Useful for students, scholars, and those interested in medieval legend, this casebook features nineteen classic and original essays on the hero of Arthurian legend. It investigates the figure of Gawain as he appears in major medieval traditions, and in modern literature and film. The introduction examines the character's evolution.

Series Editor's Preface Introduction RAYMOND H. THOMPSON AND KEITH BUSBY Select Bibliography 1 Gawain: His Reputation, His Courtesy, and His Appearance in Chaucer's Squire's Tale B.J. WHITING 2 Gwalchmei m. Gwyar RACHEL BROMWICH 3 The Character of Gauvain in the Romances of Chrétien de Troyes WILLIAM A. NITZE 4 Gauvain and Fin' Amors in the Poems of Chrétien de Troyes DOUGLAS KELLY 5 Arthurian Adventure or Quixotic Struggle for Life? A Reading of Some Gauvain Romances in the First Half of the Thirteenth Century FRIEDRICH WOLFZETTEL 6 Diverging Traditions of Gauvain in Some of the Later Old French Verse Romances KEITH BUSBY 7 The Formation of a Gauvain Cycle in Chantilly Manuscript 472 LORI WALTERS 8 The Character of Gauvain in the Thirteenth-Century Prose Romances FANNI BOGDANOW 9 The Character of Gauvain in the Prose Tristan KEITH BUSBY 10 Gawain Against Arthur: The Impact of a Mythological Pattern upon Arthurian Tradition in Accounts of the Birth of Gawain RAYMOND H. THOMPSON 11 Crisis and Triumph in the World of Medieval Knighthood and Chivalry: Gawan in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival ALBRECHT CLASSEN 12 Gauvain as Lover in the Middle Dutch Verse Romance Walewein BART BESAMUSCA 13 The Transformation of the Figure of Gauvain in Italy MARIE-JOSÉ HEIJKANT 14 Middle English Arthurian Romance: The Repetition and Reputation of Gawain PHILLIP C. BOARDMAN 15 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: The Poet's Treatment of the Hero and his Adventure W.A. DAVENPORT 16 Gawain and Heroic Knighthood in Malory BEVERLY KENNEDY 17 Gawain in Post-Medieval English Literature RAYMOND H. THOMPSON 18 Sir Gawaine at Liberty Castle: Thomas Berger's Comic Didacticism in Arthur Rex: A Legendary Novel KLAUS P. JANOFSKY 19 Sir Gawain in Films DAVID J. WILLIAMS Proper Name Index