Synopsis
King Arthur is asked for a favor by a young lady in distress. Her love has been taken away by a surly, selfish and rough knight who is in reality blinded by magic, pride and arrogance because of a charm that was cast upon his family by a wicked witch. In order to break this spell, this churlish knight must discover, by the mouth of the king, "what thing it is all women most desire?" or the king will lose his life. After numerous encounters with various villagers, he comes up with a list of insufficient answers. A hideous woman from the forest accosts him and proposes a bargain. If King Arthur promises the old hag a young, fair, and courtly knight, she will give him the answer. To save Arthur, Gawain sacrifices himself to marry her, and she tells him that the answer is that "women wish to have their own will". Arthur is saved and discovers that both the churlish knight and the old hag are related and suffer from the same spell. Gawain marries the loathly lady. On their wedding night, she becomes beautiful and tells him to choose whether he would have her beautiful by day and ugly by night, or vice versa. He tells her she can choose for herself, giving her her will, which breaks the spell of ugliness that binds her. The entire court is amazed by her beauty. They live happily ever after.
Read more about this topic: The Marriage Of Sir Gawain