The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain (also commonly spelt Golagros and Gawane) is a Middle Scots Arthurian romance written in alliterative verse of 1362 lines, known solely from a printed edition of 1508 in the possession of the National Library of Scotland. No manuscript copy of this lively and exciting tale has survived. Though the story is set during Arthur and his band's journey of pilgrimage to the Holy Land, most of the action takes place in France, with Sir Gawain, King Arthur's nephew as its main hero. The tale actually contains two episodes borrowed from the First Continuation to Chrétien de Troyes's Perceval, the Story of the Grail. In the first episode, which ostensibly occurs in France somewhere west of the Rhone River, Sir Gawain succeeds in obtaining provisions merely by graciously asking, rather than by confiscating the supplies by brute force as Sir Kay tries to do. In the second, far longer, episode, Arthur and his men come to a castle on the Rhone, and learn that its lord (named Gologras), pledges allegiance to no higher sovereign. Aghast at the thought, Arthur returns to the castle after completing his pilgrimage, and besieges it. The bitter conflict is decided by single-combat between Sir Gawain and Gologras. The tale uphold the a longstanding Arthurian tradition that Sir Gawain represents the paragon of chivalry, and his characteristic fairness makes him gain more for King Arthur than will violence alone. In the Golagros episode, Gawain's soft-spoken words alone fail to achieve results, but Gawain prevails by in combat where the others have failed. And even there, it is the combination of both "knightly honor and prowess" that stamps the hallmark of Gawain's chivalry: for Gawain, ever the gracious victor, agrees to participate in a charade pretending to be the vanquished loser, in order to save face for his adversary Golagros. Striking friendship with such dreaded foe is reminiscent of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Texts Dating and authorship No manuscript copy of survives, and the work is known solely through The Knightly Tale of Golagrus and Gawane, a blackletter printed book issued in Edinburgh by the Chepman and Myllar Press (1508). This year was the advent of the very first books being printed in Scotland, by the aforementioned press (Walter Chepman and Androw Myllar, proprietors). Modern commentators do not identify an author, and date the composition to "not long before"