Chivalry In King Arthur, And Sir Gawain

Chivalrous: a word to describe a knight of courtesy, generosity, dexterity in arms, and honor of God and their people. Despite the knightly chivalry of the three men, Sir Lancelot, King Arthur, and Sir Gawain showed aspects that were not considered chivalrous such as kissing the lord's wife, being disloyal to God and not keeping promises. These three men of medieval literature show complexity of chivalry and honor along with instances of betrayal and mistakes. These men exemplify qualities of chivalry and their instances of non-chivalric behavior helped them in the end.

Sir Lancelot is a character from the great stories of Medieval Romance who was advanced in fighting. He had a sharp mind and different point of view on life which was an advantage

King Arthur was a noble man who was courageous, honorable, and honest. He was a great leader however, he showed instances of disloyalty to God. Mordred, his son had taken over his kingdom of Camelot therefore, the king needed to defend his throne and his queen. In a dream, King Arthur was warned to not fight Mordred right away and foreshadowed his death. Mordred had killed most of his knights in battle. "Tide me death, betide me life...he shall never escape mine hands for a better avail shall I never have him. (Morte D'Arthur-pg.189) The king was not going to let Mordred get away with killing his men so he charged at him and struck him with a lethal blow however, King Arthur was struck as well, in return, killing him. His chivalric disposition of honor and loyalty was shown in this brief encounter between Mordred and the Arthur. His disloyalty to God happens when he has a dream of Gawain giving him a message from God saying that if he fights Mordred before Lancelot arrives, him and all his men will die. Arthur knew very well that to engage in the battle will result in his and several others death however he still went against the message God gave him. “Good lord, remember ye of your night's dream, and what the spirit of Sir Gawain told you this night...Therefore, for God's sake, my lord, leave off by this, for blessed be God ye have won the field, for here we be three alive, and with Sir Mordred is none alive;"(Morte D'Arthur-pg.189) Sir Lucan warned him of his inevitable death yet the king did not listen and fought Sir Mordred anyway. This exposed his sacrificial ways for his men even if it meant going against God. In conclusion, King Arthur has shown complex aspects of chivalry and non-chivalry in Morte D'Arthur. King Arthur exemplified qualities of chivalry and his instances of non-chivalric behavior helped his people in the