Ywain was one of the earliest characters associated with King Arthur, being mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae.
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His importance is indicated by his close friendship with Gawain and the passage in the Mort Artu section of the Lancelot-Grail cycle where he is one of the last knights to die before Arthur.
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Ywain appears in all the cyclical accounts such as the Vulgate Cycle, the Post-Vulgate Cycle, and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as well as in numerous independent romances.
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After accepting money to massacre innocent tin miners to frame a foreign power, Arthur accuses Owain of dishonour and challenges him to a duel, in which Owain is killed.