Gareth

Revision History

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4/23/2024, 9:35 PM Mike C update #115
12/7/2022, 9:35 PM Mike C update #113
1/21/2022, 9:40 PM Mike C update #111
4/25/2021, 10:07 PM Mike C update #110
11/20/2020, 10:42 PM Mike C update #109
11/16/2019, 11:04 AM Mike C update #105
1/22/2019, 10:01 AM Mike C update #101
9/1/2013, 10:30 PM Mike C update #87
2/12/2007, 1:03 AM Mike C earliest recorded revision

Gender Masculine
Usage Welsh, English (British), Arthurian Romance
Pronounced Pron. GAR-əth(British English)

Meaning & History

Meaning uncertain. It appears in this form in Thomas Malory's 15th-century compilation of Arthurian legends Le Morte d'Arthur, in which the knight Gareth (also named Beaumains) is a brother of Gawain. He goes with Lynet to rescue her sister Lyonesse from the Red Knight. Malory based the name on Gaheriet or Guerrehet, which was the name of a similar character in French sources. It may ultimately have a Welsh origin, possibly from the name Gwrhyd meaning "valour" (found in the tale Culhwch and Olwen) or Gwairydd meaning "hay lord" (found in the chronicle Brut y Brenhinedd).