This battle above all the others in Bewmaynes' quest, illustrates his remarkable physical prowess. This noble knight who is really the royal prince Gareth, son of King Bors, and brother to Sir Gowain, displays an impressive level of skill in combat. Undoubtedly, the royal Bewmaynes received excellent instruction in the arts of fencing and jousting before arriving at King Arthur's court in humility. Though Bewmaynes is seriously wounded in the ensuing battle, he emerges the victor. Bewmayne, exhausted at the end of the battle, is interrupted from delivering a final death blow by the Red knight's plea for mercy. Interesting, Bewmaynes seems to recognize his own weakness and temptation not to obey the chivalric code's requirement to grant mercy to those who ask. Thus, Bewmaynes asserts:
All this avylyth nat... but if my damsell pray me to save thy lyff.
Bewmaynes clearly communicates his unwillingness in this instance to abide by the high ideals of the chivalric code. He is clearly blinded by his anger and exhaustion. Fortunately, for the Red night, the damsel succeeds in persuading Bewmaynes to be merciful.
The tale of Gareth of Orkney (who is called Bewmaynes) appears on the surface to be just an amusing tale of a romantic warrior's quest for honor. However, closer examination reveals provocative insights into medieval beliefs and attitudes about chivalry. The three colored knights that Bewmaynes encounters in route to the Castle Dangerous to rescue Lionesse, are symbolic of three major areas of testing: The Black Knight symbolizes the first test of his social rebirth into the knighthood and his commitment to the chivalric code; the Green Knight, a type of Nature symbol, represents the testing of Bewmaynes' control over his senses; The Red Knight symbolizes the testing of the chivalric knight's physical prowess.
