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The Source of the Beheading Episode in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"Author(s): Larry D. BensonSource: Modern Philology, Vol. 59, No. 1 (Aug., 1961), pp. 1-12Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/434930 .

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AUGUST 1961VOLUME LIXNUMBE

THE SOURCE OF THE BEHEADING EPISODE IN SIR GAWAIN ANDTHE GREEN KNIGHTLARRY D. BENSON

HEcasefor e Livre eCaradocs adirectsourceof Sir Gawain and theGreenKnightwas longago dismissedfor ackofevidence. t oncehad powerfuladvocates n Sir FredericMadden,Bern-hardtenBrink, nd M. C. Thomas, uthorof the first ull-lengthtudyof theprob-lem.' But the case builtbythese scholarscrumbledwhenthe Irish analogueswerediscovered,or t seemedobviousthatthebeheading tales in the Fled Bricrendcontained lements hat appearedin oneor other,but not both,of the later ro-mances.Kittredge,whostudied heprob-lemmost horoughly,otedBercilak's xe,his fierce yes, his praise of the court,Arthur's nvolvementn the action,andthe fact hatBercilak arrieshishead outof the hall instead of immediately e-

placing it.2 All these details,Kittredgeargued, ppear nSirGawain ndtheFledBricrendbut not in Caradoc (Arthur'sinvolvementn theaction s onlyvaguelysuggestednthe Irishversion utentirelylacking,Kittredge elieved, n any otherversionof the beheading ale.) Likewise,in Caradoche foundthe survival of thechopping lock arried yCuroi nthe FledBricrend,nd he noted a striking erbalparallel: when the challenger eturns nthe Irish version,his first words are,"'Where is Cuchulinn?'Here am I then,'said Cuchulinn." n the Frenchhis firstwords are "'Where are you, Caradoc?''Here am,' said Caradoc."3Thepresenceof differentrish elementsn each ofthetwo later romances eemed to showthatCaradocand Sir Gawainare independentversions of a common source, which

1Syr Gawayne, ed. Sir Frederic Madden("Bannatyne Club Publications," LXI [London,1839],305 if.); Bernhard en Brink,Early EnglishLiterature,rans.Kennedyet l. (London,1887-92),I, 337; M. C. Thomas,"Sir Gawayne nd theGreenKnight": A Comparisonwith heFrench Perceval(Zurich,1883).

2A StudyofGawainand theGreenKnight Cam-bridge,Mass., 1916),esp. pp. 32-42.3 bid.,p. 36; see Geo.Hendersoned. andtrans.),Fled Bricrend Irish Texts Society, II [London,1899],127).1

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2 LARRYD. BENSONKittredgereconstructed s "R," a lostpoemthat n turnwas based on "0," theoriginal omance ersion fthebeheadingtale. StudentsofSir Gawain have almostuniversally cceptedthistheory, nd thecase is now considered losed.4However, he case was dismissed eforeall the evidencewas in. None of thesescholars knew that, not one, but threedistinct ersions ftheCaradocbeheadingtale exist.TheywereawarethatCaradoc,like thewhole ofthefirst ontinuationfthe Perceval, urvives n a great manymanuscriptshat exhibit largenumberofvariants. ut t wasnotuntil 949,whenRoach's edition f TheContinuationsf hePercevalbeganto appear,thata detailedcomparison fthethreeredactions fthefirst ontinuation-whatRoach calls the"short,"the "long," and the "mixed"--was possible.5A close examination fthethreemetrical edactions owrevealstwodistinct ersionsof the beheading ale--one nthe ongredaction,heothernboththe"short" nd "mixed"redactionswhichI shallhenceforthall the"short ersion").In additionto these metricalversions,prose redactionwas printed n Paris in1530.6 Its authorsays that he based hisworkon an old metrical ersion, nd forthemostparthe clearlyfollows manu-

scriptof the "long" tradition.For thisreasonRoachdid notreprintt,andit stillremains nown o students f the behead-ingtaleonly hroughhebrief eferencesnMadden'sedition.Yet an examination fthe proseredaction hows that it variesfrom hemetrical ersionsnenough mallbutsignificantetails obe considered eta thirdversion f thebeheading ale. Ofthesethreeversionsmoststudents fSirGawain knowonly that included n the"short" and "mixed" redactions, incePotvin's edition, the one used in thestandardworks, s based on the MonsManuscript,which is of the "mixed"category.' The long and prose versionsvaryfrom he short n a number f im-portant etails, nd nalmost very ase nwhichtheydisagreewith the shorttheyagreewith ir Gawain ndtheGreen night.As I shalldemonstrateyan examinationof these passages,the parallelsbetweenSir Gawain and Caradoc are far morenumerous nd detailedthan has hithertobeenknown, nd mostofthe detailsthatuntilnowstudents avethought ppearedonly n the rish ndEnglishversions lsoappear ntheFrench,while he pparentlyIrishfeatures fCaradoc re not commonto the threeredactions.n short, n ex-amination fthe three ersions fCaradocwill showthat the earlycritics,MaddenandThomas,were ight: heprincipalnddirect ourceofthebeheading pisode nSir Gawain s Le Livrede Caradoc.Theopening f heepisode s thesame nall three versions.As in Sir Gawain,Arthursholding highfeast t hiscourt,inwhichGuenevere as an importantart.Theking efuses o eatuntilhehas seenorheardsomemarvel.Then,as Arthur ndhis knights re talkingat the dais, themarvel ppears:

4The most recent nd authoritativeummary fthe problem, nd rejectionof Caradoc as a directsource, s by Laura HibbardLoomis,"Gawainandthe GreenKnight," n ArthurianLiteraturen theMiddleAges,ed. R. S. Loomis (Oxford, 959), pp.530-32.1The Continuations f the Perceval (3 vols.;Philadelphia,1949-55). The "short" version s inVol. I, the"long"inVol. II, and the"mixed" nVol.III. All citations f Caradocare from hisedition.6Tresplaisanteet RecreatifHystoiredu Tres-preulx et Vaillant ChevallierPerceval le Galloys,Paris, 1530 ("ModernLanguageAssociationRoto-graphs," No. 8, Library of Congress). In myquotations rom hisvolume havesilentlyxpandedall abbreviations,modernizedheusageof"v" and"u," and supplied punctuation.When the proseversion greeswith he ong, quotefrom he ong,justas,since he hort nd themixedversionslmostalwaysagree, quote from he shortredaction orthe shortversion f theepisode.

SPerceval le Gallois,ed. CharlesPotvin (Mons,1866), III, 117-221.Potvin ncluded a few variantreadings romheMontpellier S, a copyofthe ongredaction.


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THE SOURCE OF THE BEHEADING EPISODE 3Parmi a porte elpalais (3334)Virent enir nchevalierMoltgrant,orun bauchant estrier,Vestus 'unpeligon ermineQuipresde terrei traine.S'ot sor on chief nchapeletA uncercle 'ordebonet;Et otchainte ne ongue speeQuidefin rert nheudee.

The long versionadds some interestingdetailsto thispassage.First, t makestheentrymore nergetic: Ses chevauxgrantoirre 'aporte" (v. 7140), and the knightsuffers rom"grant challine,"evidentlyfromhardriding.However, heunseemlyhaste (which perhaps accounts for hissuddenand unceremoniousntry) s tem-pered with merriment,or now "il vachantantun sonet" v. 7141).Not only she jolly,he has nowalso become threat-ening igure,orhis sword s characterizedas "l'espee /Dont puisot la testecopee"(vv. 7145-46). Furthermore,is sword snow decorated with rich cloth-"An-rangieede soie fine" (v. 7147)-like thelace that is lapped about Bercilak'sweapon.8shus,thechallengern thelongversionhas somethingf the same com-bination fmerriment,eauty,and men-ace that characterizeshe GreenKnight.The proseversion dds yetmoredetails.Its challengerwears a chapletof flowers(thatKittredge, ho knew hedetailfromMadden'snotes,considered counterpartofBercilak'sholly9):"Et avoit dessus ebonnet ngcercle u pendoit ngchapeaude fleurs" fol. 79v). Jewels, pecificallypearls, have been added to his richtrappings: Fine soiebatue en or et forceperles emeespardessus."Most mportant

he, likeBercilak, s nowrichly lothed ngreen:"Et estoitvestude satin verd."In all three ersions hechallengeridesup to the dais where, nlikeBercilak,hecourteously reets heking. n the shortversion emerely reets im nd asks forboon:"RoisArtus,ilDiexquenement (3346)Vos doinst onor t ongue ie."-"Amis, et l tebeneie."-"Rois, fait cil, un don vosdemant."In the other versionsthis greeting sexpanded nto a speechofpraise:"Rois,Damediex os saut (7149)Con e meilleurt e plushautRoisquihuicest orsoit n terre.Un donvos suisvenuz equerre."The GreenKnight likewiseprefaceshisrequestfor boon withpraiseforArthur:

"Bot for e losofPe,lede, s lyftvpsohy3e (258)Andbybur3 ndbyburnes estarholden."

In the Fled Bricrend hepraise s directedto the wholecourt-"you Ulstermen"--withoutmention ftheking.1' n bothSirGawain ndthe ongandproseversions fCaradoc,Arthurnd hisfame re thecenterof attention. ercilak'sspeech, hough tcontains elaboratepraise for the court,beginswith heking ndendson the samenote:"Bot if Jou be so bold as alleburne3ellen, (272)Jouwylgrantmegodly e gomenPat I ask."In thelongand proseversions heking'sreplyto the challenger's peech assureshim, "Que vos demanderme voudrez,/Ce saichiezque ja n'i faudrez" vv. 7157-58). In Sir Gawain Arthur's reply,

8 V.217. All citations fSir Gawainare from hetextofJ.R. R. Tolkien ndE. V. Gordoncorrecteded.; London, 1930).9Op. it., .37. 10 Kittredge, p. 11-12; Henderson, . 119.


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4 LARRYD. BENSONthoughmorepugnacious,s quitesimilar:"If pou crauebataylbare,/Here fayle3pounot to fy3t" vv. 277-78).The strange night hen tates the con-ditions f hisbargain. n the rishversionthe challenger ives the hero a choice--either cutyourheadoff owandyoucanpaymeback ater, ryoucan cut mine ffnow and receivemyblow; in oneform ranother, this formula appears in allversions f the beheading ale exceptSirGawainand the ongandproseversions fCaradoc.11 In the short version, forexample, heking sks thechallenger hat"don" herequires.Et cilrespont:Vos le sarez: (3352)Coleedoner anz dechoivreVos demant or utre echoivre."Theking skshimwhathemeans, nd hethen explains the bargain, this timemaking t clear that the hero mustfirstchopoff ishead,and thenhe willreturnto chopoff he hero's. n the ongversionthere s no question s to the order ftheblows:

"Rois,fait l,nevosvoildegoivre.7159)Li dons stcoleeregoivrePorune autre] olleeprandre."Theking till sks for n explanation, utthe explanation learly xpandsthe firstproposal rather than suggesting n al-ternative o it. It is a simple aseof, s theprose versionhas it, "seullement olleepour colle" (fol. 79v). Likewise, n SirGawainthere s no suggestionf alterna-tives: ifany n thishall is so bold,

)atdar tiflytrike strok ornoper, (287)I schalgifhym fmygyft ysgiserneryche,Pisax,Pat sheue nnogh,o hondeleshymlykes,AndI schal bidePe fyrst uras bare as Isitte.

In Caradocthe courtiers-Kay in thelong ndproseversions-remarkhatonlya fool would accept the challenge.Thesubstitution fKay in the ongand proseversionss one ofits few variations romthe hort hathasnoparallelnSir Gawain.I note t as a variant, lthoughn the hortversion Kay makes a similar speech,omitted n the other edactions, henthechallenger eturns o the court. We maynote, however, hat in the proseversion(fol.79v)Kay speaksonly ohimself,huspreservinghe ilence hat s soremarkablea feature f thescene n Sir Gawain, ndthat later, when Arthurtakes up thechallenge n a stylemore suitableto theKay than to theArthur fmostmedievalromances, e dwells pon he "foolishness"of the challenge:"Hapel, by heuen,pynaskyng s nys, / And as pou folyhat3frayst,ynde e behoues" vv. 323-24).Whenno one acceptshis proposal, hechallengern bothCaradoc ndSir Gawaintaunts hecourt or tsfailureoact.Then,in the proseversion, Lors l'espee a dufourreau raicte n la presentanta et la"(fol. 79v), an action which troublesArthur nddismays hecourt.As the ongversion tates,

Li roispansive hiere faite. (7184)Esbaissontgrant t menor.In theshort ersion he theatricalwavingaboutofthe sword s merelymplied, ndthecourtiers' eaction s barelymentioned("Maisn'i a nulqui l'ostbaillier," . 3367),while Arthur's roublements not men-tioned t all. In Sir Gawainthecourtiers'

11 According o Kittredge, lacuna in theMS ofLa Mule sanz Frain is filledby Diu Crone p. 43).Otherwise he alternativeswould also be missingfromLa Mule. The "Terror" version of the FledBricrend Kittredge, pp. 17-18; Henderson,pp.97-101) lacksthealternatives, utit seemsto havebeenthe more laborate"Champion'sBargain" (ora verysimilar ale) that passed intoromance, ndthe alternatives ppear in all the early romanceversions.


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THE SOURCE OF THE BEHEADING EPISODE 5dismay v. 301) and Arthur'sroublement(vv. 316-17) are explicitly resented,ndBercilak,ike hechallengern the ong ndproseversions fCaradoc,ooks round hehall, wavinghis beard and waitingforsomeone toaccepthis trange argainvv.303-06).In the next stage of the action SirGawain differsharplyfromCaradocandall otherversions f the beheading ale;Arthurbecomes enraged,rushes to thechallenger,nd seizes the axe: "Ly3tlylepe3 he hymto, and la3t at his honde"(v. 328). His action is quite similar toCaradoc's,who, the long and prosever-sions tell, "could contain himselfnolonger":"Si vet corant u chevalier;/Ansa main prant le branc d'acier" (vv.7191-92). In the English poem Gawaininterruptsrthurustas he spreparingostrike. n the longand proseversions fCaradoc similarnterruptionerynearlyoccurs.As the strangeknightbends toreceive the blow and Caradoc preparesto strike,Parpomessire vainsnecort (7200)12L'espeesaichier e sesmains;Maisancorn'estce quedoumains,Car i pasne iiostera.Thefunction fthispassage sprobably oestablish parallelbetween he firstceneandthe ast,where hereturn low stwicedelayed by interruptions,ince Caradoc,like Sir Gawain, shows evidence of aconscious exploitationof the parallelsbetween he twoscenes. Thisis especiallyobvious n the longversion,wherewholelinesarerepeated e.g.,7149,7284).The inspiration f the "long" redactorhasimportantonsequencesnSirGawain.Thesource fArthur'snterruptedttemptto take up the challengehas neverbeenlocated. Kittredgeconsidered he king's

act an Irish feature,but only on thestrengthf Curoi'sexemption f thekingfromhis challenge n the Fled Bricrend.He argued hat this howed hat thekingin the Irish version could at least beinvolved as he is in Sir Gawain,and hebelieved that Caradocreflected o suchpossibility.13 owever,one of the maindifferencesetweenthe long and proseversions ndthe horts that ntheformertheking eems lmost s muchontrial sthehero.As inSir Gawain,Arthurs thecenter fattention rom he moment hechallengerntersuntil theherosuddenlyrises oaccept he hallenge. hechallengerpraises heking'sfame, nd,whenno oneacceptshisbargain, istaunt scentered nthe king,as it is in Sir Gawain.Arthurfeels his responsibility,nd he shows a"pansive chiere."Furthermore,fter hechallenger ecovers ishead,he facesthekingand addresseshim before urning ospeak to Caradoc. He seems to holdArthurresponsible or the fulfilmentfthebargain:"Rois,fait l,or nesoilsfaux. (7214)Se j'ai collee eceiie,Anvostre ort esoit eiieLa moie ncoan cel or."

In Sir Gawain the challenger lso turnsfirstoward hehigh able, ndheremainsfacing he "derreston pe dece" (v. 445)even thoughhis words are addressedtoGawain. His firstwords have the sameburden s hisspeech o Arthurn Caradoc:"Loke, Gawan,poubegraype ogoas pouhette3" v. 448). Finally, n thelongandproseversions, hen hechallengereturnsto the court,his firstwords are againaddressedto the king,unlikethe shortversion,which s closetotheFledBricrendin thisscene.As thesepassages (noneofwhich appear in the short version)demonstrate, rthurs more nvolved n2

The proseversion fthepassage s: "Et a petitde chosetintque Yvain ne lui court 'espeehorsdesmains oster. Adonc Carados en son entreprisepersistant alsa l'espee." 13 Op. cit.,p. 33.


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6 LARRYD. BENSONthe bargain n Caradoc than he is in theIrishwork.Althoughhe Frenchromancecontains no exact parallel to Arthur'sattempt o takeup thechallenge,t seemsvery ikely hattheking's loseconnectionto thebargain nd thepassage concerningYvain are the hintson which he GawainpoetbuiltArthur's ole nSir Gawain.WhenCaradoc first ises to accept thechallenge n the short version,Arthurattempts o dissuade him. Leave off,hesays,there re betterknightsn thiscourtthan you, and you can give up thisadventurewithout ishonorvv. 3390-96).In neither ir Gawain nor the otherver-sions of Caradocdoes this speech occur(thought mayhave suggestedheYvainepisodeto the longredactor). nstead, nthe ong ndproseversions here ppearsshortdialoguebetween hestrange nightandCaradoc:

"Estesvosau meillor sliz?" (7194)-"Certes, nenil,mes u plusfol."The remark s appropriate o the scene,partly ecauseofthepreviousmphasis nfoolishness,utmainly ecause the wordsoftheyoungCaradoc,who was knightedonlytheevening efore, learly ecalltheyoungPerceval,who also beganlifeas a"fool"and whofirst rovedhimself n thestrangeRed Knightwho rode suddenlyand belligerentlyntoArthur's ourt. nSir Gawain the same humble sentimentreappearsn thehero'sfirstpeech-"I ampewakkest, wot, nd ofwytfeblest"v.354).After hisspeechand Yvain's intendedinterruption, aradoc strikes a mightyblow. Here againthe ongand prosever-sionsdifferrom he short. n the lattertheheadflies wayfromhebody, ndthechallengerquickly retrieves t. In theformer e read:

Li chief i vollenompas pres, (7207)Mais i cors e suitde sipres

Q'aingois ue garde 'an soitprise,Ra li cors a teste eprise.In Sir Gawainthehead falls o theearth,and "felehitfoynedwyth erfete, erehisforth oled" (v. 428). The kicking n SirGawain s probably lso intended o keepthe head from ejoining he body.14Thereason for this is clear fromHunbaut,where Gawain chops off he challenger'shead and then immediatelyeizes him,thuspreventinghe bodyfrom ejoiningthe head and thereby ausingthe chal-lenger's eath.15 sKittredgetates, Thisis goodorthodox olk-lore.n fightingithanyfoewhohasthefaculty frecalling isheadto hisshoulders,lternativemethodsof procedure re well established: youmusteither estroyhe headbefore thastimeto go back,or keephead and trunkapart untildeath ensues."16 n the FledBricrend here s a hint fthe firstmethodofprocedure;Cuchulinn uts the headoffandthenhits tagain,givingt such blowthat tfliesnpieces.Thisdoes notbotherCuroi,who is under no compulsiontoreplacehis head rightaway; he merelypicks t up and walksaway. In the longand proseversions fCaradocthe secondmethod s clearly dopted,and evidentlythis challenger,ike the one in Hunbaut,mustreplacehis head immediately. er-cilak is under no such compulsion; ikeCuroi nd thechallengern La Mule sanzFrain,"7hecarries is head out ofthe hallwithhim, factthat rendershe scene nSir Gawainfar moreterrifyinghanthat

14F. P. Magoun,Jr., n "Sir Gawain ndMedievalFootball," English Studies,XIX (1937), 208-09,suggests hat the courtiers re playinga macabregame of footballwith the head. That sportseemshardly in keepingwith the tone of the scene;Gawain and Arthur ryto make lightof the be-heading,but the rest of thespectators re silent.16 d. StiirzingerDresden, 1914). SummarizedbyKittredge, p. 61-63.16Op. cit.,p. 64.17Ed. R. T. Hill (Baltimore, 911); summarizedby Kittredge, p. 42-44.


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THE SOURCE OF THE BEHEADING EPISODE 7in Caradoc.But, as the courtiers' ctionsshow,he is derivedfrom characterwhomust immediately eplace his head, anaction that the onlookers attempt toprevent.Therefore,espitethe factthatbothCuroi ndBercilak arry heirheads,the courtiers'frenziedkicks show Ber-cilak'sdirectrelation o the challengernCaradoc.This relation s also proved byhisfacing hedais after hebeheading, ismountingf his horse ndhisspeakingofall the challengers nlythose n Caradocand Sir Gawain are mounted nd speakafter the beheading), nd the similaritybetween iswords o Gawain nd those ofthe French challengerto Arthur andCaradoc.Whenthe challenger as recovered ishead,hewarns he hero o fulfil ispartofthe bargain, nd thenhe leaves. He willreturnn a year inall other ersions f hebeheading ale the nterval s only day).In thelongversion, s in Sir Gawain, hefeast is then resumed, houghwith lessmerrimenthan in the English poem:"N'ont gairesris a ce mangier"v. 7234).But, despitethe return o the feast,thecourt s plungedntogrief ytheprospectofthehero'sdeath: "Nuns ne porroit eduelretrere Quefont ames tchevaliers"(vv.7232-33); "perewat3muchderuedoeldriuen n pe sale" (v. 558). At thispointthenarratorn theproseversionntrudeswith moralreflection:

0 quemalheureuxst qui par sa couppeouparunefolle laisancemect antdemondeendolleurtenpeine;et en le fin e plaisirseulestencent ormensonvertifol. 9].The Gawain poet also intrudeson thenarrative,nd he makesnearly he samecommentn theaction:Gawanwat3gladtobegynneose (495)gomne3nhalle,Botpa3pe endebeheuy, af3enowonder;Forpa3 menbenmerynmynde uenpaybanmayndrynk,

A 3ere 3ernes ul3erne, nd 3elde3neuerlyke,Pe forme oPe fynismentolde3 ul elden.Eachpoet mphasizeshe ontrastetweenthe light-hearted beginning-glad..gomne3, olle plaisance-and the tragicconclusion-en le fin . .pe ende. Theprose redactor follows this with anapostropheo thechallenger, hich s notincludedby the Gawainpoet,who morewisely postrophizes awain nstead.In bothCaradoc nd Sir Gawain heherohideshis trouble nd appearsas joyful spossible.The longand proseversions x-plainhiscomposure.n the ongweread:

Caradocne s'esmaiemie, (7236)Si dist, Oncles,cecorrozLaissiez, aran Dieu est detot."In theprose, Caradocn'enprent oussy,disantqu'il en attendra a fortune"fol.79). In Sir Gawainthe heroexpresses hesamestoical entiment:

Pe kny3tmaday god chere, (562)Andsayde, Quatschuld wonde?Ofdestines erfnddereWhatmaymondo botfonde?"In the account of the return lowSirGawaindiffersrom aradoc nd all otherversions fthebeheading ale. In Caradocthere s nogreen hapelto which heheromust ourney.There s no suggestionhattheheromightscapehisfate, s theresinSir Gawainwhen heguide emptsGawaintogive upthequest.AndtheFrenchworkcontains o hint hat hehero's dventuresduring he intervening ear in any wayaffect he return low.Thepoetalludestothem nlybriefly,houghheproseversionadds that theywerevictories f both afleshlynd spiritualnature.Yet there resome significant arallels between SirGawainand the longand proseversions.

Aswe haveremarked,he short ersion fCaradoc esembles he Fled Bricrendnthe


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8 LARRYD. BENSONform f the challenge nd is exactlythesame as the Irish work n its account ofthechallenger's inal ntry.He enters hecourt,wastes no time on preliminaries,and calls forCaradoc. Caradoc answers,"Here I am," and withoutfurtherdomakesreadyto receivetheblow.This isabout the form hat the openingof thisscenetakes nmostversions fthe tale. Inthe Fled Bricrendhe challengerdds aninsult,tellingthe hero that, thoughhegreatly earsdeath,he cannotnow avoidit. Thehero, n the FledBricrends in theshortversion fCaradoc, ilently reparesfor heblow.The longand proseversionsofCaradoc re muchdifferent.hechallen-gerfirst olitely reets heking v. 7284).Then he calls forCaradoc,remindingimof hisrightful"biendroiz")privilege:

"Metmoici ampresanta teste, (7288)Car e t'imis ntan a moie,Si estbiendroiz ue l'anrevoieConmante sai ferir 'espee."Bercilak ikewiseremindsGawain of thebargain vv. 2240-49).Caradocannouncesthat he is readyto fulfil is part of thebargain:

Et iidist:"Biau sire, rm'avez: (7297)Faitesau miauzquevozsavez."Gawaindoes the same:"I schalgruche nogrwe or remJatfalle3. (2251)Bot sty3tele vpononstrok,nd I schalstonde tylle."

Each herobends forthe blow. But thenthere re interruptions-theeintsn SirGawain, hepleasofArthurndGueneverein Caradoc.After he firstnterruptionnCaradoc,the second in Sir Gawain,thehero demands hat thechallengertrike:"Porquoineferez os,biausire? (7330)De deusmausme faitesmorirQuitant esmez ferir;Moltvosan tieng r a coart."

The Fled Bricrendontains nly hecom-plaintabout the cruelty fdelay: "'Youaretorturing e!' saidCuchulinn,killmequickly."' The short edaction f Caradoccontainsonlyan accusationof cowardiceandan exhortationo thechallengerobequick: "Chevalier,molt par iez coars,/Dist Caradeus,faierranment Ce que tudois" (vv. 3500-03).Sir Gawain, ikethelongversion fCaradoc, ontains oththechargeof cowardiceand the complaintabout thedelay:"Wy! preschon,Pou pro mon,Jou

prete3 o longe; (2300)I hopePat Pi hert r3ewythPyn awenseluen."The blow s thendelivered-a touch withthe flat of the sword n Caradoc, nickwith the axe in Sir Gawain. Then thechallengerids the herorise nddeliversshort peechpraising im.The resemblances o not endhere.Theoutcome f the tests setsCaradoc nd SirGawain partfromllother ersions f hebeheadingale. Theoutcomes the ame nall threeversions fCaradoc, lthoughtsrelevance o Sir Gawain has neverbeennoted. In both the Englishand Frenchworks the challenger eveals that he isdisguised, ellshis dentity,nd offersheherohisfriendship.henthechallengernCaradocprivately evealsto the herohisown,previouslynknown,dentity. ara-doc earns hathe s thebastard fEliavreshis challenger.The news fillshim withshame and anger. Success in the testbringshim to a self-knowledgehatrobsthe occasion of any sense oftriumph.nthe prose redaction Caradoc's "greatsadness and sorrow"are especiallyem-phasized.Withthis sad knowledge, ara-doc returnso thecourt,where sceneofhappyfeasting,ike thatat thebeginning,concludes heepisode.He does notconfesshisknowledgeo the court.He waitsuntil


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THE SOURCEOF THEBEHEADING EPISODE 9he returns ome o themanhethought ashis father.His supposedfatherdoes notreassurehim, s Gawain s reassured, utlater in the book he learns that he hastaken the wrong attitude toward hisparentagewhen,because of the sin hecommitsn punishing is naturalfather,he must do penancethat rendershim ashumble n spiritas Gawain is whenhereturns o Camelot; penanceis a majortheme n both works.18At theend of thebeheading pisode nSir Gawainthe heroalso learns omethingofhis ownidentity.n his first peech nthe poem, Gawain acknowledges onlyArthur's lood n hisveins vv.356-57).Attheend he learns hat thebloodofMorganleFay,his evilaunt, lsoflows nhisveins.Morganis the symbolof the evil thatGawain discovers n himself, discoverythat angers and shames him, just asCaradoc's had done. In each poem thebeheading episode serves as a kind ofinitiationnto ife ywhich hehero earnsa disturbingact about himself, is closerelation o evil.19 n no otherversionofthetale is the hero's riumphempered ythisdisturbingelf-discovery.nd in nootherversiondoes the hero discoverthechallengero be closelyrelated o himself-his father n Caradoc; the agent ofMorgane Fay, hisaunt, n Sir Gawain.Perhapsherewehave the reasonfor hepresenceof Morgan in Sir Gawain, aproblem hat has longvexedcritics f the

poem.20 The poet changed he hero fromCaradoc to Gawain,an easy shift, inceGawain is the hero of almosteveryotherpart of the First Continuation. ut hecould notverywell make Gawain the sonof the evil enchanter liavres.However,Gawain had a relative lmost s closewhowas an evilenchantress,is auntMorgan.And so she came intothepoem,welcomenotonly s a replacementor liavresbut,since he sboth heequaland theoppositeof Arthur, s one of the balanced anti-theses n whichthe poet delighted.Butthen, ecallingMorgan's raditionalnmityforGuenevere,21emadehisonefalse tepandtried osupply motive or he ction.He hadtocreate motive. herewasnoneinCaradoc, ut none s needed here, incethebeheading ale serves o establish herelation etween liavres nd Caradoc hatmuch f herest f hepoem xplores. adtheGawainpoetbeenusing n ndependentversion f hebeheadingale,one that ndswith disenchantment,uch as The TurkandGawain, rmerelywith testimonyothe hero's virtues, such as the FledBricrend, he problemwould not havearisen.But hehad onlyCaradoc,n whichthebeheading pisode s the first f a longcycleofadventures hat t serves o intro-duce. He had to bring completed ycleof action into the poem,for the conflictbetween Gawain and the GreenKnightremains as unresolved s that betweenEliavresand Caradoc. Ofcourse,psycho-logicallyGawain'sadventures complete,and "no one everwished t longer."Butstructurallyhe plot withoutMorgan sincomplete; ero ndchallengeremain nthesame relativepositionsn which heybegan. Preferably, his cycle of action

is n episode12 of all three versions short,vv.6475-6948; long, vv. 10,063-10,534; mixed, vv.15,219-15,267)Caradoc must seek a hermit wholives n a wildforest,illedwith avagebeasts.Therehe confesses isguilt: "Certes, ait l, e suis ipire /Hom qui onques alast par terre" vv. 10,486-87).For the themeofpenance nSir Gawainsee,amongothers,JohnBurrow, The Two Confession cenesin Sir Gawain and the GreenKnight,"MP, LVII(1959), 73-79.19For a discussion f his heme nSir Gawain eeCharlesMoorman, Mythand Medieval Literature:Sir Gawain nd theGreen night,"Medieval tudies,XVI (1956), 158-72.

20 E.g., D. E. Baughan,"The Role ofMorgan aFay in Sir Gawain and theGreenKnight,"ELH,XVII (1950),241-51.21See I. Gollancz ed.),Sir Gawain andtheGreenKnight, .E.T.S., 210 (London, 1940),v. 2449 noteand thereferencesiventhere.


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10 LARRYD. BENSONshould lso involve omekindofdefeat ortheforcesf vil, requirementfromancethat Gawain's equivocal successand the.ambiguity f good and evil in the poemfortunatelyeepSirGawain romulfilling.The ntroductionfMorganwasa meansofaccomplishingheseends,eventhoughshe is so clearly mposed n thestructurethat she harmsthe poemmorethan shehelps it. However, Caradoc probablysuggested o thepoetMorgan'smotive--principallyofrightenuenevereo death(vv. 2559-62). The Queen plays an im-portantrole in Caradoc,and its authormakes much of the anguishthe queenfeels when she thinks hat Caradocmustdie.Sheretiresoher hamber ather hanwatch hereturn low. There s also a hintof some antagonismof the challengertoward hequeen.When heemergesromherrooms o pleadforCaradoc's ife,he isabrupt and almost discourteous n hisrefusal:"Se vos ne l'osez esgarder, Alezvostre hambre arder" longversion, v.7359-60).She returnso herrooms:Ansa chambre'anest antree (7363)0 les damesde la contree;Ansamble li tel dueldemeinent,Parpo qu'a la mort esemeinent.But ifthis s the hint hat ed theGawainpoet to createMorgan'smotive, t is theone featureof Caradoc that suffersntranslation.

Le Livrede Caradoc oes not account oreverypartof thebeheading pisode n SirGawain. The churlish, earded Bercilakwith his great axe is obviouslymuchdifferentromhis gentlemanly,word-carryingrench ounterpart.aradoc etsthetimeat Pentecost ather hanChrist-mas, and it containsno parallelforthecombinationfthebeheadingpisodewiththetemptation,orGawain's lightwound,norfor hemanyotherdetailsthat maketheEnglish oem oclearly uperioro the

French.But there re moreresemblancesthan differencesetween he twoworks.Many of them are already known tostudents from the short version.22Tothesewemayadd therich loth hatdeco-ratestheweapon, hegreen ostume, hechallenger's raiseof theking, he form fthechallenge, rthur's erturbationhenit is delivered ndhis close relation o theaction, he hero's abelinghimself fool nhisfirstpeech, hechallenger's ords fterthe blow is delivered,the narrator'scomment n theaction, hehero's peechof stoic resignation,his words to thechallengerwhenhe prepares or heblow,and hisnext peechnwhich eaccuses hechallengerothofdelayingoo ong nd ofcowardice.None of thesedetails ppear nany otherversionof the beheading ale.In addition o them, aradoc ontains hesuggestionsormany thermportant as-sages inSir Gawain-for the combinationofmerrimentnd menace n thechallenger,forArthur's eply otherequest or boonand hisattempt o takeup thechallenge,for the challenger's acing he dais afterthebeheading, or he nclusion fMorganle Fay, and perhaps venfor her motive.Finally,whenwe consider hat themajorthemeof bothCaradoc nd Sir Gawain sthe same-the movement fa youngherofromgnorance "wytfeblest," plusfol")toself-knowledge-thenescapable onclu-sion s that theprincipal nd direct ourceof the beheadingtale in Sir Gawain isLe Livre de Caradoc.The poet knew theworkn the ong edaction. hemanuscripthe used has sincebeen ost,for t was onethat containedheadditional eatures hat22See L. H. Loomis,op. cit.,p. 531, for listofthese similaritiesshe includes ome from he longversion).The principal nes are the Arthurian et-ting, the entryof the mounted challenger,histauntingthe courtiers, nd the lapse of a year

between he first nd returnblows. M. C. Thomasadduces manysmall pointsofresemblance s well(op. cit.).


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THE SOURCE OF THE BEHEADING EPISODE 11now surviveonly n the proseeditionof1530."Lost" manuscriptsre rightlyuspectin sourcestudies. n this case, however,there s furthervidence or he existenceof such a manuscript.The alliterativeromance fGolagrosnd Gawane,printedin 1508 but written n the firsthalf ofthefifteenthentury,s also based on theFirst Continuation f Perceval. Paul J.Ketrick's tudyofthe sources fGolagrosdemonstrateshat t has the same relationas Sir Gawainto thevariousredactions fthe FirstContinuation:t agreeswith helongredactionwherethat versiondiffersfrom he short, nd it includes he addi-tional features f the 1530 prose redac-tion.23Themanuscript,herefore,idexist,and t was used nthefifteenthentury ypoetwhowrote n the amegeneral tylistictradition s the author fSir Gawain. t isthus possible, even probable, that theGawainpoetcould have known nd usedamanuscript f the long redactionthatincluded he detailspreservedntheproseedition.The so-called Irishfeatures" fCaradocand Sir Gawain offer o objections othistheory fthepoem'ssource.None oftheIrish features fCaradocthatare lackinginSir Gawain ppear n all three ersions.The Irish form f the challenge nd theclose verbal similarities etweenEliavres'and Curoi's speechesin the final sceneappearonly n the hort ersion. he blockdoes not appear untilthe proseversion.There s nothingo correspondo it in theshort,nd n the ong hechoppings doneon a dois, table.Onlyn theprose oesthedoisbecome bloc.None of thesedetails sessential to the action, and the "long"redactor asilyomitted he Irish featuresof the short version,which evidently

representshe earliestform f the FirstContinuation.24hedois, aterbloc,whichappears only in the later versions, sapparentlythe authors' own inventionratherthan a Celtic feature.Likewise,Bercilak'schurlish ppearance,his fierceeyes,hisaxe, and the factthat he carrieshis head out of the courtmay be Irishfeatures aken from ome otherversionknown to the poet, just as Gawain'sflinching ayhavebeen uggested ysomeversion uchas that in Perlesvaus.25 utthe lace on the axe and the courtiers'kickingt theheadbetray he nfluencefCaradoc.Probably he rishfeatures fSirGawain,iketheblockof heproseversion,are the poet's own invention, ided byliteraryonventionsngeneral ather hanby any one specific ource.That is ob-viously the explanationfor the GreenKnight's fierce red eyes, a commonfeature of angry churls in medievalpoetry.26 As the differing ersions ofCaradoc show, the Irish featureswereeasily omitted; perhaps those in SirGawainwere s easily dded.The rishfeaturesf he hree ersions fCaradoc lso offerroofhat he imilaritiesbetween aradoc ndSir Gawain ouldnotbe due to a common ource.The shortversion fCaradoc,n what sevidentlyheearlierredaction, ontains rish elementsnot included n the laterlongand proseversions.Evidentlythese Irish features

23Paul J. Ketrick,The RelationofGolagros ndGawane to the Old French Perceval (Washington,1931),pp. 67-85.

24Perhapsthe problemof relativedates willbesettledwhenRoach's fourth olumeappears.Theorder (and most tudents) doptis thatof HilmarWrede,Die FortsetzeresGralromanshrestiensonTroyesGottingen, 952).25BothMadden nd Thomas houghtt ikely hatPerlesvausdid influence ir Gawain. For a fulldiscussion ee M. Day's Introduction o Gollancz'edition f irGawain,pp.xxiii,xxxii-xxxiii;Nitze'sand Jenkins'notes in Vol. II of theiredition ofPerlesvaus Chicago,1937); and Kittredge, p. 52-61. Kittredgebelieved that the resemblanceswereprobablydue to chance pp. 58-59).26W. C. Currygives several examples in TheMiddleEnglish deal ofPersonalBeauty Baltimore,1916).


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12 LARRYD. BENSONappeared n the source fCaradoc, erhapstheoriginal omance f thechallenge hatKittredge econstructeds "0." The longredaction bviouslydoes not go back to"0"; it derivesfrom he short, nd itsauthor shows no acquaintancewithanyIrishfeaturewiththeimprobable xcep-tion ofthedois)thatdoesnot also appearin the short.He adds manydetailsto theshortversionwhichobviously ould nothave been in the source of that earlyversion. Sir Gawain, as we have seen,contains lmost ll of these ddeddetails;it also contains all the Irish featuresretained n the long and none of thosefeatures hatappear n the short ut wereomitted nthe ong.Therefore,ir GawainandCaradocdo notderive rom commonsource;theEnglishpoem s dependent nthe ongredaction f theFrench.2"Iftheevidence havepresentedeads, sI believe t does,to the decision hat LeLivredeCaradoc s thedirect ource f thebeheading ale in Sir Gawain,mostof thewidely cceptedtheories f the descent ftheplotwillhavetobechanged. ittredge's

"R," for xample,must be rejected, ndtheexistence f the"lost" FrenchGawainand theGreenKnightbecomesveryim-probable.But theknowledgehatCaradocis a source or ir Gawain s morevaluablefor the possibilitiest opens up thanforthose tcloses. t willserve o turn ritics'attention o the wholeof the FirstCon-tinuation.Perhaps it will also make usmorereceptive o critical heories f thepoemthat are based on the assumptionthat the Gawain poet himselfwas re-sponsible or ombininghe emptationndbeheading ales.28Most mportant,or hefirst ime criticswill have access to thematerials hatthepoetused.Perhaps,nowthat the similarities re known, tudiesofthe differencesetween he twoworks,of how the Gawain poet adapted anddeveloped the materials he found inCaradoc,will llowus a newunderstandingof the artistic echniques f the greatestpoetof the alliterativeevival, heauthorofSir Gawain ndtheGreenKnight.29HARVARD UNIVERSITY

27 n my argument have assumed the orderadopted byWrede cf.n. 24 above), but,whatevertheordernwhich heredactionswere omposed,hedependence fSir Gawain on the longversion ulesout thepossibility fa common ource.

28 Day, op. cit.,pp. xxxi-xxxvii;Thomas,op.cit.,pIp.53-59.29This article was writtenduring summerofstudyand researchmade possible bya grantfromtheKendallFoundation, orwhich amvery rateful.

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