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Gawain
Close reading:
1-490
Fit 1: Foundation myths: Troy→Rome, Tuscany, Lombardy, Britain.
31 if ye wyl lysten þis laye bot on littel quile
I schal telle hit as tit as I in toun herde
with tonge
as hit is stad and stoken
in stori stif and stronge
with leel letteres loken
in londe so has ben longe
>> see “rum ram ruf” in Chaucer p. 341 l. 43
1-490
37 “the inspiring story I intend to spin”
Arthur “who as I heard”
91 it was his his pledge
he þurȝ nobelay had nomen he wolde neuer ete
107 and still he stands there just being himself
þus þer stondes in stale þe stif kyng hisseluen
talkkande bifore þe hyȝe table of trifles ful hende
1-490
150 and overal enker grene – green, gold, red blood
205 green holly
254 won’t you step down from the saddle
liȝt luflych adoun and lenge I þe praye
and quat so þy wylle is we schal wyt after
258 because you claims are so loudly chorused
bot for þe los of þe lede is lyft vp so hyȝe
and þy burȝ and þy burnes best ar holden
thou – thee – ye - you
1-490
304 his red eyes rolling
429 blood on the green
1-490
346 without causing offense to my queen
385 note how the bob and wheel often summarize the following stanza
1-490
456 so come or be called a coward hereafter
Bricriu’s Feast: the beheading game is simply a test of bravery, as the story seems to be so far here.
Fit ii: The procession of the seasons.
Gawayn sets off for the North on All Soul’s Day (1 October)
566 His attire as a knight
640 the pentangle (pentagram)
pentacle is tha ammulet or pendant
(Lat pentaculum ‘little five’ or Fr. pentacol ‘pend à col’
740-1240
740 dreary upland countryside
772 as it sparkled and shone within shimmering oaks
as hit schemered and schon þurȝ þe schyre okeȝ
740-1240
740 dreary upland countryside
772 as it sparkled and shone within shimmering oaks
as hit schemered and schon þurȝ þe schyre okeȝ
811 Good morning, said Gawayn !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gode sir quoþ gawan woldez þou go myn ernde
to þe heȝ lorde of þis hous herber to craue
Ȝe Peter quoþ þe porter and purely I trowe
þat ȝe be wyȝe welcum to won quyle yow lykez
740-1240
841 Then firmly, likr good friends
arm into arm they fell.
ayþer oþer in armez con felde (=falda í örmum)
740-1240
842 Gawaym gazed on the lord
Gawayn glyȝt on þe gome þat godly hym gretand þuȝt hit a bolde burne þat þe burȝ aȝteWikipedia, “Homoerotic interpretations”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Gawain_and_the_Green_Knight#Homoerotic_Interpretations
Don’t forget the hermeneutic turn! Are we talking about the poem or about our (modern, uninformed) reading of the poem?
740-1240
945 More glorious than Guinivere, or so Gawain thought
and wener þen wenore as þe wyȝe þoȝt
965 the Loathly Lady
740-1240
The lord Bertilac invites G to stay until New Year’s Day, when he will show him the way to the Green Chapel, which is very close.
1079 Then Gawain was giddy with gladness...
1083The lord squeeezed Gawain’s arm ....
Þenne watz gawan ful glad and gomenly he laȝednow I þonk yow þryuandely þurȝ alle oþer þyngenow acheued is my chaunce .....Þenne sesed hym þe syre and set hym bysydelet þe ladiez be fette to lyke hem þe better
740-1240
The lord Bertilac invited G to stay until New Year’s Day, when he will show him the way to the Green Chapel, which is very close.
1105 They make a pact: the Lord will hunt for 3 days, and Gawain rest at home; at the end of each day they will exchange hwatevery they have gained.
740-1240
1237 You’re free to have my all,
Do with me as you will.
I’ll comne just as you call
and swear to serve you well
All of me, darling take all of me
Ȝe ar welcum to my corsyowre awen won to waleme behouez of fyne forceyour seruaunt be and schale
1601-1667
(The story so far.....
Three hunts: a stag, a boar and a fox
Three trials for Gawain: one kiss, two kisses, three kisses (and a magic girdle)
1601-1667 The slaying and partitioning of the boar; the return and the payments according to the pact
792-1893 – the third enticement by the lady
The magic girdle. Gawain at last succumbs.
1863 She “went on to beg him not to whisper a word of this gift to her husband”
..and bisoȝt hym for hir sake disceuer hit neuerbot to lelly layne for hir lorde.- i.e. to “loyally hide it from her lord”
The wily fox is the victim of the third hunt
1934 “I shall first fulfill our formal agreement”
I schal fylle vpon fyrst oure forwardez nouþe
þat we spedly han spoken þer spared watz no drynk
þen acoles he knyȝt and kysses hym þryes
as sauerly and sadly as he hem sette couþe
bi kryst quoþ þat oþer knyȝt ȝe cach much sele
in cheuisaunce of þis chaffer* ȝif ȝe hade goud chepez
Ȝe of þe chepe no charg quoþ chefly þat oþer
as is pertly payed þe chepez þat I aȝte
*chaffer ceapfaru, kaupför, trade.
2047-2406
Gawain says farewell to the people of the castle and the servant guides him to the Green Chapel through desolate landscape.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lud's_Church
2047-2406
A terrible noise: the Green Knight is sharpening his axe.
The Green Knight gives him 3 blows with the axe
First blow: Gawain flinches
Second blow: Gawain doesn’t flinch
Third blow: the axe nicks blood
2047-2406
2335 “In his heart he admires him”in hert hit hym lykez “in his heart he is pleased”
2047-2406
2379 “Dread of the death-blow and cowardly doubtsmeant I gave in to greed”• Gawain takes the beheading game at face value, a
question of valour or cowardness.• For the Green Knight, the contest was to test
Gawain’s chivalry and morality, not his braveness. For care of þy knokke cowardyse me taȝtto acorde me with couetyse my kynde to forsakeþat is larges and lewte þat longez to knyȝtez.Now am I fawty and falce and ferde haf ben euer.
2421 “if only
we could love our ladies without believing their lies”
hit were a wynne hugeto luf hom wel and leue hem not a leude þat couþe
2505-2530
final stanza: Gawain is received back at Camelot, and he shows them the green belt of his disgrace. All the knights adopt the green sash.
The last line before the bob reiterates the beginning of the poem.
Cf. Pearl
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