In the original legends, Sir Gwaine was most commonly known as Sir Gawain, although he also bore the names of Gawen, Gawan, Gavan, Waweyn, Gwalchmei, Gauvan, Walwen, Gavin, and Gawaine. The name was originally derived from (drumroll please) Gwalchmei ap Gwyar.

His father was King Lot (who actually was a king), who governed the islands of Orkney and some land in northern Scotland. He ruled for a long time until he rebelled against Arthur's unification of England and got himself dead. His mother was sometimes unnamed and sometimes called Anna, but usually called Morgause. The Morgause of the legends was the daughter of Ygraine and Gorlois, the king/duke and queen/duchess of Cornwall. The Anna of legends is also a daughter of Ygraine and Gorlois, king/duke and queen/duchess of Cornwall, but is a sister of Morgause rather than taking her place. No matter what her name was, Gawain's mother usually had either four or five sons: Gawain, Gaheris, Gareth, Agravaine, and sometimes Mordred. Mordred was Arthur's son as well, making Arthur both his father and his uncle, but it's okay because Arthur didn't know who Morgause was when it happened, apparently. Sometimes Gawain's mother is a very powerful sorceress, sometimes not.

I reconciled the show with the original legends by changing some family ties around, obviously. Just in case those were not clear in the story, or if you want them spelled out for you: Gwaine became Arthur's cousin rather than nephew and the less-common Anna is Gwaine's mother rather than Morgause (which would have been REALLY awkward and probably not possible). Mordred became Arthur's cousin as well, rather than son-and-nephew (which would have been twice as awkward and nowhere NEAR possible). Also, because the show felt like taking a syllable out of Gawain's name and calling some random dude Agravaine (I mean, really, people), I decided to let the other brothers follow suit. Gaheris became Garis, Gareth became G'reth (which is pronounced guh-RETH), and Agravaine became Gravain. The three younger brother's personalities and traits come from a combination of original descriptions (harder to find, because they're mostly unimportant) and from other popular depictions, the most influential of which being Gerald Morris' Squire's Tales. Mostly because Morris works with minor characters so very well and because I'm a Squire's Girl who can't resist peppering my prose with references. Failure sauce, I know.

POSSIBILITIES FOR THE FUTURE

Gawain famously saved Arthur's life twice: once by agreeing to be beheaded and once by agreeing to get married. Since Gawain is my favorite knight and I love his story, you may see a Marriage of Sir Gwaine reconciliation in the future. Maybe. No promises.

Also, there are lots more knights that have secrets. Thinking of maybe doing some work with Parzifal and Galahad and Leodegrance, although it's been a while. I need to brush up on my Grail Knights and my Lily Maids and my dead kings and my Lost Lands…anyway, if you're interested, let me know some how and I'll see who I can expose next.