A query concerning Sir Gawain

[After Chimaeras]

Greetings!
I recently read Tolkien's translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which by the way was superb, and I noticed that on not a few occasions Gawains name was shown as "Wawain". Initially, I thought this was a typo, but it occurred several more times, too many to be simply a typo. I was wondering if anyone knew why this was? By-the-by I have the paperback version containing Pearl and Sir Orfeo as well. Thank you for your time.

[Flame of Udûn]

It is not a typographical error. It is an alternate form. I have seen it in some translations of Mort d'Arthur, though I cannot tell you the reason or how it differs in meaning.

[After Chimaeras]

Ah, I see. I suspected that, and I remember now that happening in L'Morte d'Arthur. Thank you so very much for your input.

[joplin4]

We talked about this the other day in class and I believe "Gawain" is the Christian name and "Wawain" is the pagan name.

[Walter]

In "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" Gawain is sometimes spelled Wawain. I don't know for sure why this is so, but the different spelling can also be noted in the original Middle English text.

My - educated, hopefully - guess is, that the different spelling has its origin in the different pronounciation of the Welsh (or Celtic) "Gw".

Gawain seems to appear first in Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (as Walgainus, though in Latin the name seems to also appear as Galvaginus and Galvanus) and is frequently identified with Gwalchmai ('hawk of May') of Celtic history (and/or mythology), though some authors (including R. Graves) note that the name Gawain derives from Gwalchgwyn ('white hawk') rather than from Gwalchmai.

William of Malmesbury mentions Gawain as a nephew of King Arthur who took part in a battle against a brother of Hengest (Horsa?). Historically this would place Gawain into the middle of the 5th century CE, whereas the poem was written sometime around 1400.

Text Courtesy of the TolkienWiki (http://www.tolkienwiki.org/wiki.cgi?FAQ/Why__is__Gawain__sometimes__spelled__Wawain)

[Lady_of_Gondor]

Oh no! I think I stole your thread. I started a new one on Sir Gawain. But the subject matter is more general. Sorry!

Anyway, I agree with what the others have said here.

[Wolfshead]

We talked about this the other day in class and I believe "Gawain" is the Christian name and "Wawain" is the pagan name.
I'm not sure you could say Wawain a pagan version of the name at all. How would you define the pagan term? If I remember rightly the origins of the name Gawain comes from the bible, and the pre-Medieval reworkings of the Arthurian legends is Gwalchmai, meaning "hawk of spring", or "hawk of may". Gwalch means eagle in Gaelic and the exact meaning of mai is disputed. I've never come across the term Wawain, and I'm not sure there would even ever have been a pagan term, as such, before.

[pendraig]

Just an "educated" guess. In the Welsh tongue (I believe that this is true of Gaelic as well), the first letters in certain nouns "mutate" depending upon the noun's place (subject, direct object, indirect object) in the sentence.
Example: The Welsh word for Wales is Cymru. When entering Wales from England, you will see a sign that says "Croeso y Gymru." (Welcome to Wales). The C in Cymru has mutated to a G because Gymru is the direct object rather that the subject. It makes Welsh words really hard to look up in a lexicon if you're searching for the mutated form.
I'm not well enough educated in this language to tell you if Gawain mutates to Wawain, but it might be worth looking into.

[Wolfshead]

I'll admit I know nothing of languages 'mutuating' as such, for my knowledge of Welsh and Gaelic is really quite limited. Perhaps someone else will be able to shed some light on it?

[jallan]

The form Gawain < Gauuain is of French origin. But French forms tend to change original initial gw to g. Also al usually becomes au.

But in English there is a tendency to drop the initial g in a gw combination.

Accordingly French Gaudin equates to English Waldin, French Gautier equates to English Walter, and, of course, French Gauuain equates to English Walwain. Note also that English Wales equates to French Gales.

Both forms (Gawain and Wa(l)wain) appear in English medieval poems. I suppose the w form might sound more homely to a Middle-English listener to such a poem, while Gawain might seem more formal.

What was the original form of the name? That's unknown. But using such early forms as Galvaginus on the Modena Archivolt one can postulate an earlier trisyllabic form pronounced something like Gwalvayin or Gwalwayin in which the ay is prounced as the English word eye.

But the form as it stands isn't obviously either Breton or Welsh. In Welsh literature Gwalchmai or Gwalchmei appears as the name of the same character, but that form can't be turned into something like Gwalwayin. Accordingly it is suspected that originally Gwalchmei referred to a separate character developed in Welsh romances whereas Gwalwayin developed in Breton or French romances. When French romances of Arthur became known in Wales after William's conquest, the two were equated because of a similarity of names.

Similarly the knight Erec (or Guerec) in French romances was equated with the Welsh Gereint and French Perceval was equated with Welsh Peredur, again probably because of a likeness between the names.

[Aldanil]

Not that all the word-historical erudition which has preceded this entry should be thought for naught, but the primary reason for the occasional substitution of "Wawain" for "Gawain" in Tolkien's translation of Sir G & the GK is musical, rather than etymological: the verse-form employed by the Pearl Poet in his original romance, written in a northwestern dialect of Middle English, and faithfully adopted by our Dear Don, is strongly alliterative (in the earlier manner of the Anglo-Saxons), and a "W" every now and then, instead of just "G" all the time, allows for a somewhat greater freedom and variety.