SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT

CONTEXT
- Written by an unknown author in the late 14th century.
- Is part of the Arthurian legend: are stories about the character of King Arthur. They
form an important part of Britain's national mythology. Arthur may be based on a real
person from history, possibly a Celtic warlord of the late 400s. The legends, however,
have little to do with history. They blend Celtic mythology with medieval romance
and feature such well-known elements as the magic sword Excalibur, the Knights of
the Round Table, and the search for the Holy Grail, the cup from which Jesus drank
during the Last Supper. Arthur's court at Camelot has been idealized as a kind of
perfect society, with a just and wise king guiding his happy people.
- Found in the Cotton Nero ax. Manuscript with other 3 religious poems: Patience,
Cleanness, Pearl.
- Written in Middle English

MEDIEVAL ROMANCE
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight belongs to the literary genre known as romance. As it
refers to medieval literature, the word "romance" does not mean a love story. Originally,
Romance referred to the various European languages derived from Latin, the language of the
Roman Empire. The word became applied to the popular tales written in Romance languages,
particularly French. In this sense, a romance is a tale of adventure involving knights on a
quest. Elements of fantasy and magic are always present: There may be dragons or monsters
to battle, mysterious places to visit, or peculiar spells or curses to be broken. Damsels (young
ladies) in distress frequently appear in the plot as victims to be rescued. Typically, the
romance story begins at a noble court, where the knights receive a challenge before setting
out on a journey to accomplish their task.

THE STRUCTURE
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is divided into four sections by large, decorated capital
letters that appear at line 1, line 491 (the start of Gawain's year of waiting), line 1,126
(beginning of the first hunt), and line 1,998 (the dawn of New Year's Day). Many older
translations refer to these sections as "Fitts" or "Fytts," using a Middle English term for the
divisions of a poem.
PART 1
The poet begins with the legend that Britain had been founded by descendants of refugees
from the city of Troy. The siege of the city by the Greek army is the subject of many ancient
epics, such as the Iliad. In the great Latin epic the Aeneid, Aeneas, a prince of Troy, escapes
from the city and endures many trials before founding the Roman Empire. The sequence
continues with the short glance at the mythological past of Britain. As Romulus built Rome,
Ticious built Tuscany, so did Brutus build Britain. Then the author introduces King Arthur,
the Britain's greatest leader, representing him as the most courteous kings of all.
The story itself begins with the description of the feast at King's Arthurs court, where all the
kings' men gathered to celebrate the New Year. Those are the best lords of all, the famous
Knights of the Round Table. King's nephew Gawain and Queen Guinevere are seated in the
privileged position, near the King, on the dais (platform). The celebration lasts for fifteen
days, and the author makes the detailed description of their feast, the lavishness of food,
drinks. When the dinner is served, the king refuses to eat until someone tells him a marvelous
story with supernatural experiences. Suddenly, the mirth (joy) is interrupted by an uninvited
guest who leaves the guest speechless. His appearance itself is intimidating as he looks
unearthly with not only green clothes, but hair and horse also. He is described as taller than
all other knights in the court, with broad shoulders, long hair and beard. King Arthur does not
hesitate to speak and invite this superhuman to join their feast. The Green Knight refuses the
invitation and says he has come in peace in order to inspect the great court he has heard
about, demanding to be the part of the game. King Arthur spots the potential danger and
informs The Green Knight that he will certainly have a fight if that's the reason of his visit,
but the Green Knight replies that no one present there is fit to fight with him, calling them
"beardless children." Instead, he requests to play a game in which the best among them will
strike him with his own weapon, and if he won, the knight would let him keep the weapon
(the axe). On the other hand, if the Green Knight won, the courtier would have to find him
and take a blow from him precisely one year and a day later. This weird proposal silences the
entire court again, while King Arthur steps forward to defend his honor and the honor of his
courtiers. Just as he prepares to attack the Green Knight, his nephew Gawain steps in and
applies as a volunteer for this venture, stating "I am the weakest, I know, and feeblest of
wit;". The Green Knight then exposes his neck and Gawain decapitate him in one fierce
swing. The Green Knight's head fells to earth and the guests roll it with their feet away from
the body. But the body stands up still, as if nothing happened and to everyone's astonishment
runs forward fiercely through the people to pick up the head. He then holds it by the hair,
turns it toward the people and starts speaking. The Green Knight addresses Gawain saying to
be prepared to get his blow when the time comes if he doesn't want to be called a coward. He
then rushes through the door and vanishes, leaving the king and Gawain to roar in laughter.
The king admits that he has indeed seen a marvel and can go to his dinner now.

PART 2
The author reminds the deal made between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and goes on
about Sir Gawain's feelings about it. Although it seemed to be simply a New Year’s game, the
certainty of the reencounter with the Green Knight that is around the corner now weighs upon
him, leaving him restless.
In the following lines the author describes the beauty of each season, spring, summer then
autumn, giving description of smells, colors and sights of nature, depicting how quickly times
passes by until it closes the circle and brings us closer to the next New Year and upcoming
event that will seal Sir Gawain's destiny. King Arthur makes a feast on the Day of All Saints
in Gawain’s honor, and although everyone is worried, they try to stay joyful. After the dinner
Sir Gawain asks his uncle the permission to leave and start a quest for the Green Knight. All
Knights of the Round Table gather to see Sir Gawain off.
The following lines describe Sir Gawain's preparations for the quest. In the morning after the
feast, he asks for his arms and they are brought to him with the great ceremony. Courtiers
equip him with the most expensive pieces of clothes and shield.. Riding on his horse
Gringolet, who is also ceremonially prepared for the trip, Sir Gawain sets of to find the Green
Knight. The following lines describe his days travelling through Wales and west coasts of
England when he enquire about the Green Knight but no one has ever heard about such a
marvelous knight. Facing cold weather and all kinds of trouble, he prays to find shelter and to
spend Christmas in a proper place. On the Christmas Eve his prayers are answered when he
runs into a castle surrounded by trees. He approaches it and asks guardian to let him in. The
man salutes and allows him to enter, where Sir Gawain meets a crowd of polite people who
show nothing but respect and admiration for his presence. The lord of the castle looks
intimidating in comparison to King Arthur. Although his face is fierce, he is as kind as all of
his courtiers and also honored to meet and be a host to King Arthur's nephew. He chooses the
best chamber and robe for his guest, serves a generous dinner and asks him to stay as pleased.
They spend the rest of the evenings in high spirits, talking and playing games. Two days after
Christmas Sir Gawain feels the raising pressure of the quest, so he knows that he must
continue his search for the Green Knight. He shares his worry with the host, informing him
that he has an arrangement with the Green Knight and he has to move on. The host calms him
by saying that the Green chapel is not far away and he can stay a bit longer in his castle.
Relieved, Sir Gawain accepts the offer to stay and spends more days with the lord and the
two ladies. To make things more interesting, the lord proposes a game- he and his two men
are about to go hunting while Sir Gawain stays with the ladies. Whatever they win in the
woods will give to Sir Gawain, and whatever happens to Sir Gawain, he will let them know.
Sir Gawain accepts this game and the Part 2 ends with them going to bed "full softly at the
last."

PART 3
Third part describes lord and Sir Gawain's daily activities in a parallel. It starts with an early
morning, when the lord and his courtiers get up and prepare for hunt. After attendance of
mass, they have a breakfast and leave the court with hound dogs The author describes in great
details the chase, deer's slay and overall turmoil in the process of hunting. Meanwhile, Sir
Gawain sleeps in his warm chamber. He hears light noise coming from the door of his room.
Curious to see who is coming, he peeks from behind of his curtain and spots Lord's wife
coming up to his bed. Confused by her presence as well as curious to learn the reason of her
visit, he pretends to be asleep. She comes near to the bed, lifts up the curtain and sits in the
bed waiting for Sir Gawain to wake up. He realizes that he will find out more when he
"wakes up," so he opens his eyes, stretches as if he has just woke up, and pretends to be in
disbelief of the sight before his eyes. The lady laughs at his reaction and jokes about his long
sleep. He asks her to leave the room so that he can put his clothes on, but she is determined to
spend alone time with him and refuses to do so, promising that everything will remain hidden
from the rest of the court. Sir Gawain is flattered by the lady's sweet talk but remains
defensive during the conversation until she accuses him of not being the real Gawain, since
he wouldn't allow her to leave without a kiss. To assure her that he is not a fake, he allows her
one kiss. Then he goes to mass and continue to enjoy the lavish lifestyle of the court.
At the dawn the hunt is over and so the lord and his escort, along with the hunting dogs return
home. Happy to see Gawain, the lord hands him the meat he prepared as a prize, and Gawain
gives him a kiss in return, as they agreed before. The lord is amused by this and asks where
have he got the kiss, but Gawain replies that it was never part of the deal to say where or how.
The lord agrees and asks no more questions. Instead, they make the same agreement for the
following day and go to bed.
The following lines describe another lord's chase and life back in the castle. The lady keeps
visiting Sir Gawain secretly, always in a mood for flirty conversation. Her attempts to pull
him into love affair fail. Her greatest achievement for that evening are two kisses she gives
him before her husband comes back from hunt.
Later that night, the lord and Sir Gawain exchange their winnings for the day- Sir Gawain
gets a boar and the lord gets two kisses in return. They end the day in high spirits, chatting
and singing. The lord proposes the same game in the New Year 's Eve, but Gawain shares his
concerns that he might be late for the meeting with the Green Knight. The lord encourages
him to stay by saying: "Make we merry while we may, and be joyful: for a man can catch
trouble whensoever he likes."
The next day brings another story from the woods, where the lord and his men chase a fox. At
the castle Sir Gawain continues seeing the young lady while the lord is away. This time she
comes to his room while he is really asleep and wakes him up from the difficult dream about
the green chapel. Sir Gawain is truly pleased to see her and they start chatting as they always
do. The young lady asks him to give her some love tokens, but he decisively refuses, saying
"...to exchange with you love-tokens, that would profit but little." The lady is persistent in the
idea of exchanging love tokens, so she offers him a ring, which Sir Gawain refuses once
again because it seems very expensive. She offers him the only cheap thing she has, a green
girdle that seems ordinary but actually has magical powers. Thinking that he may have a use
of it during the reencounter with the Green Knight, Sir Gawain finally gives in, allowing her
to give him a token. Afterwards Sir Gawain goes to confession to ease his soul and returns to
the castle and have a great time with ladies.
When the lord finally arrives home, he exchanges his gifts with Sir Gawain and they continue
to have a great time together since not much time has left before Gawain's departure. The lord
assigns a servant to direct Sir Gawain to the Green chapel as he promised, and they all go to
bed. The author cannot say whether Gawain truly slept that night.
PART 4
The New Years' morning came. The time has come for Sir Gawain to pay his dues to the
Green Knight. Sir Gawain feels uneasy but nonetheless start preparing himself for the fight.
He puts his best clothes on and tides the green girdle around his waist. Ready to face the
Green Knight, off he goes along with the servant that will show him the way to the Green
Chapel.
After they pass a dreary road with dangerous riverbanks and cliffs, they come to a place
near to the Green Chapel. The servant decides not to go further into the woods and advice Sir
Gawain to let go of the idea of fighting with the Green Knight, as he is dangerous and blood
thirsty man who has never been defeated before. He promises to keep it a secret if he gives up
on his mission, but Gawain is determined to finish what he has started and not be a coward.
Following the road, Sir Gawain runs into a smooth hill overgrown with bushes, near the
riverbank, with two holes at both sides that seems to be The Green Chapel. A sudden noise
comes from the hill and he sees the Green Knight ready for the fight. He has a Danish axe in
his hands, four feet long. Taking each step at a time, Sir Gawain introduces himself and
reminds the Green Knight about the agreement they made one year ago. The Green Knight is
in a hurry to give a deadly blow, so he asks Gawain to expose his neck. Sir Gawain does as he
is told. The Green Knight lifts his axe ready to blow when he sees Sir Gawain flinch. He
mocks him from flinching and says that he did not flinch at the Camelot when Gawain cut off
his head. He promises he won't flinch again. The Green Knight lift the axe once again and
stops the blade just to congratulate Sir Gawain for keeping his word and not flinching this
time. Sir Gawain accuses him of speaking too much and teases him that it must be out of fear.
The Green Knight takes another blow, this time for real, but the blade only cuts Sir Gawain's
skin. He then jumps and challenges the Green Knight to fight, but the Green Knight laughs
and says that he has got what he deserved and refuses to fight anymore. Then he says the
whole truth. The first blow was for the night when he shared his kisses with the lord, the
second blow also, but the third blow was for real because he was not honest and shared only
kisses with him, not mentioning the green girdle he got. Moreover, the lord from the castle is
actually the Green knight and he sent his wife to Sir Gawain just to test his loyalty. The Green
Knight has nothing but the best to say about Sir Gawain, however he criticizes his decision
not to mention the green girdle. Sir Gawain gets angry for being fooled in such a manner and
curses them both for playing with him. He refers to the Bible and says that women can fool
men in love so easily, however strong a man can be and gives examples of Delilah and
Samson, Bathsheba and David.
Feeling that he should restore The Green Knight's loyalty somehow, he takes off the green
girdle and offers it to him, but the Green Knight refuses to take it. He replies that the
confession of his misdeeds is enough to restore his trust. Then he invites him to be his guest
again, but Sir Gawain refuses kindly and asks for the Green Knight's true name before they
go separate ways. The Green Knight introduces himself as Bernlak de Hautdesert. To make
things more clear, he mentions the old lady in his castle, Morgen la Fay, who has learned
many magic skills from Merlin and used them to turn him into the Green Knight in order to
assay renown of the Knights of the Round Table and scare the queen Guinevere to death.
Even worse, he informs Sir Gawain that the old lady is actually his aunt and King Arthur's
half-sister.
 Back at the Camelot, the king and queen are happy to see him safe and sound and everyone
is eager to hear his story, so Sir Gawain starts from the very beginning, honestly narrating the
story about the young lady who seduced him. He grieves for the spike he must carry on his
neck until the rest of his life as the reminder of being disloyal, but the court comfort him and
they all agree to carry the green band as a sign of respect. At the end, the author dedicates the
last stanza of the poem to Christ.

WHO IS GAWAIN?
Gawain is one of the greatest of King Arthur's knights who is remarked for his bravery and
courtesy. Gawain alone volunteers to take Arthur's place in the beheading game proposed by
the Green Knight, while the other knight remain seated with fear. The poet presents Gawain
as a paragon of virtue, praising his chastity, generosity, kindness, and Christian faith. Gawain
demonstrates his well-known courage by following through the encounter with the Green
Knight, even though he fears for his life.
However, by taking the silk belt and keeping it secret, Gawain proves himself to be less
than perfect. When finally confronted with his failing, Gawain accepts responsibility for his
actions and shows remorse, indicating that he grown spiritually and morally. Gawain is too
hard on himself in wearing the belt as a reminder of his guilt, and that the standard of
perfection he wants to uphold is simply unattainable.
Gawain's overriding quality throughout the poem is what the Gawain-poet calls "trawthe,"
or truth. Truth in this sense includes many things: honesty, faith, loyalty, uprightness, purity.
Gawain condemns himself for untruth at the end of the poem, but Gawain's imperfections
make him a more interesting character than the perfect model of virtue he first appears to be.
He is brave, yet he fears death. He is chaste, yet he is attracted to his beautiful hostess.
The characters of medieval literature are often flat, personifying a single trait but here, the
poet adds many subtle touches that give depth to Gawain's character. Besides his interesting
imperfections, he displays a surprising range of emotions. His anger and defensiveness when
he realizes his fault, his fearful imaginings as he approaches the Green Chapel, and his
obvious attraction to his hostess hint that his character has an inner life, not merely a stock
role to play.

WHO IS THE GREEN KNIGHT?

The Green Knight is not named in the poem, and he says only that men know him as the
"Knight of the Green Chapel." His strange color and his marvelous ability to live without his
head mark him as an otherworldly creature. In other ways, however, he could simply be an
especially bold knight. He is enormously tall and strong, almost a giant, and his maturity are
indicated by his bushy long hair and beard. He is harsh and rude in his challenge to the court,
calling them mere children and telling them that if he had come to fight, no one could stand
against him. He says he comes to the court in peace, asking only for a game, and yet he
carries a fearsome weapon, a huge axe.
 When Gawain meets the knight again at the Green Chapel, he is again fearsome, but also
playful, tweaking Gawain by drawing out the final blow, alternately mocking him for
cowardice and praising him for bravery. When it finally becomes clear that he does not intend
to kill Gawain, the Green Knight seems more mischievous than frightening. He has indeed
been playing a game with Gawain, but a different game than the one Gawain imagined.
The pattern of the romance leads to the expectation that the Green Knight is a villain, an
evil monster. However, when the story ends, Gawain and the Green Knight part as friends.
Far from having been defeated, the Green Knight retains the advantage throughout the story,
and the poet leaves him to go his ways, his mysteries unexplained and his ambiguities
unresolved.

OTHER IMPORTANT CHARACTERS

Bertilak of Hautdesert - Gawain's host at the castle he mysteriously finds on Christmas Eve.
He is also the Green Knight.
The Lady of Hautdesert - Unnamed wife of Bertilak and the lady of the castle. The
extraordinarily beautiful and charming lady spends three days trying to tempt Gawain.
King Arthur - Legendary king of the Britons, founder of the Round Table. Gawain's uncle and
Morgan's half-brother.
The guide - One of Bertilak's servants, sent to lead Gawain from Hautdesert to the Green
Chapel.
Morgan le Fay - Enchantress and resident of Bertilak's court at Hautdesert. Gawain's aunt and
Arthur's half-sister.
Guenevere - Arthur's queen and a legendary beauty.

SYMBOLS

THE COLOUR GREEN

In this poem, obviously the colour green is a symbol so frequent that it becomes markers,
navigating the entire plot. The Green Knight, is described as a man in completely green
armor. He is stronger, taller than a human. The audience connects these superb qualities with
the unusual complexion. This exaggeration in using green color throughout the poem brings
alive a lot of associations. In Medieval tradition, the color green is closely connected themes
like: supernatural power and magic, nature and wilderness and youth, regeneration, and
renewal.

Gawain wears the green girdle to go to the Green Chapel and meet the Green Knight. In this
scene, supernatural, natural, and religious elements are closely interconnected. As it was
mentioned, girdles are used in connection with magic and mythology in literature. In the
Bible, the item refers to preparedness. Yet for Gawain, the green girdle becomes a symbol of
his own. It is a reminder of his failure and a symbol of his moral rebirth. Like the girdle that
goes through a transformation of its own, Gawain initially and at the end of the poem are two
different characters.

Examples:

Both garments and the guy were green all over:

his coat was tight, so close it clung to his sides;
a rich robe on top was all arranged and within was
fur finely trimmed, showing fair fringes... (Part 1, stanza 8, line 151-154)

”I shall give you my girdle, for less gain that will be.”
She unbounded a belt swiftly that was wrapped around her waist
tied on top of her dress under her handsome outer coat.
It was made of green silk, and with gold trim,
though only braided around the borders, embroidered by hand;
and this she gave to Gawain, and gladly pressed him,
saying that though it was of no worth he should take it.”
THE PENTANGLE

The pentangle that Sir Gawain adopted for his shield can be interpreted in several ways. On
the main level, the pentangle on Sir Gawain’s shield signifies the truth. It means Christian
faith, purity, and moral goodness. In the chivalric tradition that adopted some Christian
beliefs, these qualities are presented as essential for the code and every knight in particular.
At the beginning of the poem, Gawain himself becomes a symbol of unwithering faith and
honesty. Until the moment he accepts the challenge, Gawain’s life represents all the virtues
that the pentangle stands for.

According to Gawain poet, the five-ended star was initially designed by King Solomon. In
the poem, two different words refer to this symbol – “the pentangle” and the “endless knot.”
This symbol is also a way to represent the five wounds of Christ and the five joys of Mary. It
also represents five essential qualities that any knight should possess. These qualities are
Franchise, Fellowship, Cleanness, Courtesy, and Charity. The poet draws particular attention
to the color of the symbol. It’s gold, connected with nobility and richness. Some critics note
that Gawain is the best represented by gold, while the Green Knight, by green.

Examples:

”And why the pentangle is proper to that prince so noble

I intend now to tell you, though it may delay my story.
It is a symbol that Solomon once upon a time set
as a token of Virtue, as it properly is;
for it is a figure that has five points,
and each line overlaps and is linked with another,
and in every direction it is endless; and the English, I hear,
everywhere call it by the name the Endless Knot.
So it suits well this knight and his pristine arms;
forever faithful in five points, and five times in each point,
Gawain was acknowledged as good as gold refined,
devoid of every vice and with virtues adorned.
So there
the pentangle painted new
his shield and armor wear,
as one of word most true,
this knight of bearing fair.”
CRITICAL POINT OF VIEW

"We are placed on the side of mortality itself, and can thus, with the Green Knight, forgive
Gawain for his single act of cowardice: what he did was done not out of sensual lust but for
love of life--'the less, then, to blame.' In the context of this affectionate sympathy, Gawain's
own violent anger at the revelation of his fault must itself be viewed with amusement, as part
of his human fallibility." (Marie Borroff, Introduction)
"When he resumes his quest for the Green Chapel and leaves the luxurious castle behind
there is room once more for heroism in his behavior, and indeed he shows heroism of a
particularly touching kind--not the kind that knows no fear, but the kind that overcomes a fear
to which all the senses are sharpened. He proudly turns aside the suggestion of his guide that
he should go back to Camelot, and nobody would know that he had not faced the Green
Knight, saying that if he did that, even though nobody found out, he would still be a 'knight
kowarde'. (A. C. Spearing, 102)

"In the earliest Arthurian stories, Sir Gawain was the greatest of the Knights of the Round
Table. He was famed for his prowess at arms and, above all, for his courtesy. ... Here Gawain
is the perfect knight; he is so recognized by the various characters in the story and, for all his
modesty, implicitly in his view of himself. To the others his greatest qualities are his knightly
courtesy and his success in battle. To Gawain these are important, but he seems to set an even
higher value on his courage and integrity, the two central pillars of his manhood. The story is
concerned with the conflict between his conception of himself and the reality. He is not quite
so brave or so honorable as he thought he was, but he is still very brave, very honorable. He
cannot quite see this, but the reader can.
The character of Sir Gawain is relatively fixed by tradition; he cannot act very differently
from the way he does. In consequence, his character is static--is, indeed, less interesting than
that of his adversary, the Green Knight. But it is for other qualities than character interest that
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight is valued." (Donald Clark)