Sir Gowther

I found this story very hopeful and satisfying.  It’s like rooting for the underdog; it’s enjoyable to see people make a come back.  The beginning was a little rough.  They definitely made sure to let the reader know that this was the devil’s son.  The things he did were a tad disturbing to probably everyone; however, I feel like the goal was to try to upset Christians in particular.  I did appreciate Gowther’s intelligence though.  When the old earl came to him about being the devil’s son, he was horrified and went straight to his mother for the truth.  He could have been in denial about it, or ignored it, or just not cared, but he listened to what was being said to him and immediately did something about it.  I feel like that’s a rare thing in medieval romances. 

I also thought the falchion played a pretty important role.  The falchion was a big part in all of the damage he created in the beginning of the story, so it has a negative connotation to it.  While reading, I didn’t understand why the Pope wasn’t more forceful about taking it away from him.  I think while Gowther made a complete transformation by the end of the story, the one thing that didn’t change was that the falchion remained by his side.  Not to mention that the falchion was what helped him through his transition from a devil to a saint.  It helped him fight in the battle to save the captured king.  He became a hero for those people.  The falchion had the power to make him a devil as well as a hero, and all it took was his changed attitude. 

He did go through a good amount of punishment though.  I give him props for not giving into the food that was offered to him or talking to anyone.  He was literally treated like a dog, but he stuck it out.  If you think about the type of crimes Gowther committed at the beginning, it included crimes through both his actions and his words.  Actions like killing people and burning buildings, but also using threatening words, like when he was speaking to his mother about his parentage.  It makes sense that the Pope would assign him two punishments to endure: one that involved an awful action and another that wouldn’t allow him to speak.  They were suiting to what he had done. 

I liked the ending, as well.  It may have been a little over the top because everything turned out so perfectly, but the beginning was over the top in how horrible Gowther was.  So the ending balanced the story out.