Gaheris

Gaheris is a figure of Arthurian legend, a knight of the Round Table, and a son of Morgause and King Lot of Orkney and Lothian. His brothers are Gawaine, Agravaine, Gareth and Mordred, a half-brother.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His mother was a daughter of Gorlois and Igraine, and a sister of Elaine and Morgan le Fay. She was also an older maternal half-sister of King Arthur.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, Gaheris was squire to his elder brother Gawaine before being knighted himself, and helped moderate Gawain's fiery temper. He participates in the murders of King Pellinore, his father's slayer, and Sir Lamorak, Pellinore's son and the lover of Gaheris' mother. More notorious is his murder of his own mother, Morgause, after catching her in flagrante delicto with the youthful and handsome Lamorak. Gaheris beheads his mother but Lamorak escapes, to be hunted down by all the brothers except Gareth, and Mordred stabs him in the back. Since in Malory Lamorak is greater than any knight except Lancelot and Tristram, this act of revenge is deemed cowardly and a blot on the Orkney brothers' honour. When Arthur and the brothers discover Gaheris is Morgause' slayer, he is ejected from court.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gaheris is killed accidentally by Lancelot during the rescue of Guinevere. Gaheris will have nothing to do with Agravain and Mordred's plot to entrap Lancelot and Guinevere, and when Arthur asks the brothers to help guard the Queen's execution, Gaheris and Gareth reluctantly agree, though Gawain refuses. They refuse to wear armor, and Lancelot, unable to distinguish friend from foe in his blind wrath, cuts down the unarmored princes. Gawain's fury at this outrage is terrible and the resulting feud largely destroys the Round Table.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gaheris is often little more than a supporting character to his brothers Gawain and Gareth, with the murder of Morgause an odd exception, leading modern authors such as Terence Hanbury White to give the act to Agravaine instead. He even marries the sister of Gareth's wife Lyonors, the haughty damsel Lynette.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It is likely Gaheris and Gareth were the same character in origin. Their names in French sources, Guerrehes (Gaheris, usually) and Gaheriet (Gareth, usually), are easy to confuse and adventures ascribed to the brothers are often interchangeable. Furthermore, only one brother is ever named for Gwalchmai ap Gwyar, the character from Welsh mythology traditionally identified with Gawain. This character, Gwalchafed, is a likely source for Gaheris and Gareth if Gawain did indeed derive from Gwalchmai.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Arthurian legend: REDIRECT King Arthur...

Round Table: A round table is one which has no "head" and no "sides", and therefore no one person sitting at it is given a privileged position and all are treated as equals. The idea stems from the Arthurian legend about the Knights of the Round Table in Camelot....

Morgause: In Arthurian legend, Morgause or Morgase (also known as Anna-Morgause or Ann-Morgause) is the half-sister of King Arthur who slept with him and produced Mordred, the incestuous heir that would lead to Camelot's downfall. She is the daughter of the Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall and Lady Igraine. She is m...