Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

2. Sir Gawain and the Green Knightis a 14th century alliterative romance in Middle English. • It was bound in a manuscript with three other works, Pearl, Patience and Clanness (cleannes, purity of soul). All four works probably belonged to the same anonymous author.

4. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight begins with a remembrance of how a descendant of Aeneas of Troy founded the first kingdom in Britain. • King Arthur is thus linked to Aeneas by lineage. • At the opening, it is Christmas time in King Arthur’s court and all the knights and ladies of the court enjoy revelries.

5. Then a mysterious knight, all in green, appears and challenges the knights to cut his head with one blow, on the condition that he will return the blow in one year. • Sir Gawain, the best of Arthur’s knights, excepts the challenge and cuts the Green Knight’s head in a single blow. • The Green Knight picks up his head, reminds Sir Gawain of his oath, and disappears.

6. A year later, again at Christmas time, Sir Gawain starts his journey to find the Green Knight and fulfill his promise. • On his shield he has a pentangle, a Christian and chivalric symbol.

7. The pentangle indicates, as a Christian symbol, the five wounds of Christ and five virtues of Virgin Mary. These are also the chivalric virtues: • Fellowship • Frankness • Courtesy • Cleanness • Pity

8. Journeying north to find the Green Knight, Sir Gawain arrives at the castle of Sir Bertilak de Hautdesert and his beautiful wife, and becomes his guest. • Sir Bertilak proposes as a game that, as long as Sir Gawain is his guest, every evening they exhange what they earn during the day. • The first day, Sir Bertilak hunts and offers his guest a deer. Sir Gawain is kissed by Sir Bertilak’s wife, and in the evening he kisses Sir Bertilak to keep his promise.

9. On the third day, however, Sir Bertilak’s Wife not only kisses Sir Gawain three times, but also gives him a green girdle that has magic qualities. She claims that the girdle protects the wearer from blows of weapons. • In the evening Sir Gawain gives Bertilak the kisses, but not the girdle. • Next day, wearing the girdle, Sir Gawain rides off to the Green Chapel to meet the Green Knight.

10. Sir Gawain finds the Green Knight, who is sharpening his axe. He swings the axe three times, but only the last time he wounds Sir Gawain slightly on the neck. • Then the Green Knight explains that he is Sir Bertilak. By failing to keep his promise on the third day, when he did not give the girdle to Sir Bertilak, Sir Gawain failed in knightly honour, thus was slightly wounded by Sir Bertilak on the third swing. • Sir Gawain returns to Arthur’s court and tells the story of his embarrasment.

11. Arthur declares that Sir Gawain is his best knight, so all the knights of the round table will from then on wear a green garter, with the motto: “Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense “ ("shame upon him who thinks evil of it" ) is the motto written on the insignia of the Order of Garter, a chivalric order.