Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

&Morte d’Arthur

By Sir Thomas Malory

Chivalric Code - 5 aspects

• Brotherly Love

• Generosity

• Courtesy/Honor

• Compassion

• Purity of mind

Romance

• Composed around 1375 - poet unknown– Anonymity could be since Richard II was

disposed by Henry of Lancaster and the poet dismissed from court

– Originally within Cheshire English, poet was probably from the north in Cheshire since Richard’s guards were from North - tradition continued with Pope - Swiss guard

Single Manuscript

• Others may have been destroyed.

• Henry brought in family member - Chaucer to be court poet - 82 copies of Canterbury Tales survive

• 2530 lines

• Alliterative Anglo-Saxon verse

Arthurian Legends

• Written in French– Gawain in English - war with France, gave

nationalism to England

1066 - Battle of Hastings - Norman French Kings - erased Anglo-Saxon

Geoffrey of Monmoth in 1100’s wrote history of England - replaces Alfred the Great with Arthur

Geoffrey of Monmoth

• Works for Normans

• History could be for bringing in foreign values - writing of text to justify the presecne and changes of regime

• Goes all the way back to Brutus and how he settled the land of England - son of Aeneus

Geoffrey continued

• Puts Arthur a Welshman in place of Alfred for Geoffrey was a Welshman himself

Gawain manuscript

• Mostly ignored until 1925 - Tolkien wrote a translation

• Wrote another in 1936 - same year he began work on Lord of the Rings - a lot of ingredients from Sir Gawain work their way into LOTR

Gawain manuscript

• Written during 100 years war - inspire English nationalism and patriotism through being written in English

• Meter going back to Anglo-Saxon turns its back on the French tradition

• Connect to Trojan foundation of England from Monmoth

Celtic elements

• Truly English - not French

• Christmas being offered as an English holiday

• Mythology and supernatural elements of Celtic mythology

• Green Knight - festive and sinister

• Green man of the woods

Tradition

• Green man figure - still in tradition today - Hagrid

• Football - they kick around green knight’s head

• Football at Christmas

Arthurian

• Gawain - Arthur’s nephew – great supporter and protector

• Material for Arthurian legends growing in popularity – Geoffrey of Monmoth gave materials an authenticity

• Gawain was unprecedented among Knights

Why choose Gawain?

• Sir Gawain – Celtic

• Sir Lancelot - French

Story

• Christmas at Camelot – warm inside, dangerous outside

• In bursts Green knight• Challenge – a blow for a blow• Gawain cuts off head – is going to make

himself look good by volunteering and then guarantee he won’t have to receive blow by killing the Green Knight

• Gawain must appear one year later at the Green Chapel to receive his blow

• November 1st he sets out, he travels, Christmas arrives at castle in forest

• Invited to join celebration

• Lord of the castle says they will play a game

• For three days, whatever the Lord gets on his hunt – he will give to Gawain, whatever Gawain gets at castle – he will give to Lord

• Gawain gets kisses from the lady of the castle, the Lord’s wife, gives them to Lord – does not give green sash which she says will protect him

• Confesses his cowardice and deception to Green Knight who it is revealed is the lord of the castle

• Returns to Camelot, tells story, all knights don green sashes

• Lord gives Gawain – Deer, Boar, and Fox – English Nationalism again – the fox hunt

• On the fourth day – Gawain goes to the Green Chapel

• Prepares for the blow and flinches, prepares again, flinches, receives a small graze

Simple symbolism

• Plays with knightly code and chivalrous conditions

• Is Gawain rash or prudent? Cunning? Deceptive? Honest?

• Covenant – honor• Point is to prevail, so is he merely

human?• Is he chaste?

• Symbol of deception becomes a badge of honor

• Arthur – young and frivolous in tale – could be because Richard II was young

• Is deception part of the knightly code?

Deeper symbolism – A good romance

• Descriptions of banquets, castle life, tradition within which the poet is writing

• Classical references – Gawain being armored – Achilles – sets Gawain up as a soldier – beginning poet goes back to settling of England with Brutus – fall of Troy

Color symbolism

• Green Gold– Life sun– Spring light– Renewal warmth– vegetation

Number symbolism

• 3 – hunts• Days• Blows in chapel• Kisses

Symbols

• Coded messages within the text pointing reader towards what he or she is supposed to think

Symbolism of star on shield

• 5 points– Five senses– Five fingers of the warrior’s hand– 5 virtues of a knight– Five joys of Mary– Five wounds of Christ– Poem itself is in five parts

Religious Themes

• Covenant – sense of Gawain mindlessly keeping his bargain

• Why a chapel? Do people normally go to a chapel to be executed?

• Then he confesses – his lack of courage• Wear green sash as a sign, a penance • Old Testament – justice vs. New Testament –

forgiveness, redemption, salvation

Games

• Is the Green Knight taking it seriously?• Games can be entertaining or take an

omenous turn• Games as devices to reveal character

– Did Gawain pass his test?– Did the game reveal flaws in his character?– Did the game expose flaws in the chivalric

code?

Culture

• Written by the winners

• Human values mirrored in Gawain– Resist temptation– Resist temptation to run away– Tests are desire – lust – and fear – death– Reaches across ages

Arthurian legends

• Renewed with each generation

• End of 1400’s – Mallory writes the Morte d’Arthur

• Interlaced quests – follow many adventures and stories woven back and forth – Like LOTR – Tolkien taught Mallory

Chivalric Romance

• Idylls of the King – Lord Tennyson, Victorian

• Camelot – early 1960’s

• 1970s – Monty Python and the Holy Grail – Terry Jones was a medievalist