Editing Gawain (section)

==Name==
[[File:Hb-gauvain.jpg|thumb|upright|Gauvain's [[attributed arms]]|alt=|left]]

Gawain is known by different names and variants in different languages. The character corresponds to the Welsh '''Gwalchmei ap Gwyar''' (meaning "son of Gwyar"), or '''Gwalchmai''', and throughout the Middle Ages was known in [[Latin language|Latin]] as '''Galvaginus''', '''Gualgunus''' (''Gualguanus'', ''Gualguinus''), '''Gualgwinus''', '''Walwanus''' (''Walwanius''), '''Waluanus''', '''Walwen''', etc.; in [[Old French]]  (and sometimes English) primarily as '''Gavain''' (''Gavaine'') and also as '''Gauvain''' (''Gauvaine''), '''Gauvan''' (''Gauvayn''), '''Gauven''' (''Gauvein''/''Gauveyn''), '''Gavan''' (''Gavane'') or
'''Gavayn''' (''Gavayne''); in [[Middle High German]] as '''Gâwein''' or '''Gâwân'''; in Italian dialects as '''Gavino''', '''Galvagin''' or '''Galvano'''; in [[Old Spanish]] as '''Galván'''; in [[Old Portuguese]] as '''Galvam''' or '''Galvão'''; and in [[Middle English]] also as '''Gawaine''', '''Gawan''' (''Gawane''), '''Gawayn''' (''Gawayne''), '''Gawein''' (''Gaweine''), 
'''Gaweyn''' (''Gaweyne''), '''Gauwein''' (''Gauweine''), '''Gauweyn''' (''Gauweyne'') or '''Wawen''' (''Wowen''), among many other forms and spellings. The later forms are generally assumed to derive from the Welsh ''Gwalchmei''.<ref name=Bromwich369>Bromwich, p. 369.</ref>

The element ''Gwalch'' means [[hawk]], and is a typical epithet in [[Medieval Welsh literature|medieval Welsh poetry]].<ref name="Bromwich367">Bromwich, p. 367.</ref> The meaning of ''mei'' is uncertain. It has been suggested that it refers to the month of May (''Mai'' in Modern Welsh), rendering "Hawk of May", although [[Rachel Bromwich]] considers this unlikely. [[Kenneth H. Jackson|Kenneth Jackson]] suggests the name evolved from an early [[Common Brittonic]] name *''Ualcos Magesos'', meaning "Hawk of the Plain".<ref name=Bromwich367/> Not all scholars accept the ''gwalch'' derivation. John Koch suggests the name could be derived from a [[Brittonic languages|Brythonic]] original ''*Wolcos Magesos'', "Wolf/Errant Warrior of the Plain."<ref>Koch, "The Celtic Lands," p. 267.</ref> 

Others argue that the continental forms do not ultimately derive from ''Gwalchmei''. [[Roger Sherman Loomis]] suggests a derivation from the epithet ''Gwallt Avwyn'', found in the list of heroes in ''[[Culhwch and Olwen]]'', which he translates as "hair like reins" or "bright hair".<ref>Roger Sherman Loomis, ''The Grail'' (Princeton University Press, 1963), p. 272.</ref><ref>Roger Sherman Loomis, ''Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance'' (Academy Chicago Publishers, 1997), pp. 63–66.</ref> Lauran Toorians proposes that the Dutch name '''Walewein''' (attested in [[Flanders]] and France c. 1100) was earliest, suggesting it entered Britain during the large settlement of [[Flemish people|Flemings]] in Wales in the early 12th century.<ref>Toorians, Lauran, "Nogmaals 'Walewein van Melle' en de Vlaams-Keltische contacten," Queeste, 2 (1995), 97–112.</ref> However, most scholarship supports a derivation from Gwalchmei, variants of which are well attested in Wales and [[Brittany]]. Bromwich, [[Joseph Loth]], and [[Heinrich Zimmer]] all trace the etymology of the continental versions to a corruption of the [[Breton language|Breton]] form of this name, Walcmoei.<ref name="Bromwich369" /> {{clear left}}