Essay Questions

How does Sir Gowther achieve absolution?

The process of absolution is long and arduous for Sir Gowther. He is required to complete a penance given to him by the Pope with not actual "finish" date on it. He is not allowed to speak anymore and is relegated to the lowest echelons of society where he is not allowed to eat anything that has not been eaten by a dog first. He is taken in by a greyhound who lives under the table in the court of the Emperor of Germany and is given an opportunity by the Emperor to stay within court as Hob the Fool. This is an extremely lowly position.

Sir Gowther actually takes this further and becomes a courageous and penitent man. He decides to help the Emperor defend his daughter and his lands, and prays to God to allow him to become a knight who can bear arms in defense of the empire. God grants him this and he is a courageous and undefeated knight on the battlefield. For this bravery, and for his prayer, God absolves him of the early sins of his life.

How is this text similar to other earlier texts that have similar stories?

The text is based on a number of folk tales that have a mystical and malevolent other-worldly character using their powers to dupe the earthly and to use a "changeling" character as a weapon of destruction. A changeling is one who is born to both earthly and other worldly parents, and in this case, Sir Gowther is such a character.

Each of these texts shows an element of deception on the part of the pagan character. This is designed to try to convert those still rooted firmly in paganism to Catholicism, and to show paganism as a belief system that is in many ways an enemy of good. Each text also involves the duping of a woman, who is impregnated by a man with the appearance of her husband, but whose appearance is just a mystical facade created by Merlin, or other wizard-like character.