''Ywain and Gawain'' is an early-14th century
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
Arthurian verse romance based quite closely upon the late-12th-century
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...
romance ''
The Knight of the Lion'' by
Chrétien de Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes (Modern ; fro, Crestien de Troies ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on Arthurian subjects, and for first writing of Lancelot, Percival and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's works, including ''E ...
.
Plot
Ywain
Sir Ywain , also known as Yvain and Owain among other spellings (''Ewaine'', ''Ivain'', ''Ivan'', ''Iwain'', ''Iwein'', ''Uwain'', ''Uwaine'', etc.), is a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend, wherein he is often the son of King Urien ...
, one of
King Arthur
King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain.
In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...
's Knights of the
Round Table
The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) 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 e ...
, while at Arthur's court hears from Sir
Colgrevance
The Knights of the Round Table ( cy, Marchogion y Ford Gron, kw, Marghekyon an Moos Krenn, br, Marc'hegien an Daol Grenn) are the knights of the fellowship of King Arthur in the literary cycle of the Matter of Britain. First appearing in lit ...
about an encounter he had with a knight, who defeated him in a fight. Ywain sets out, kills the knight and marries the knight's widow Alundyne with the aid of her serving-lady Lunet (or Lunette), moving into the castle of Alundyne's late husband. However, when Arthur and his men visit them,
Gawain
Gawain (), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and a Knight of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest ...
encourages Ywain to go off adventuring, leaving his wife behind. During their adventures the two are separated, then find themselves fighting each other but recognise each other and are reunited. Ywain returns to his wife Alundyne and with Lunet's help they are reconciled.
[
]
Manuscripts
The story of ''Ywain and Gawain'' is found in a single manuscript dating to the 15th century. There are no known printed versions prior to 19th-century transcriptions of this unique manuscript text. The poem is 4032 lines long, in rhyming couplets, condensing Chrétien's 6818 lines by concentrating upon the action of the story at the expense of descriptive detail, psychology, and wordplay.["Ywain and Gawain", ''The Oxford Companion to English Literature''. Edited by Dinah Birch. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.] This unique survival is found in British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
MS Cotton Galba E ix., a manuscript without any illustrations and which dates to the early 15th century.[Evans, Murray J. 1995. ''Rereading Middle English Romance: Manuscript Layout, Decoration, and the Rhetoric of Composite Structure''. McGill-Queen’s University Press.]
References
External links
''Ywain and Gawain''
from ''Sir Perceval of Galles and Ywain and Gawain'', edited by Mary Flowers Braswell, Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, 1995.
14th-century poems
Poetry based on works by Chrétien de Troyes
Arthurian literature in Middle English
Middle English poems
{{poem-stub