Canine Intercessors And Female Religious Metaphor In Sir Gowther

In the late Middle English poem Sir Gowther, the eponymous protagonist, who is the son of a devil, embarks on a penitential journey in which he must atone for the sacrilegious crimes he committed in his infancy and adolescence. The poem departs from the conventional trajectory of medieval romance not only through the initial narrative of Gowther's sinful paternal origins, but also by making Gowther's redemption contingent upon the symbolic and literal nurturance of female and canine figures. This article focuses on these unexpected mediators, which carry religious metaphor and model virtuous conduct for the knight, challenging a model of hyper-masculinity found in the romance tradition, as well as an anthropocentric view that subjugates animals to a morally inferior position. It argues that Gowther's obedience of female and canine figures determines both the success of his ethical transformation and the survival of the spiritual community within the world of the romance, intertwining public and private, and dynastic and religious quests.