N I G H T B R I N G E R . S E
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FAIR
- Fair Guard
Belle Garde, Belle Regarde
A castle occupied by Morgan le Fay. She made Alexander the Orphan promise to remain at the castle for a year, intending to keep him as her lover. When the owner of the castle, the Count of the Pass, learned of Morgan’s lecherous activities, he had the castle burned to the ground. To satisfy his promise to stay there, however, Alexander guarded the spot on which the castle had stood for a year.
- Fair Heath
Landebele
A forest in which Agravain tried to rape a maiden but stopped and berated her when he saw that she was covered with scabs. She exacted revenge by giving him the plague, which Gawain eventually cured.
- Fair Unknown
Biau Desconneü, Le Bel Inconnu, Lybeaus Desconus, Lybius Disconyus
In Renaut de Bâgé’s Le Bel Inconnu and its adaptations, the name given to Gawain’s son Guinglain when he came to Arthur’s court, ignorant of his name and paternity. As the “Fair Unknown,” Guinglain completed a number of adventures before his name was revealed to him in the Desolate City. In Robert de Blois’s Beaudous, the true name of the character is Beaudous.
As a theme, the "Fair Unknown" encompasses the numerous instances in which a knight arrives at Arthur’s court ignorant of—or unwilling to divulge—his own name, generally because he (or his guardian) wishes to win honor through his prowess, and not simply because of his lineage. Typically, the Fair Unknown’s name is revealed to both the hero and the court after the knight is victorious in a series of adventures. The “Fair Unknown” theme occurs in the early tales of Perceval, some of the stories of Lancelot, the Italian romance of Carduino, and in Malory’s tale of Gareth.
See also
Bewfys | The Legend of King Arthur
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