The Servants of Chivalry?: Dwarves and Porters in Malory and the Middle English Gawain Romances

This article explores the ways in which dwarves and porters are sources of information, and often, more specifically, of ethical advice and/or judgment. As masculine, non-chivalric servants, dwarves and porters are important to Arthurian epistemology—to what and how Arthurian knights, and readers of Arthurian romances, know—though not always in a comfortable way.