ways.
Eventually, Lancelot's unintended and brutal killing of his young friend and hero worship follower makes the central event of the final grand tragedy at the end of Malory's tale. 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
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.