Sir Agravaine
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Sir Agravaine |
| Occupation: | |
| Relationships: | |
| Fandom: | Arthurian Legend |
| Other: | |
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Sir Agravaine, also known as Agravain, Aggravain, or by other spellings, is one of the Orkney brothers in Arthurian Legend and a popular character in the Arthuriana fandom. In medieval literature, he is generally portrayed as handsome but also as cruel, arrogant, and inferior to his older brother Gawain. He is close with his brother Mordred and the two plot together to expose the affair between Guinevere and Lancelot, which results in Agravain being killed by Lancelot when he, Mordred, and a group of other knights show up at Guinevere's door to ambush the couple and reveal them as traitors. He has a complicated relationship with Gaheris. They spend a lot of time together, but Gaheris often badgers Agravaine, and Agravaine sometimes contemplates killing him. Agravaine's wife in Le Morte D'Arthur, Laurel, is the niece of Gareth's wife Lyonesse and Gaheris' wife Lynette, and they have a triple wedding.
Fandom
Internet History
Possibly the earliest surviving reference to Agravaine on Tumblr was in 2011 by @sirmordreds-blog [1]. For years, the #agravaine tag was almost exclusively home to BBC Merlin content, with @lucrezianoin and @fuckyeaharthuriana being notable as two of the few Arthuriana bloggers to tag him. Though the tag continues to be dominated by BBC's Agravaine, as the Arthuriana fandom's Tumblr presence increased and he was promoted by popular bloggers such as @gringolet, Agravaine of Orkney became an increasingly popular character to the point of being a fan favorite for some.
The Fandom Today
Members of the Arthurian fandom tend to have a higher regard for Agravaine than was shown to him in medieval literature. It is generally agreed that he is horribly repressed [2] and that he suffers from living in the shadow of Gawain the most of any Orkney since he is the closest in age to him. A fairly common headcanon, possibly originated by @gringolet, is that Agravaine is trans. He is sometimes woobified; people still generally acknowledge that many of his canonical actions are murderous but his fans argue that he is the victim of a double standard, since Lancelot is seldom shown in a negative light in medieval literature, Gawain is portrayed more sympathetically than Agravaine, and both of them kill even more people than he does.
Apart from his Morte-canon relationship with Laurel--which some fans ship romantically, some interpret as a lavender marriage, and some disregard--he is frequently shipped with Sir Lamorak, who he kills in Le Morte D'Arthur, and sometimes with Sir Lionel.
Fan Works
Writing
- The Lost Fourth Romance of Chretien De Troyes by secace
- Laurel and Agravaine cheat on their unknown proxy spouses with each other by @lucrezianoin
- Silent Panic Attack by invaders_forever
- Vector Calculus by Gauvain and secace
- Recon by CharonsBudgetPsychopomp
Art
- agravaine my beloved by @gringolet
- An old Agravaine sketch by @fircider
- the dishonorable sir agravaine by @agravaine
- This cold-blooded pride in me / won't go down quietly... by @queer-ragnelle
- For @caer-gai's Arthuriana August! Prompt Three: Warm + Cozy by @cesarescabinet
- Im too sexy for historically accurate/physically possible fashion by @gaheriskinnie
- Agravaine doll by @gawain-dolls
- Agravaine🥴,, by @blkkatsuki
- *hands you an agravaine* by @mountainashfae
- Agravaine, you psychopath by @kulttuurinkurittama
- "And here we see the elusive smiling Aggravain..." by @caer-gai
- Prompts 1, 2, and 3 for @caer-gai's Arthuriana August! by @knightsofsomethingorother
- ”my lord sayd Agrauayye I shal telle yow that I may kepe noo lenger” by @gringolet
- the death of sir agravaine by @mortiscausa
- Week 6 - Grudge by @knightsofsomethingorother
Archives and Links
- Agravain (Arthurian Myth) tag on Ao3
- Agravaine/Lamorak tag on Ao3
- #sir agravaine on Tumblr