GAWAYN. Gawain, the paragon of courtesy, was King Arthur's nephew, son of his sister Morgause (or Anna, in some versions). Chrétien says: Devant toz les buens chevaliers/Doit estre Gauvains le premiers, Erec 1691-1692, "Before all good knights, Gawain ought to be named first." Gawain was the nonpareil of Arthurian knights in the early stages of Arthurian romance, but his reputation was blackened in the later tradition, as in Chrétien's Le Conte de Graal (c. 1182). In the Middle English Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (late fourteenth century), he is still famous for courtesy and chastity.

Even Gawayn, for all his reputation, cannot surpass the strange knight's courtesy, SqT 95-96. [Arthour: Launcelot]

Gawayn, the ME variant of OF Gauvin, is derived from Welsh Gwalltadvwyn, and appears in medial position, SqT 95.