When Gawain saw his cousin Yvain on the ground, he was very sad and said, “Oh, God! what greatness there is in a valiant man! God, how powerful this man is; how effective he is, and how much he can do! God! what a fool and how guilty of excess would he be who pressed such a man to battle, unless he had a real reason! I say it of myself first of all. Indeed, if I hadn’t undertaken to joust with him, I would never involve myself with him, not even to gain a castle, after those three strokes I saw him deliver, for after a blow from his hand no man could stay in the saddle, for which reason I would yield the joust to him completely, if I could with honor.”

Post-Vulgate Merlin