Erec
Fair of face and brave of heart, Erec is a Knight of King Arthur’s Round Table. He falls in love with a lodge-owner’s daughter named Enide whom he brings back to the royal court with him with plans of marriage. So besotted is he with his lady love that his neglect of his duties as knight leads to accusations of cowardice. The challenges he seeks out as test of his bravery form the bulk of the narrative part two and drive the engine of the narrative.
Enide
Enide at the time of the story holds that spot that would one day be taken over by Buttercup in The Princess Bride: the fairest damsel in the known world. The accusations of cowardice resulting from Erec’s dereliction of duties reveals Enide to be more than your average damsel, however: her response is chide him the change in his behavior in a way that cuts to core, prompting him to set off on a quest to prove his mettle. Proving her mettle, Enide won’t let him go without her by his side.
King Arthur
King Arthur is a supporting player here as the intent was to expand upon the mythology of the Round Table and move the legend away from its Celtic origination and closer to the modern world of England. Arthur’s primacy importance in this story is create a parallel between him and Erec through the mechanism of the twin narratives of their individual hunts which take up much of the first section of the poem.
Guivret the Little
The knight throwing down the challenge to Erec to engage in combat. A cliché now, the ultimate outcome is surprising: they become great friends and Guivret acts the role of benefactor to Erec.
Cout Galoin
The real dastard of the piece even though he too, like Guivret, is certainly no Green Knight. The Count desires Enide for himself and conceives a plot to thwart his rival for good. Enide proves herself the progenitor of a long line of spunky distressed damsels reaching all the way to Princess Fiona in the Shrek series. It is she who thwarts Galoin’s murderous strategy rather the intended victim and Knight of the Round Table, Erec. (Although, admittedly, Erec is the one who ultimately gets physical with Galoin, but by this he has become so impressed with the lady that he knows he would make a poor partner for her, indeed, sends the couple on their way with best wishes.
