Abstract

In an article published more than forty years ago F. Whitehead showed us how Malory composed the sourceless and puzzling passage that concludes his Tale of King Arthur, the first great division of the Morte Darthur. The Tale relates the adventures of Gawain, Ywain, and Marhalt, each of whom goes off for a year with one of three damsels they meet at a fountain. Gawain's main adventure is his well-known encounter with Pelleas and Ettard, while Ywain and Marhalt have briefer and more routine adventures assisting damsels, freeing prisoners, and defending Arthur's name. When the year is up, the three knights return to the fountain and then go to Arthur's court, where Ywain and Marhalt become Round Table knights