Pure Speculation about Gwaine’s Background
Is it too early for some rambly speculation about my newest favorite fictional man?
I’ve been thinking a lot about Gwaine’s background; where he comes from, why he floats from tavern to tavern, never settling down, why he’s so alone (except when he’s with Merlin! &hearts )
His necklace intrigues me. I know that the half moon part of it is the actor’s as opposed to the character’s, but what about the ring? Perhaps that’s the actor’s as well, but regardless, since they allow it to be used in conjunction with his character, I can’t help wondering if it’s going to get a canon explanation one day. The ring makes me think of a marriage to someone, so I was refreshing my memory on the Gawain of legend to try to find a hint of where TPTB may go with Gwaine’s backstory.
According to Wikipedia: Scholar M. Gaston Paris draws attention to the phenomenon that, since Gawain is known in multiple tales as “the Maidens’ Knight”, his name is thus attached to no female in particular. He is the champion of all women. However, Gwaine is also associated with supernatural love interests. Also on Wikipedia: The hero of La Bel Inconnu is the progeny of Gawain and a fairy called Blancemal, and in the Marvels of Rigomer, Gawain is rescued by the fay Lorie. In the German tale Wizalois, the mother of his son is known as Florie, who is likely another version of the Lorie of Rigomer. In her earliest incarnations, Gawain’s love is either the princess or queen of the Other-world.
As a squeefully enthusiastic Merlin/Gwaine shipper, I’m not sure I’m looking forward to the day that TPTB elaborate on Gwaine’s past. But if they were to go with a version where Gwaine has loved and lost a supernatural being, it would fit with something we’ve seen regarding Gwaine: he seems to have quite the knowledge of magical objects and creatures, and both knows a good bit about the Perilous Lands and hints that he's spent time there, something he may have picked up in his time with a fay. And most importantly for this M/Gwa shipper, if they go this route and depending on how they handled it, I don’t think it would hurt the M/Gwa ship too much.
It might partially explain the way Gwaine bonded with Merlin so quickly. Perhaps he senses the magic in Merlin and is attracted to that and feels comfortable with it. And if we’re able to see Gwaine’s sexuality as being a bit fluid, it’s not hard to imagine that his attraction to Merlin could be physical and romantic in nature as well. At the very least, it could be a nice premise for fanfic!
All that said, my shipper's heart would be thrilled if TPTB would twist the legend in that way they so love to do and establish a background for Gwaine where the supernatural being he was close to was his mother, and the ring he wears belonged to her. Until canon tells me otherwise, this will be my head canon. :)
So what sort of hopes do you all have as far as Gwaine's background? Any thoughts?
ETA: Can anyone point me in the direction of some Gwaine and/or M/Gwa icons that are up for grabs? My one little Gwaine icon sucks, lol.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Gwaine’s background; where he comes from, why he floats from tavern to tavern, never settling down, why he’s so alone (except when he’s with Merlin! &hearts )
His necklace intrigues me. I know that the half moon part of it is the actor’s as opposed to the character’s, but what about the ring? Perhaps that’s the actor’s as well, but regardless, since they allow it to be used in conjunction with his character, I can’t help wondering if it’s going to get a canon explanation one day. The ring makes me think of a marriage to someone, so I was refreshing my memory on the Gawain of legend to try to find a hint of where TPTB may go with Gwaine’s backstory.
According to Wikipedia: Scholar M. Gaston Paris draws attention to the phenomenon that, since Gawain is known in multiple tales as “the Maidens’ Knight”, his name is thus attached to no female in particular. He is the champion of all women. However, Gwaine is also associated with supernatural love interests. Also on Wikipedia: The hero of La Bel Inconnu is the progeny of Gawain and a fairy called Blancemal, and in the Marvels of Rigomer, Gawain is rescued by the fay Lorie. In the German tale Wizalois, the mother of his son is known as Florie, who is likely another version of the Lorie of Rigomer. In her earliest incarnations, Gawain’s love is either the princess or queen of the Other-world.
As a squeefully enthusiastic Merlin/Gwaine shipper, I’m not sure I’m looking forward to the day that TPTB elaborate on Gwaine’s past. But if they were to go with a version where Gwaine has loved and lost a supernatural being, it would fit with something we’ve seen regarding Gwaine: he seems to have quite the knowledge of magical objects and creatures, and both knows a good bit about the Perilous Lands and hints that he's spent time there, something he may have picked up in his time with a fay. And most importantly for this M/Gwa shipper, if they go this route and depending on how they handled it, I don’t think it would hurt the M/Gwa ship too much.
It might partially explain the way Gwaine bonded with Merlin so quickly. Perhaps he senses the magic in Merlin and is attracted to that and feels comfortable with it. And if we’re able to see Gwaine’s sexuality as being a bit fluid, it’s not hard to imagine that his attraction to Merlin could be physical and romantic in nature as well. At the very least, it could be a nice premise for fanfic!
All that said, my shipper's heart would be thrilled if TPTB would twist the legend in that way they so love to do and establish a background for Gwaine where the supernatural being he was close to was his mother, and the ring he wears belonged to her. Until canon tells me otherwise, this will be my head canon. :)
So what sort of hopes do you all have as far as Gwaine's background? Any thoughts?
ETA: Can anyone point me in the direction of some Gwaine and/or M/Gwa icons that are up for grabs? My one little Gwaine icon sucks, lol.