Sir Gawain: • Arthur’s sister’s son and

one of the most loyal and bravest knights.

• Follows the code of chivalry (humility, piety, honesty, loyalty).

• Practices courtly love. • Failure: loves his life so

much that he will lie to protect it—and breaks the code of chivalry.

Green Knight: • Green from head to toe. • Arrives at Arthur’s court during Christmas festivities. • Physically huge and carries a giant axe. • Says he comes as a friend but wants someone to give

him a blow to the neck which he will return in one year.

• Expects a knight to take up the challenge.

Gawain, as the most chivalrous of the knights, chops off the Green Knight’s head and then is shocked to see the Knight pick up his head and ride off—but not before he reminds Gawain of their bargain. Gawain has been deceived by sorcery but he is honour bound to his agreement.

The next November, Gawain rides off to fulfil the promise. After weeks of travelling through the wet and cold, in North Wales, he comes to a splendid castle and is welcomed by the lord and his lady. They tell him the Green Knight is nearby. In the meantime, he joins them in their Christmas season festivities.

The lord tells him that he is going hunting. He says they must exchange whatever the lord gets on the hunt with what Gawain gets in the castle.

On the first day the lord gets a deer and Gawain a kiss from the lovely and tempting wife of the lord. On the second day the lord gets a boar and Gawain two kisses. On the third day the lord gets a fox and Gawain three kisses. Gawain exchanges all of these with the lord, but does not tell him the lady has also given him a protective girdle, or belt.

On the agreed upon day, Gawain is taken by a servant of the lord to the meeting place. The servant tells him to run away, but Gawain rides on alone. He is determined to accept his fate for the honour of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Gawain has some trouble finding the Green Knight’s chapel, but then discovers that it is a mound in the glade.

The Green Knight acts surprised and pleased to see Gawain. He says he can trust Gawain.

The Green Knight prepares for the blow. Gawain is willing to accept his fate, but he sees the blade coming and flinches. The Knight berates him for his weakness and Gawain says he will not flinch again and he will not be talking once his head has been chopped off—an allusion to the sorcery that has protected the Knight.

Gawain kneels again and the Knight pretends to swing but does not. Gawain does not flinch this time and the Knight decides Gawain is ready.

The Knight swings but only nicks Gawain’s neck. Gawain leaps up and says the Knight has had his only chance. Gawain does not seem to realize that the Knight has chosen to spare his life.

He tells Gawain they are even, but he tells him the nick is punishment for the fact that Gawain has not been honest about telling him his wife has given him the protective green girdle (belt). He criticizes Gawain for trying to deceive him. Gawain’s coat of arms has a pentangle which represents truth, and, ironically, it is this chivalric virtue which Gawain fails. Bertilak had been sent by Morgan le Fay to test Arthur’s knights, and Gawain as their representative, has failed his lord.

The Knight tells Gawain that he is also his host (Lord Bertilak) and that the lady is his wife.

The Knight says though love of life is a more justifiable reason for deceit than lust or greed, even one small sin may lead to others. Gawain is ashamed and gives the belt back to the Knight. He promises that he will try to not fail in virtues again and will “sin less.” The Knight forgives Gawain and rewards him with the belt. He invites him to ring in the new year at his castle.

SYMBOLS AND

THEMES

• In medieval England, the colour GREEN was a pagan representation of nature, associated with the Celtic fairy world.

• The Green Knight is not satanic, but he symbolizes the

nature worship that existed before Christianity. So, he is not evil, but he is also not Christian. And, in deeply pious societies, one is often with them or against them.

• So, a battle between Arthur’s knights and anything associated with pre-Christian paganism is like a battle between “good” and “evil.”

• Also, Arthur’s knights can be seen as Christian “Anglo-Norman” and the Green Knight as pagan, non-Christian “Anglo-Saxon.”

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FIVE

• The pentangle was designed by Solomon as a symbol of fidelity.

• A pentangle is also called an endless knot. • In medieval symbolism, the red represents the

blood of Christ and the gold represents perfection. • Gawain’s five virtues: a. the dexterity of his five fingers b. the perfection of his five senses c. his devotion to the five wounds of Christ d. his reflection on the five joys of Mary in Christ e. his virtues in the five social graces.

The five joys of Mary are also known as The Five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary: They are: a. The Annunciation (the announcement by the

angel Gabriel to Mary that she is with child) b. The Nativity (the birth of Jesus) c. The Resurrection (Jesus rising from the dead) d. The Ascension (Jesus goes to heaven forty days

after the Resurrection) e. The Assumption (taking of Mary to heaven).

The five social graces which Gawain exemplifies above all others are: a. Free giving (generosity) b. Brotherly love (fellowship) c. Chastity d. Pure manners (courtesy) e. Piety (charity)

Gawain faces five challenges: a. He voluntarily confronts the Green Knight b. He must strike a clean blow c. He must keep his promise to meet the

Green Knight in one year and a day d. He must survive the journey to the green

chapel e. He must resist the lady’s temptations.

What is Gawain’s sin? a. Accepting the girdle is not a fault. b. Hiding it is a potential fault. c. His actual withholding of it from Bertilak is

the fall. d. Giving it back to the lady would have erased

the potential fault. e. The real fault, from Gawain’s point of view, is

that the reality of his own mortality causes him to break the endless knot.

f. He acts with cowardice and is covetous. g. Gawain fails the test of bravery and chivalry,

but the Knight forgives him.

• Gawain resolves to wear the girdle forever as a symbol of his failure.

• The other knights of the Round Table decide to wear it as

a symbol of honour. • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight gently criticizes the fact

that chivalry values appearance and symbols over truth.

• The members of the court never reveal their true feelings, and choose to appear beautiful, courteous, and fair-spoken.

• Arthur is described as the “most courteous of all”—people are ranked in the court according to a code of behaviour and good manners.

• The lesson that Gawain learns is that he may be the

most chivalrous knight in all the land, but he is still human and capable of error.

• At a basic level, he is just a human being concerned

with his own life. • Chivalry may be a set of ideals towards which to strive,

but a person must be aware of his or her own mortality and weakness.

Sources: http://www.slideshare.net/mrsabercrombie/notes-sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight-44553989 Google Images.