Sir Gawain seized his lance and bade them farewell

Arthurian legend The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffr ...

, Gringolet is Sir

Gawain Gawain ( ), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Matter of Britain, Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and one of the premier Knights of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned und ...

's powerful war horse.

Derivation of name

Israel Gollancz Sir Israel Gollancz, FBA (13 July 1863 – 23 June 1930) was a scholar of early English literature and of Shakespeare. He was Professor of English Language and Literature at King's College, London, from 1903 to 1930. Life and career Gollancz wa ...

in the early 20th century suggested that Gringolet was derived from the giant Wade's magic boat, Guingelot or ''*Wingolet'' – one form of magical transport (horse) being substituted for an earlier one (boat). More generally accepted is the suggestion by the prominent Arthurian scholar

Roger Sherman Loomis Roger Sherman Loomis (1887–1966) was an American scholar and one of the foremost authorities on medieval and Arthurian literature. Loomis is perhaps best known for showing the roots of Arthurian legend, in particular the Holy Grail, in native C ...

that the French name Gringalet derived from either the Welsh ''guin-calet'' ("white and hardy"), or ''keincaled'' ("handsome and hardy") – linked to a wider Celtic tradition of heroic white horses with red ears.

Appearances

His earliest appearance is in

Chrétien de Troyes Chrétien de Troyes (; ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on King Arthur, Arthurian subjects such as Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's chivalric romances, including ''Erec and Enide'' ...

' '' Erec and Enide''; in that poem he is borrowed by

Sir Kay In Arthurian legend, Kay (, Middle Welsh ''Kei'' or ''Cei''; ; French: ''Keu''; Old French: ''Kès'' or ''Kex'') is King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table. In later literature h ...

to joust against

Erec The Knights of the Round Table (, , ) are the legendary knights of the fellowship of King Arthur that first appeared in the Matter of Britain literature in the mid-12th century. The Knights are a chivalric order dedicated to ensuring the peace ...

. Even Gringolet cannot prevent Kay from losing to the protagonist. In the

Lancelot-Grail The ''Lancelot-Grail Cycle'', also known as the Vulgate Cycle or the Pseudo-Map Cycle, is an early 13th-century French Arthurian legend, Arthurian literary cycle consisting of interconnected prose episodes of chivalric romance originally writte ...

Cycle, Gawain wins Gringolet from the

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

king Clarion; a different story of the acquisition is given in

Wolfram von Eschenbach Wolfram von Eschenbach (; – ) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry. Life Little is known of Wolfram's life. Ther ...

's ''

Parzival ''Parzival'' () is a medieval chivalric romance by the poet and knight Wolfram von Eschenbach in Middle High German. The poem, commonly dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, centers on the Arthurian hero Parzival (Percival in English) ...

'', where the horse bears the mark of, and comes from the stable of, the Grail castle – part of the gradual displacement of Gawain by Percival and the story of the grail. In the

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 pe ...

poem ''

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English alliterative verse. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot comb ...

'', Gawain sets out atop Gringolet in search of the Green Chapel. Lines 600–604 of the poem describe Gringolet's ornate appearance in being readied for the journey: :''The bridle was embossed and bound with bright gold;'' :''So were the furnishings of the fore-harness and the fine skirts.'' :''The crupper and the caparison accorded with the saddle-bows,'' :''And all was arrayed on red with nails of richest gold,'' :''Which glittered and glanced like gleams of the sun.''

Gawain's attachment

Gawain is always shown as attached to Gringolet, caring for his horse, and talking to it as to a beloved pet or companion. When (in '' The Awntyrs off Arthure'') Gringolet (here called "Grissell") is killed beneath him in combat, Gawain is seized with battle fury, and runs mad, his strength amplified, until nightfall.

References

Arthurian characters Legendary horses {{fantasy-char-stub

Derivation of name

Appearances

Gawain's attachment

See also

References