Sir gawain and the green knight –the literature• author

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight –
The Literature

• Author: Unknown

• The Pearl Poet

• The Gawain Poet

• Written in 14th Century

Major Characters

• Sir Gawain – the story’s
protagonist.

• A loyal knight to King
Arthur, as well as his
nephew.

• Gawain goes on his quest
to meet the Green Knight
in order to uphold his
knightly values.

Major Characters – The Green Knight

• Green Knight

• Sir Gawain’s main opposition in
the story.

• He is a richly decorated knight,
who has green skin and hair.

Major Characters – King Arthur

• King Arthur

• The king of Camelot.

• Uncle of Sir Gawain.

• It is at his celebration feast that
the Green Knight challenges
the court to a game.

Minor Characters

• Bertilak’s Wife

• – During the competition
between Gawain and her
husband, she tests Gawain’s
integrity and honesty

• Morgan le Faye (The old lady)

• Powerful sorceress trained by
Merlin. Assists Lady Bertilak in

testing Gawain

• Guinevere

• King Arthur’s wife and Queen.
Seated next to Gawain during
the court’s feast.

Settings - Camelot

• The holiday celebrations take
place at King Arthur’s castle in
Camelot.

• It is here that the Green
Knight challenges Gawain to
exchanges blows with him.

Settings – Bertilak’s
Home

On his quest to meet the
Green Knight, Gawain
stays here for a short
period of time.

Settings – The Green
Chapel

The supposed home of

the Green Knight.

Gawain is sent here to
keep his end of the
bargain which he made
with the Green Knight at
Arthur’s holiday
celebration a year prior.

Anticipation Guide

1. Men often act macho to try to impress women.
2. Women are impressed when men act macho.
3. There are many double standards in society regarding men
and women.
4. Women should be treated equally to men in all aspects of
life.
5. The expectations for the ability of women should be equal to
that of men

in every career.
6. Chivalry is dead.
7. If a married man/woman is unhappy he/she should seek
companionship

elsewhere.
8. The lives of kings are worth more than the lives of peasants.
9. Most people try to live their lives by proper morals and
virtues.
10. It is worth it to die to save one’s honor.

Major Conflict

• Gawain’s struggle to decide between his duties as a knight and
the worth of his own life

Rising Action

• Gawain accepts the Green Knight’s challenge and cuts off his
head.

• The Green Knight survives the blow and Gawain is then
required
to maintain his half of the challenge.

Climax

• Gawain meets the Green Knight at the Green Chapel.

• After taking his first two swings, the Green Knight nicks
Gawain
on his third swing, only slightly cutting his neck.

Falling Action

• Confession

• Shame and mortification

• Statement of Sin: Gawain admits cowardice, covetousness, and
untruth

• Request for penance

Examples of the Code of Chivalry

• Thou shalt defend the Church.

• Thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt constitute thyself
the defender of them.

• Live to serve King and Country.

• Live to defend Crown and Country and all it holds dear.

• Live one's life so that it is worthy of respect and honor.

• Live for freedom, justice and all that is good.

• Never attack an unarmed foe.

Examples from the Laws of Courtly Love

• Thou shalt avoid avarice like the deadly pestilence and shalt
embrace its opposite.

• Thou shalt keep thyself chaste for the sake of her whom thou
lovest.

• Boys do not love until they reach the age of maturity.

• When one lover dies, a widowhood of two years is required of
the survivor.

• No one should be deprived of love without the very best of
reasons.

• No one can love unless he is propelled by the persuasion of
love.

Motif

-a motif is the recurrence of an object, concept or idea within a
piece of literature.

-one of the largest motifs presented in Sir Gawain is the use of
color…how is this true?

Symbolism

• In medieval symbology, red signifies
humility as the blood of Christ

• Gold signifies perfection.
• Gawain’s shield – a tool of protection
• Green – symbolizes fertility and

rebirth
• Axe – a symbol of execution
• Holly bob – associated with death and

ghosts
• An analysis of “Sir Gawain and the

Green Knight” indicates that symbols
are prevalent in the poem and the

Gawain-poet intended to use these
symbols as tools of hidden meanings.

• The Pentangle – five-pointed star, a
symbol of truth, virtues, and value

• The green girdle – represents
cowardice and excessive love of a
mortal life.

• The green girdle is also a symbol
paralleling the crown of thorns that
was worn by Jesus during crucifixion.

• Most of the symbols in this story
dwell on the subjects of death,
human triumph, defeat, temptation,
and honor.

Gold Spurs?

• Immediately upon
reading/hearing these lines
about the Green Knight who has
burst into Arthur’s Christmas
festivities, wearing gold spurs,
the audience would know that
he was a guy not to be messed
with.

• He was got up in green from
head to heel:
a tunic worn tight, tucked to his
ribs;

and a rich cloak cast over it,
covered inside with a fine fur
lining, fitted and sewn
with ermine trim that stood out
in contrast from his hair where
his hood lay folded flat;
and handsome hose of the
same green hue which clung to
his calves, with clustered spurs
of bright gold; (ll. 151-55)

Why the Green Knight?

• In medieval England, the “Green
Man” was a pagan
representation of nature. The
“Green Man” was not Satanic
but did symbolize the nature
worship that characterized pre-
Christian tribal paganism.

• The “Green Man” is not evil but

between any of Arthur’s knights
and any creature reminiscent of
Britain’s pagan past is, by
extension, a battle between
“good” and “evil” – or between
the Christian piety of Arthur’s
knights and their tribal, non-
Christian predecessors.

Sir Gawain’s Shield

• In the poem, Gawain’s shield
is very clearly described as a
golden pentangle on a field of
red.

• The pentangle, the poem
goes on to tell us, represents
Gawain’s Five Fifths.

•
The pentangle is also called
the “endless knot.”

“Five-Fifths”

• Gawain was said to possess five
qualities – one for each of the
pentangle’s points – wherein he
far excelled all other knights.

• The first of these “Five Fifths”
was his faultlessness in his
five senses.

• The next (second) of these
“Five Fifths” was his
faultlessness in his five
fingers.

“Five-Fifths” Continued

• The next (third) of these “Five
Fifths” was the strength Gawain
drew from his devotion to the
“Five wounds of Christ.”

1.One through each of his hands
or wrists

2.One through each of his feet

3.The final wound in the side of
Christ

More on the “Five-Fifths”

• The last of these “Five Fifths” was Gawain’s well-known
practice
of the “five social graces.”

• The five social graces which Gawain exemplifies above all
others are:

1.free-giving (generosity)

2.brotherly love

3.chastity

4.pure manners (courtesie)

5.piety

Gawain Faced Five Challenges

1.to voluntarily confront the Green Knight

2.to strike his blow properly

3.to keep his vow to meet the Green Knight in a year and a day.

4.to survive journey to the green chapel

5.to resist the lady’s temptations

Gawain’s Fifth Challenge

• The FIFTH TEST are the temptations and the three gifts; it
tests
especially the fifth point of the pentangle, the social virtues.

• Gawain fails: his acceptance of the girdle is not a fault; his
hiding of it is a potential fault; his actual withholding of it from
Bertilak is his fall.

• Had he given it back to the lady, he would have erased his
potential fault.

• The real fault, from Gawain's point of view, is that the reality
of
his own mortality induces him to break the endless knot.

• Thus two effects of original sin are reasserted: cowardice
(bodily mortality) and covetousness (willful cupidity).

• His nature as a man is asserting itself against his nature as a

knight.

Chastity? Piety? Respect for the
King?

• Gawain knows that he is
facing certain death – and
SOON – when he finally
confronts the Green Knight
and accepts his half of the
bargain.

• Why would he still adhere to
courtesie and resist the
Lady’s temptation?

What’s Next?

Read the literature, take notes,
and prepare for the essay
exam.

1

Canterbury Tales

(c. 12th century)

What do I need to read?

“The Canterbury Tales General Prologue”

“The Miller’s Prologue and Tale”

“The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale”

“The Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale”

Who is the author?

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 1400). Called the Father of the
English Language as well

as the Morning Star of Song, Geoffrey Chaucer, after six
centuries, has retained

his status as one of the three or four greatest English poets. He
was first to

commit to lines of universal and enduring appeal a vivid
interest in nature, books,

and people.

As many-sided as Shakespeare, he did for English narrative
what Shakespeare did

for drama. If he lacks the profundity of Shakespeare, he excels
in playfulness of

2

mood and simplicity of expression. Though his language often
seems quaint, he was

essentially modern. Familiarity with the language and with the
literature of his

contemporaries persuades the most skeptical that he is nearer to
the present than

many writers born long after he died.

---Courtesy of Compton’s Learning Company

Background Lecture

Chaucer’s father, an influential wine merchant, was able to
secure Geoffrey a

position as a page in a household connected to King Edward III.
Chaucer’s duties as

a page were humble, but they allowed him the opportunity to
view the ruling

aristocracy, thus broadening his knowledge of the various
classes of society. While

serving in the English army, Chaucer was captured and held
prisoner in France.

After his release, he held a number of government positions.

While in his twenties, Chaucer began writing poetry, and he
continued to write

throughout his life. Over the years, his writing showed
increasing sophistication

and depth, and it is recognized as presenting penetrating
insights into human

character. In The Canterbury Tales, critics say that the author
shows an absolute

mastery of the art of storytelling.

The Canterbury Tales are also said to present “a cavalcade of
fourteenth-century

English life” because on this pilgrimage to Canterbury the
reader gets to meet a

cross-section of the people from Chaucer’s time.

Canterbury, located about fifty miles southeast of London, was
a favorite

destination for pilgrims. In fact, Chaucer himself made a
pilgrimage there. While

he did not set out on the pilgrimage looking for material to use
in his writing, he

was so impressed by the mix of company that he had met at the
Tabard Inn that

he was inspired to write what was to become his masterpiece.

3

Selected Canterbury Tales Terms and Definitions

Allegory - a story that represents abstract ideas or moral
qualities. As such, an

allegory has both a literal level and a symbolic level of
meaning. Example: Gulliver’s

Travels.

Allusion - a reference to a person, place, poem, book, or movie
outside of the story

that the author expects the reader will recognize.

Fable - a story that presents a moral or practical lesson.
Generally, there are

talking animals in fables. Example: Aesop’s Fables.

Hyperbole - exaggeration for emphasis; overstatement.
Example: I’ve told you a

million times to…

Irony - a subtle, sometimes humorous perception of
inconsistency in which the

significance of a statement or event is changed by its content.
For example: the

firehouse burned down.

Litotes – a conscious understatement that achieves the opposite
effect of the

statement itself. Example: I like money a little.

Satire – using humor to ridicule. Example: Animal Farm

Structure of The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales is a “frame story”; it includes within it
other stories. The

frame in this case is the story of a pilgrimage to Canterbury
made by twenty-nine

pilgrims. Within the frame are twenty-four individual stories
told by the pilgrims.

The stories told by the pilgrims are familiar tales, but here they
are retold in a

brilliant fashion by most impressive storytellers.

The pilgrims themselves are described in the Prologue to the
tales. In the

Prologue, we see that the personality of each pilgrim is unique
but that the

character traits they exhibit are universal. People from three
main segments of

medieval society are brought together through the vehicle of the
pilgrimage:

church people, nobility, and common people and/or tradesmen.

4

The General Prologue

Setting: The story opens at the Tabard Inn in Southwark is a
town fourteen miles

from London where pilgrims meet to begin the journey to
Canterbury. It has been a

long winter, but spring has arrived so it is time to make a
religious pilgrimage.

While the trip has a religious shrine as its destination, the
pilgrimage will not be

without its social aspects.

Note: Keep in mind that in Medieval times the Catholic Church,
which was for all

practical purposes the only religion in Europe prior to the
Reformation, played an

important part in everyone’s life. Daily life could be terribly
hard, and sometimes

all that would make it bearable was the thought of a pleasant
afterlife with God in

heaven. Consequently, after the king and the nobility, the
church was the third

most powerful institution in this society.

As we will see in The Prologue, within the church there is a
social hierarchy of

roles and positions. Thus, for example, we will see that the
monk obviously comes

from a higher social class than the Pardoner.

5

The Miller’s Prologue and Tale

Allusions to the Bible

The Noah referred to in the tale is from the Biblical story of
Noah and the Ark in

which Noah, informed by God of the coming of a great flood,
builds an ark and

thereby saves his family while everyone else perishes.

Concepts Familiar to Chaucer’s Readers

May/December Weddings. This is the marriage of an older,
often rich but foolish

man to a very young and pretty wife. In stories, the older man
usually winds up a

cuckold and it is thought by readers that he gets what he
deserves for being so

foolish as to get married to someone much younger than he.

Cuckold: This word is used both as a noun and a verb. In stories
the husband is

cuckolded or is made the cuckold when someone else has a
sexual relationship with

his wife.

The cuckolded husband is the target of much comic ridicule in
the stories from the

Middle Ages and centuries afterwards. During this time it was
the belief that

older people should marry older, not younger people; thus the
May/December

Wedding violates the natural order of things.

6

The setting for The Miller’s Tale is Oxford, England, at the
time the story is being

told.

Genre: A fabliau (pl., "fabliaux"), a French invention that
depicts bourgeois

characters in satirical or openly comic plots involving unlikely
and complex

deceptions, usually concerning sex and/or money. There are
considerably more

fabliaux in French than in English, and Chaucer’s are by far the
most sophisticated

in Middle English because they often combine elements of
several fabliaux into one

tightly structured plot. Critics are divided on the issue of
whether the fabliaux

were intended for noble audiences because the tales made the
bourgeois look so

bad, or were intended for the bourgeois, themselves, indicating
that they had a

strong appetite for seeing themselves satirized in literature. The
middle ground

seems to be that they could work for a mixed audience which
might include worldly

nobles (excluding those given to extreme religious devotion, of
course!) as well as

broad-minded and self-confident men and women of the city.

7

Characters:

• Nicholas, a clerk or student at Oxford who has spent more on
his "sound

system" and on parties than he has on his studies—we know the
type.

• John, the "townie" carpenter, whose trade has made him
wealthy enough to

own a house big enough that he might rent rooms to the clerk,

as well as

dressing his young wife in the most outrageously expensive
clothing she

could desire.

• Alison, the carpenter’s "townie" wife, overflowing with
energy and taking

life’s challenges as comedy whereas John, older by far, is ready
to see

tragedy.

• Absolon, a clerk, possibly also an Oxford graduate, who now
serves the

priest in the cathedral but who, like Nicholas, is far more
interested in

dressing well and pursuing the ladies of the town.

• Gervase, the smith, a somewhat enigmatic figure who supplies
a key tool for

Absolon's revenge--he works at his hot forge in the cool of the
night and,

apart from lovers, is apparently the only one awake until the
cries of "Out

harrow!" summon the townsfolk in an informal posse.

8

The Wife of Bath’s Prologue
and Tale

Sources: This tale is a satire in the form of a fairy tale. It is a
twist on an old folk

tale which shows up in one of the Arthurian romances about Sir
Gawain. The tale is

a parody of an “exemplum”, a moral tale that was used by
preachers to show people

how they should act.

The Battle of the Sexes To understand Dame Alice, you have to
understand, as

the pilgrims did, the place of women in Medieval society. At
this period of time,

women were little more than their husband’s property, and they
had few legal

rights of their own. To cope in this situation, the only weapon a
wife had was the

granting or withholding of sexual favors.

Even here, however, the Church’s teaching on sex, which was
that sex was only for

procreation and everything else was lust, could diminish a
woman’s chances of

successfully fighting back. In this context, the Battle of the
Sexes may not be a

fight to see who will dominate in a marriage so much as the
fight of a women to

establish herself as a person with equal rights. As you listen to
Dame Alice of Bath

in the prologue and in the tale she tells, keep in mind this socio-
historical context.

You will also note that sex and bodily functions were talked
about in mixed company

quite openly in this period.

9

Audio File: Click on the link to listen to the Wife of Bath’s
General Prologue read to

you in Middle English.

Genre: The prologue might be called a fictional autobiography,
a confession, a

mock sermon or an apologia (L., defense). Persuasive as
Chaucer’s Wife’s voice may

be, however, do not mistake it for true autobiography.
Chaucer’s immediate source

for many of the opinions and strategies described in the
prologue are two

characters from the Roman de la Rose (by Guillaume de Lorris,
1237, and Jean de

Meun, 1275): La Vieille (the Old Woman) and Le Jealoux (the
Jealous One). He also

draws upon the vast literature of anti-feminist theologians to
characterize the

views of her husbands, especially Jankyn.

Characters: a rapist knight (unnamed), Arthur’s queen
(unnamed), and the "loathly

lady" (unnamed) he meets on his quest.

http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/wifeport.htm

10

The Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale

The Pardoner will offer a sermon as a performance, part of a
process-analysis

under the rubric "present company excepted" in which he takes
the pilgrims into

his confidence. He claims that although his theme is always
"Radix malorum est

Cupiditas" (greed is the root of evils), he nevertheless,
ironically, is obsessed with

appropriating money (like the Wife's obsession with authority
and the book), and

doesn't care about the remission of sins. He explains how he
uses his position to

manipulate "lewed peple". Without his usual audience, the
soliloquy is self-

destructive, and maybe self-hypnotic.

Aware of his isolation, the Pardoner's attempts to rejoin society
are misguided,

partly due to his insensitivity. He attempts to join here by
proving his superiority.

He has to be intellectual to survive, but this may have turned
into egomania. He

scorns his usual low-class audience and thinks this more
educated group will share

his opinion. So it's a demonstration of his typical con -- how he
manages to survive

and manipulate audiences, but it involves his moving back and
forth between

apparent audiences.

The Pardoner’s purpose is to save souls; however, he does
everything he can to earn

money. The irony is that the Pardoner is very guilty of the sin
of avarice himself.

11

He uses ways of getting people to repent from avarice as a
means for acquiring

more money for the church.

The archetype behind the Pardoner is Faus Semblant (False-
Seeming) "a

professional hypocrite who pretends to holiness that he
possesses not at all.

Chaucer's Pardoner sermonizes in a confessional of self-
destruction. He's

dreadful, vital, and fascinating. For us, he's his own worst
enemy.

Genre: The prologue may be a "literary confession" or "Vice's
confession," like the

"Wife of Bath's Prologue" in some interpretations but with
absolutely no ambiguity

about the speaker's viciousness, despite his cheerful demeanor.
The tale, itself, is

a "novelle" or short story of a type often used in sermon
exempla. The old man who

directs the young men to their doom is variously interpreted as
everything from

Jesus, the Devil, God's mercy, and the Wandering Jew.

Characters: The Pardoner and his victims, in his Prologue's
delirious self-

dramatization of his ruthless frauds; three riotous young men,
their deceased

buddy, a young "knave" who knows how to tell a story, an old
man who cannot die,

and "a privee theef men clepeth Deeth / That in this contree al
the peple sleeth"

(VI.675-6).

Tale:

The tale is an exemplum on avarice. (Exempla are stories that
illustrate a theme in

preaching, usually found in collections.) The setting is dramatic
this time, taking

place in a tavern to set the innate hypocrisy here. Although
avarice is the focus,

the Pardoner includes drunkenness, gluttony, swearing,
gambling, and maybe other

sins; his choices probably depend on which sins can be made to
sound most exciting.

The Pardoner has a detailed knowledge of low life. He does not
euphemize sin: it's

truly nasty here. He seems to have control over the sequencing
of the other sins

he incorporates too. But is he talking about gluttony? Or
something else?

O wombe! O bely! O stynkyng cod,

Fulfilled of dong and of corrupcioun!

At either ende of thee foul is the soun.

12

How greet labour and cost is thee to fynde!

Thise cookes, how they stampe, and streyne, and grynde,

And turnen substaunce into accident

To fulfille al thy likerous talent!

Out of the harde bones knokke they

The mary, for they caste noght awey

That may go thurgh the golet softe and swoote.

Of spicerie of leef, and bark, and roote

Shal been his sauce ymaked by delit,

To make hym yet a newer appetit.

(The Pardoner’s Tale – from www.librarius.com, lines 534-546)

13

Epilogue:

There's no formal separation from the tale here, since the
Pardoner goes right

into further self-parody? or more of the con? Is he still
addressing his usual

church audience? The abrupt shift is disorienting.

The fake relics function as an extension of the Pardoner
himself. Is he selling

relics as a misguided way to include himself? Is he drunk? Was
this all a game and

he misjudged that the audience was laughing with him all
along? Does he despise

this audience too?

Whom is the joke against? Against the Host to ingratiate
himself to the others?

Whatever his reasons -- avarice, good-fellowship, humor -- he
concludes his sermon

with an offer to sell his pardon to the pilgrims even after all he
has told about his

own fraudulence. Ironically he picks the worst possible victim,
that rough, manly

man who might be supposed to have a natural antipathy for the
unmasculine

Pardoner.

The Host misreacts. It's a disaster and a bad call on the
Pardoner's part when the

Host is pulled in against his will. The Host offers an angry
reaction, not at all joking

now, metaphorically cutting off the Pardoner's tongue. The

Pardoner never reacts

and is effectively shut up; we won't hear from him again. The
pilgrims laugh --

nervously? They're reacting to what? The Knight levels out the
social surface and

the tensions are diffused with a kiss of friendship.

14

What do I need to know?
1. Explain how The Canterbury Tales is a profile of fourteenth
century life.

Use specific examples from the text.

2. Characterize Chaucer’s treatment of women in The
Canterbury Tales. Use

specific examples from the text.

3. Choose any two characters from any tales we read and tell
how they are

alike/different.

4. How do the tales reflect life in the 1300s?

5. Explain the importance of the character of Harry Bailly.

6. Describe the portrait of the clergy as painted by Chaucer in
The Canterbury

Tales. Was it an accurate picture?

SIR GAWAIN

AND THE GREEN KNIGHT

A NEW VERSE TRANSLATION

W. W. NORTON & COMPANY, INC.
also publishes

THE NORTON ANTHOLOGY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
edited by M. H. Abrams et al.

THE NORTON ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY
edited by Arthur M. Eastman et al.

WORLD MASTERPIECES
edited by Maynard Mack et al.

THE NORTON READER
edited by Arthur M. Eastman et al.

THE NORTON FACSIMILE OF

THE FIRST FOLIO OF SHAKESPEARE
prepared by Charlton Hinman

and the NORTON CRITICAL EDITIONS

SIR GAWAIN
AND THE GREEN KNIGHT

A NEW VERSE TRANSLATION

by
MARIE BORROFF

YALE UNIVERSITY

W · W · NORTON & COMPANY · INC · New York

COPYRIGHT @ 1967 BY W. W. NORTON & COMPANY, INC.

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 67·16601

All Rights Reserved

Published simultaneously in Canada by

George J. McLeod Limited, Toronto

ISBN 0 393 04220 0 Cloth Edition
ISBN 0 393 097 54 4 Paper Edition

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Contents

Introduction

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

The Metrical Form

Reading Suggestions

VII

Introduction

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in its original Middle English
form, is recognized as a literary work of the highest quality. Yet
it
has been known to us for only a hundred years, and it remains
largely inaccessible to the nonspecialist because of the

difficulty of
its language, a language far more remote from the English of
the
present than that of Geoffrey Chaucer's London.

Gawain first turns up in modern history in a manuscript belong
ing to the library of the great an tiquarian of Elizabethan times,
Sir
Robert Cotton. Cotton, in turn, seems to have obtained the
manu
script from a library in Yorkshire; this is not surprising, for the
Gawain poet must have lived somewhere in the Midlands of
England,
probably near present-day Stafford. He was a contemporary of
Chaucer's, but there is little likelihood that Chaucer ever heard
of
him or knew his works.

The single manuscript in which Gawain is found contains three
other poems generally considered to be the work of the Gawain
poet. Two of these, called Patience and Purity, are written in the
same alliterative verse-form as Gawain; the third, called Pearl,
is in
an elaborate rhymed stanza. Patience tells the story of Jonah
and the
whale, moralized as a lesson in submission to God's will; Purity
is
a loosely organized series of stories from the Bible and
reflections
on the virtue ( "cleanness" in the Middle English) which its title
denotes. Pearl is a dream-vision in which the narrator, stricken
by
the loss of the daughter that had been his pearl of great price
and
willfully rebellious against the faith he intellectually accepts, is
led

by the Pearl-maiden to a state of comparative reconciliation.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an Arthurian romance; the
plot of the poem, with its elements of the supernatural and of
amorous in trigue, reflects both in its main outlines and in the
handling of its descriptive details the treatment that the
originally
Celtic Arthurian legends had recei,·ed at the hands of such
medieval French poets as Chretien de Troyes. As a late
fourteenth
century poem, Gawain is a product of the end of the Middle
Ages.
The ideal of knightly conduct-of courage, loyalty, and courtesy
against which the poem's action is to be viewed was a long-
estab
lished, though still viable, ideal, which had become subject to
super
ficial acceptance and even satirical treatment. It may
legitimately be
compared to the Boy Scout ideal of conduct, similarly viable
and

vii

viii Introduction

similarly subject to ridicule, in our century.
The main story elements of which the plot of Gawain is com

posed derive ultimately from folklore, but the poet himself
prob
ably encountered them in French or Latin literary versions, and
he
was surely the first to combine them. The opening action of the

poem retells the story of the "Beheading Game" ( traditionally
so
called ) , in which an unknown challenger proposes that one of
a
group of warriors volunteer to cut off his head, the stroke to be
repa id in kind at some future date; the hero accepts this
challenge,
and at the crucial moment of reprisal is spared and praised for
his
courage. Later action incorporates the "Temptation S tory," in
which
an attractive woman attempts to seduce a man under
circumstances
in which he is bound to resist her, and the "Exchange of Win
nings," in which two men agree to exchange what each has ac
quired during a set period of time. In the plot of Gawain these
three
stories are intricately linke d : the hero, having contracted to
accept
a presumably mortal return stroke from the Green Knight's ax,
sets
out to meet him, as instructed, at the Green Chapel on New
Year's
Day. lie is unable to find out where the Green Chapel is;
instead,
he comes upon a magnificent castle where he is sumptuously
enter
tained, and later induced by his host to enter on an agreemen t
to
exchange winnings at the end of each of three successive days.
The
host's beautiful wife visits his bedchamber on each of the three
mornings and makes amorous overtures toward him; he finally
ac
cepts from her, and conceals, a green girdle said to have the
power

of making its wearer invulnerable. All these plots are resolved
at
once in the last part of the poem as Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight meet once more. \Vhen the poem ends, the most honored
knight in the world, famed alike as a courageous warrior and a
courteous lover, is proved fallible. His faulty act includes
cowardice,
since it was brought about by fear of death; covetousness, since
it
involved the desire to possess a valuable object; and treachery,
since
it resulted in a breach of faith with the host whose liegeman
Gawain
had sworn himself to be. To these shortcomings the poet
amusingly
adds a breach of courtesy as he makes this world-famed lover of
women lapse momentarily into the sort of antifeminist tirade
that
was familiar to the medieval audience.

The Gawain poet, a master of juxtapositions, has constructed
from
these separable story clements a whole far greater than the sum
of
its parts. The castle in which Sir Gawain is entertained is
vividly
real; its architecture is in the latest continental style, its court is
elegant and gay; its comfortable accommodations and
sumptuous
fare arc as welcome as those of a modern luxury hotel. Yet it is
also
the mysterious castle that has appeared out of nowhere, shining
and
shimmering like a mirage, in direct response to Gawain's prayer
to

Introduction ix

the Virgin on Christmas Eve, and it is a way-station on the road
to
certain death. This shadow hangs over the Christmas festivities,
into
whose blithe spirit the knight enters as fully as courtesy obliges
him
to do, and over the high comedy of the bedchamber scenes, in
which
he must not only refuse the lady's advances, but must manage to
do
so without insulting her. There is a profound psychological
truth
in the fact that he passes all these tests successfully and at the
same
time fails the most important one of all: the most dangerous
temp
tation is that which presents itself unexpectedly, as a side issue,
while we are busy resisting another. Gawain accepts the belt
because
he recognizes in it a marvelously appropriate device for evading
imminent danger, "a jewel for his jeopardy." At the same time,
his
act may well seem a way of granting the importunate lady a
final
fa,·or while evading her amorous invitation. Its full meaning as
a
cowardly, and hence covetous, grasping at life is revealed to
him
only later, and with stunning force.

To all this the poet has added three magnificently depicted
hunt

ing scenes in which the host, on the three successive days of
Gawain's temptation, pursues the deer, the boar, and the fox. It
is
obvious that these episodes arc thematic parallels with the bed
chamber scenes, where Gawain is on the defensive and the lady
figures as an entrapping huntress, and the relation between the
final
hunt of the fox and Gawain's ill-fated ruse in concealing the
belt is
equally apparent. These values arc, as it were, inherent in the
very
presence of the three hunts in the poem, but the poet has also,
by
his handling of them, added to the dramatic effect of the
successive
episodes of the narrative. Each hunt is divided in two, enclosing
the
bedchamber scene of that day like the two halves of a pod. As
each
one opens, it presents a picture of vigorous, unhampered, and
joy
ous activity, with the host as the central figure dominating the
ac
tion. From each of these openings we move suddenly to the bed
surrounded by curtains, where noise is hushed and space is
confined.
:\'othing could more enhance our sympathetic identification
with
the hero, whose scope of action is as hedged about morally and
socially as it is physically. Each encounter between knight and
lady
is followed by the conclusion of the corresponding hunt, scenes
of
carnage and ceremonial butchery which come with all the logic
of
a violent dream after dutiful constraints.

The "meaning" of the hunting scenes, finally, must be judged in
terms of our experience of them, an experience in which
perhaps
the most salient quality is that of sheer deligh t : the joy
inherent in
physical sport at its best, when a demanding physical activity is
carried on with skill, in fine weather, among loyal companions.
This
joy, though innocent, is of the body, bringing into play that
aspect
of man in which he is one with all animals. The narrator's keen

x Introduction

sense of this joy is a part of his love of the physical world, a
love
manifest also in his knowledge of and delight in "all trades,
their
gear and tackle and trim," and in that sympathy with animals
which
leads him to adopt sympathetically the point of view of the
hunted
creatures and to imagine the suffering inflicted by wind and
sleet
upon the wild things of the forest. Insofar as we arc made to
share
this attitude we are placed on the side of mortality itself, and
can
thus, with the Green Knight, forgive Gawain for his single act
of
cowardice : what he did was done not out of sensual lust but for
love
of life-"the less, then, to blame." In the context of this

affectionate
sympathy, Gawain's own violent anger at the revelation of his
fault
must itself be viewed with amusement, as part of his human
fallibility.
Yet the underlying moral is serious; the pride implicit in
accepting
one's own reputation has been humbled; the lesson Gawain has
been
taught applies a fortiori to the court of which he is the most
honored
representative and, by further extension, to all men.

The style of the poem is as traditional as the story elements
mak
ing up its plot, to a degree that creates disconcerting problems
for
the translator. \Vhercas the contemporary reader looks to the
con
temporary poet for verbal originality and innovation, the
medieval
audience was accustomed to a poetry made up of traditional for
mulas, a diction and phraseology whose effectiveness resided in
time
honored familiarity rather than the capacity to startle. And
whereas
+he contemporary poet tends to avoid the overt expression of
emo
tions and moral judgments, the stylistic tradition represented by
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight calls for the frequent use of
such
explicitly qualitative adjectives as noble, worthy, lovely,
courteous,
and-perhaps most frequent of ali-good. These adjectives may be
used frequently and freely because, within the traditional world
por

trayed in this poetic style, knights are inevitably noble and
worthy,
ladies lovely, servants courteous, and indeed everything, aside
from
monsters and villainous churls, ideally good.

The formulaic style of Gawain cannot be discussed apart from
the alliterative verse-form in which it is composed, a form
which
has fallen into disuse since the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries,
although the language today lends itself equally well to its
require
ments. The alliterative tradition in Middle English is descended,
with gradual modification reflecting changes in the language i
tself,
from the alliterative tradition in Old English poetry, and this in
turn is a Germanic heritage, going back to a very early body of
heroic legends recited in verse while the people of the Germanic
nation was still a single cultural entity in northwest Europe. The
presence of a large stock of alliterating formulas in modern
English,
expressions like "good as gold," "the lay of the land," "the
worse
for wear," "to look to one's laurels," is surely connected 'in
some way

with this lost poetic inheritance.

Introduction xi

As its name implies, the alliterating line is based on
combinations
of words (basically three in each line, but see the Appendix, pp.

55
ff. ) beginning with the same letter. Since the traditional style
in
which alliterative poetry was composed was originally
developed for
the recounting of heroic legends, its word-stock includes
numerous
synonyms expressing such meanings, important for this subject
mat
ter, as "hero," "steed," "sword," "chieftain," and "battle," as
well
as qualitative adjectives having such meanings as "bold,"
"strong,"
and "resolute." As the alliterative style came to be used to treat
the
subject matter of the Romances, new groups of words were
added,
nouns for reference to ladies and adjectives meaning
"beautiful,"
"gracious," "courteous," "gay." There were also numerous verbs
to
denote such important actions as riding, looking, and speaking.
Since each word in a given group began with a different letter,
the
stock vocabulary, as well as the traditional phrases, constituted
an
important technical resource in the hands ofihe accomplished
poet.
\Ve can view the Gawain poet, for example, as solving the
problem
of combining two nonallitcrating nouns by using an alliterating
adjective, as when he speaks of "a shield and a sharp spear" (
269),
or "the girdle of green silk" ( 203 5).

The style of alliterative poetry is in its origins a style in which

the narrator, as he tells a known story, distributes praise and
blame
to their appropriate recipien ts. In the oldest heroic poetry, the
func
tions of narrator and historian are combined, and both narrator
and
historian confirm the virtues and preserve in the memory of the
people the valorous feats of "our mm." Ethical values are
unques
tioned and the tone is solemn . But Gawain is a poem composed
late in the tradition of the chivalric romance, and it is a poem of
the highest moral, as well as social, sophistication, in which
both
courage and courtesy arc subject to test. The narrator's
traditional
role has not altered outwardly; he applies in the time-honored
way
the time-honored words of praise. lie is thus literally the
spokesman
for the reputation of the knights of King Arthur's court, the
repu
tation which has drawn the Green Knight to Camelot. But arc
their
virtues literary or real? Though the narrator's manner :is
dignified
and reassuring, the story he has to tell is not, and behind his un
failing poli teness we feel that he is richly conscious of the
degree of
humiliation inflicted upon the assembled court by its
obstreperous
visitor, of Gawain's exquisite physical and social unease as he
chats
with the lovely lady sitting on the side of his bed. Again, is
Gawain
a storybook lover or is he capable of dealing adequately with
the

real thing? The lady continually and disconcertingly suggests
that
he is the former. In the mouth of the narrator of Sir Gawain and
the Green Knight, the stock words and phrases become
implements

xii Introduction

in the production of an effect that is difficult to describe,
though
easy to feel; they may take on a hollow sound or a ttract
insidiously
inappropriate meanings, as when the adjective stiff, which had
in
Middle English the poetic meaning "resolute" as well as its most
usual modern meaning, is applied to the young King Arthur as
he
boyishly insists on waiting until he has seen a marvel before he
joins the feast. (I have tried to produce something of the same
effect
by using the equally ambiguous word stout.)

It has seemed to me that a modern verse-translation of Sir
Gawain
and the Green Knight must fulfill certain requirements deriving
from the na ture of the original style. First, it must so far as
possible
preserve the formulaic character of the language. This not infre
quently involves repetition of wording within the poem itself;
for
example, the poet uses the same phrase in describing the
original
entrance and exit of the Green Knight, and the translator ought
to

do the same; the poem opens and closes with much the same
word
ing; there are verbal reminiscences of the original beheading
scene
in the episode at the Green Chapel, and so on. B ut beyond this,
the
style of the translation must, if possible, have something of the
ex
pectedness of the language of the fairy tale, with its "handsome
princes" and "beautiful princesses," its opening "once upon a
time"
and its closing "they lived happily ever after"-though any
sugges
tion of whimsy or quaintness in so adult and sophisticated a
literary
work would be, to say the least, out of place. In trying to meet
this
condition I have incorporated into the translation as many as
pos
sible of the form ulas still current in the language. The reader
will
recognize such phrases as "tried and true," "winsome ways,"
"hot on
his heels," and others; these have, I think, served my turn well,
though many such phrases were too restricted in use to the
realm of
colloquial speech to be suitable in tone.

Second, the diction of the translation m ust, so far as possible,
re
flect that of the original poem. The traditional style as it
appears in
late Middle English embraces a wide range of kinds of words,
from
strictly poetic terms comparable in status to wherefore or in
sooth

today to words used primarily in the ordinary speech of the
time,
many of which have not descended into the modern language.
But
the style does not juxtapose discordant elements of diction for
humorous effect, as the poetry of Ogden Nash, for example,
does
today. The level varies, but with subtle shifts of tone from
solem
nity to realistic vigor. I began the translation with the general
notion
that since the poet used words which were poetic in his time I
could do the same, but I realized after a time that I was using
such
words where the original was colloquial, and that in any case
the
connotations of poetic diction for us have crucially altered. I
finally
used literary words only where it seemed to me that their effect
was

Introduction xiii

unobtrusive, and I similarly made usc of distinctively colloquial
words where I felt that the resultant effect was similar to that of
the original. My translation thus includes both the archaic lo!
and
the colloquial swap (which is in the original ) , and I have tried
to
imitate the poet in modulating from one level to the other,
avoiding,
at one extreme, a pseudo-medieval quaintness, and, at the other,
an
all too homely familiarity.

Finally, a modern translation of Sir Gawain must, so far as pos
sible, reproduce both the metrical variety of the original and its
cumulative momen tum or "swing." This aspect of the poem is
dis
cussed in some detail in the Appendix on meter, pp. 55 ff.

Like all translators of poetry, I ha,·c been faced with the basic
difficulty of reproducing the sense of the poem in lines which
satisfy
the requirements of metrical form and, beyond this, arc
effective as
rhythmic combinations of words. Like all translators of poetry, I
have constantly had to compromise, sometimes forced away
from
literal rendition by the exigencies of the meter, sometimes
foregoing
an attractive phrase or cadence for the sake of a more faithful
rendi
tion, sometimes, I hope, finding myself able to have it both
ways. I
have tried to follow the poet as much in what he does not say as
in
what he does say, refraining from explicitness where he leads
the
reader, tantalizingly, to surmise. And I have done my best
during the
entire process of translation to attend carefully and respectfully
to
the exact sense of the poem at every turn, though I have inevi
tably
had at times to decide what was essential in a given line-what
must
be literally reproduced at all costs-and to content myself with
sub
stitutes, hopefully of equivalent value, for the rest. \Vhere I

have
been forced to deviate from the original, I have sometimes made
the
pleasurable discovery that in changing one line I have echoed
an
other elsewhere in the poem.

I believe that I have in the end produced a translation more like
the original than the others I have seen, though the success of
the
translation as a modern poem is for its readers to judge. I t
must
inevitably fall short of the great achievement of the Gawain
poet,
but, like the page in the Christmas carol, I have continually
found
wa rmth and strength in treading in his footsteps.

New Haven, Connecticut
December, 1966

MARIE BoRROFF

Acknowledgments

My first and abiding debt is to the late Professor Helge
Kokeritz, and
to Professors John C. Pope and E . Talbot Donaldson, who
taught me
Old and l\1iddle English and the history of the English language
and
thus made this undertaking possible. That all three were
teaching in
the Graduate School of Yale University when I studied there

was
my great good fortune.

Professors Pope and Donaldson have made valuable criticisms,
suggestions, and corrections and have given me even m ore
valuable
moral support. I am indebted to Mrs. Susan S. Addiss for her
expert
typing of the manuscript, and to Mrs. Addiss and Miss Anne M .
Case for help with proofreading.

M. B.

SIR GAWAIN

AND THE GREEN KNIGHT

A NEW VERSE TRANSLATION

Part I

Since the siege and the assault was ceased at Troy,I
The walls breached and burnt down to brands and ashes,
The knight that had knotted the nets of deceit
\Vas impeached for his perfidy, proven most true,
It was high-born Aeneas and his haughty race
That since prevailed over provinces, and proudly reigned
Over well-nigh all the wealth of the West Isles.
Great Romulus to Rome repairs in haste;
With boast and with bravery builds he that city

And names it with his own name, that it now bears.
Ticius to Tuscany, and towers raises,
Langobard in Lombardy lays out homes,
And far over the French Sea, Felix Brutus
On many broad hills and high Britain he sets,

most fair.
Where war and wrack and wonder
By shifts have sojourned there,
And bliss bv turns with blunder
In that land's lot had share.

And since this Britain was built by this baron great,
Bold boys bred there, in broils delighting,
That did in their day many a deed most dire.
More marvels have happened in this merry land
Than in any other I know, since that olden time,
But of those that here built, of British kings,
King Arthur was counted most courteous of all,
\Vherefore an adventure I aim to unfold,
That a marvel of might some men think it,
And one unmatched among Arthur's wonders.
If you will listen to my lay but a little while,
As I heard it in hall, I shall hasten to tell

anew.
As it was fashioned featly
In tale of derring-do,
And linked in measures meetly
By letters tried and true.

10

IS

20

25

30

35

I. The poet begins his story, as he later
ends it, by placing the reign of King
Arthur in a broad historical perspective
which includes the fall of Troy. In ac
cordance with medieval notions of his
tory (though not all of his details can
be found in the early chronicles), he
visualizes Aeneas, son of the king of
Troy, and his descendants, as founding
a series of western kingdoms to which
each gives his name. This westward
movement ends with the crossing of the

"French Sea" or British Channel, by
Brutus, great-grandson of Aeneas, leg
endary founder of the kingdom of
Britain. This Brutus, whom the poet
calls felix or fortunate, is not to be
confused with the Marcus Brutus of
Roman history. The deceitful knight of
lines 3-4 is evidently Antenor, who in
Virgil's Aeneid is a trusted counselor,
but who appears as a traitor in later
versions of the Troy story.

2 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

This king lay at Camelot at Christmastide;
Many good knights and gay his guests were there,
Arrayed of the Round Table rightful brothers,
\Vith feasting and fellowship and carefree mirth.
There true men contended in tournaments many,
Joined there in jousting these gentle knights,
Then came to the court for carol-dancing,
For the feast was in force full fifteen days,
\Vith all the meat and the mirth that men could devise,
Such gaiety and glee, glorious to hear,
Brave din by day, dancing by night.
High were their hearts in halls and chambers,
These lords and these ladies, for life was sweet.
In peerless pleasures passed they their days,
The most noble knights known under Christ,
And the loveliest ladies that lived on earth ever,
And he the comeliest king, that that court holds,
For all this fair folk in their first age

were still.
Happiest of mortal kind,
King noblest famed of will;
You would now go far to find
So hardy a host on hill.

\Vhile the New Year was new, but yesternight come,
This fair folk at feast two-fold was served,
\Vhen the king and his company were come in together,
The chanting in chapel achieved and ended.
Clerics and all the court acclaimed the glad season,
Cried Noel anew, good news to men;
Then gallants gather gaily, hand-gifts to make,
Called them out clearly, claimed them by hand,
Bickered long and busily about those gifts.
Ladies laughed aloud, though losers they were,
And he that won was not angered, as well you will know.

All this mirth they made until meat was served;
When they had washed them worthily, they went to their seats,
The best seated above, as best it beseemed,
Guenevcre the goodly queen gay in the midst
On a dais well-decked and duly arrayed
With costly silk curtains, a canopy over,
Of Toulouse and Turkestan tapestries rich,
All broidered and bordered with the best gems
Ever brought into Britain, with bright pennies

to pay.
Fair queen, without a flaw,
She glanced with eyes of grey.
A seemlier that once he saw,
In truth, no man could say.

But Arthur would not eat till all were served;

40

45

so

55

6o

6s

70

75

So

Bs

So light was his lordly heart, and a li ttle boyish;
His life he liked lively-the less he cared
To be lying for long, or long to sit,
So busy his young blood, his brain so wild.
And also a point of pride pricked him in heart,
For he nobly had willed, he would never cat
On so high

·
a holiday, till he had heard first

Of some fair feat or fray some far-borne talc,
Of some marvel of might, that he might trust,
By champions of chivalry achieved in arms,
Or some suppliant came seeking some single knight
To join with him in jousting, in jeopardy each
To lay life for life, and leave it to fortune
To afford him on field fair hap or other.
Such is the king's custom, when his court he holds
At each far-famed feast amid his fair host

so dear.
The stout king stands in state
Till a wonder shall appear;
He leads, with heart elate,
High mirth in the New Year.

So he stands there in state, the stout young king,
Talking before the high table of trifles fair.
There Gawain the good knight by Gucnevcre sits,
\Vith Agravain a Ia dure main on her other side,
Both knights of renown, and nephews of the king.

Bishop Baldwin above begins the table,
And Yvain, son of Urien, ate with him there.
These few with the fair queen were fittingly served;
At the side-tables sat many stalwart knights.

Part I

Then the first course comes, with clamor of trumpets
That were bravely bedecked with banncrcts bright,
\Vith noise of new drums and the noble pipes.
Wild were the warbles that wakened that day
In strains that stirred many strong men's hearts.
There dainties were dealt out, dishes rare,
Choice fare to choose, on chargers so many
That scarce was there space to set before the people
The service of silver, with sundry meats,

on cloth.
Each fair guest freely there
Partakes, and nothing loth;
Twelve dishes before each pair;
Good beer and bright wine both .

Of the service itself I need sav no more,
For well you will know no tittle was wanting.
Another noise and a new was well-nigh at hand,
That the lord might have leave his life to nourish;
For scarce were th e sweet strains still in the hall,

3

90

9 5

1 00

l o S

1 1 0

1 1 5

120

1 2 5

I JO

4 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

And the first course come to that company fair,
There hurtles in at the hall-door an unknown rider,
One the greatest on ground in growth of his frame :
From broad neck t o buttocks so bulkv and thick,
And his loins and his legs so long and so great, …

1

Sir Gawain

and the

Green Knight

Translated by JRR Tolkien

2

Table of Contents

Part 1 ……………….. 3

Part 2 ………………. 14

Part 3 ………………. 28

Part 4 …….………… 48

Appendix ………..... 61

Genesis 3 …….. 61

Judges 16 ……. 62

2 Samuel 11 … 64

1 Kings 11 …… 65

References ………. 66

3

Part I

1. When the siege and the assault had ceased at Troy,

and the fortress fell in flame to firebrands and ashes,

the traitor who the contrivance of treason there fashioned

was tried for his treachery, the most true upon earth –

it was Æneas the noble and his renowned kindred 5

who then laid under them lands, and lords became

of well-nigh all the wealth in the Western Isles.

When royal Romulus to Rome his road had taken,

in great pomp and pride. He peopled it first,

and named it with his own name that yet now it bears; 10

Tirius went to Tuscany and towns founded,

Langaberde in Lombardy uplifted halls,

and far over the French flood Felix Brutus

on many a broad bank and brae Britain established

full fair 15

where strange things, strife and sadness,

at whiles in the land did fare,

and each other grief and gladness

oft fast have followed there.

2. And when fair Britain was founded by this famous lord, 20

bold men were bred there who in battle rejoiced,

and many a time that betide they troubles aroused.

In this domain more marvels have by men been seen

than in any other that I know of since that olden time;

but of all that here abode in Britain as kings 25

ever was Arthur most honored, as I have heard men tell.

Wherefore a marvel among men I mean to recall,

a sight strange to see some men have held it,

one of the wildest adventures of the wonders of Arthur.

If you will listen to this lay but a little while now, 30

I will tell it at once as in town I have heard

it told,

as it is fixed and fettered

in story brave and bold,

thus linked and truly lettered, 35

as was loved in this land of old.

3. This king lay at Camelot at Christmas-tide

with many a lovely lord, lieges most noble,

indeed of the Table Round all those tried brethren,

amid merriment unmatched and mirth without care. 40

There tourneyed many a time the trusty knights,

and jousted full joyously these gentle lords;
then to the court they came at carols to play.

4

For there the feast was unfailing full fifteen days,

with all meats and all mirth that men could devise, 45

such gladness and gaiety as was glorious to hear,

din of voices by day, and dancing by night;

all happiness at the highest in halls and in bowers

had the lords and the ladies, such as they loved most dearly.

With all the bliss of this world they abode together, 50

the knights most renowned after the name of Christ,

and the ladies most lovely that ever life enjoyed,

and he, king most courteous, who that court possessed.

For all that folk so fair did in their first estate

abide, 55

Under heaven the first in fame,

their king most high in pride;

it would now be hard to name

a troop in war so tried.

4. While New Year was yet young that yester-eve had arrived,
60

that day double dainties on the dais were served,

when the king was there come with his courtiers to the hall,

and the chanting of the choir in the chapel had ended.

With loud clamor and cries both clerks and laymen

Noel announced anew, and named it full often; 65

then nobles ran anon with New Year gifts,

Handsels, handsels they shouted, and handed them out,

Competed for those presents in playful debate;

ladies laughed loudly, though they lost the game,

and he that won was not woeful, as may well be believed. 70

All this merriment they made, till their meat was served;

then they washed, and mannerly went to their seats,

ever the highest for the worthiest, as was held to be best.

Queen Guinevere the gay was with grace in the midst

of the adorned dais set. Dearly was it arrayed: 75

finest sandal
1
at her sides, a ceiling above her

of true tissue of Tolouse, and tapestries of Tharsia

that were embroidered and bound with the brightest gems

one might prove and appraise to purchase for coin

any day. 80

That loveliest lady there

on them glanced with eyes of grey;

that he found ever one more fair

in sooth might no man say.

1
sandal: silk

5

5. But Arthur would not eat until all were served; 85

his youth made him so merry with the moods of a boy,

he liked lighthearted life, so loved he the less

either long to be lying or long to be seated:

so worked on him his young blood and wayward brain.

And another rule moreover was his reason besides 90

that in pride he had appointed: it pleased him not to eat

upon festival so fair, ere he first were apprised

of some strange story or stirring adventure,

or some moving marvel that he might believe in

of noble men, knighthood, or new adventures; 95

or a challenger should come a champion seeking

to join with him in jousting, in jeopardy to set

his life against life, each allowing the other

the favor of fortune, were she fairer to him.

This was the king’s custom, wherever his court was holden, 100

at each famous feast among his fair company

in hall.

So his face doth proud appear,

and he stands up stout and tall,

all young in the New Year; 105

much mirth he makes with all.

6. Thus there stands up straight the stern king himself,

talking before the high table of trifles courtly.

There good Gawain was set at Guinevere’s side,

with Agravain a la Dure Main on the other side seated, 110

both their lord’s sister-sons, loyal-hearted knights.

Bishop Baldwin had the honor of the board’s service,

and Iwain Urien’s son ate beside him.

These dined on the dais and daintily fared,

and many a loyal lord below at the long tables. 115

Then forth came the first course with fanfare of trumpets,

on which many bright banners bravely were hanging;

noise of drums then anew and the noble pipes,

warbling wild and keen, wakened their music,

so that many hearts rose high hearing their playing. 120

Then forth was brought a feast, fare of the noblest,

multitude of fresh meats on so many dishes

that free places were few in front of the people

to set the silver things full of soups on cloth

so white. 125

Each lord of his liking there

without lack took with delight:

twelve plates to every pair,

good beer and wine all bright.

6

7. Now of their service I will say nothing more, 130

for you are all well aware that no want would there be.

Another noise that was new drew near on a sudden,

so that their lord might have leave at last to take food.

For hardly had the music but a moment ended,

and the first course in the court as was custom been served, 135

when there passed through the portals a perilous horseman,

the mightiest on middle-earth in measure of height,

from his gorge to his girdle so great and so square,

and his loins and his limbs so long and so huge,

that half a troll upon earth I trow
2
that he was, 140

but the largest man alive at least I declare him;

and yet the seemliest for his size that could sit on a horse,

for though in back and in breast his body was grim,

both his paunch and his waist were properly slight,

and all his features followed his fashion so gay 145

in mode:

for at the hue men gaped aghast

in his face and form that showed;

as a fay-man fell he passed,

and green all over glowed. 150

8. All of green were they made, both garments and man:

a coat tight and close that clung to his sides;

a rich robe above it all arrayed within

with fur finely trimmed, showing fair fringes

of handsome ermine gay, as his hood was also, 155

that was lifted from his locks and laid on his shoulders;

and trim hose tight-drawn of tincture alike

that clung to his calves; and clear spurs below

of bright gold on silk broideries banded most richly,

though unshod were his shanks, for shoeless he rode. 160

And verily all this vesture was of verdure clear,

both the bars on his belt, and bright stones besides

that were richly arranged in his array so fair,

set on himself and on his saddle upon silk fabrics:

it would be too hard to rehearse one half of the trifles 165

that were embroidered upon them, what with birds and with
flies

in a gay glory of green, and ever gold in the midst.

The pendants of his poitrel,
3
his proud crupper,

his molains,
4

and all the metal to say more, were enameled,

even the stirrups that he stood in were stained of the same; 170

2
trow: believe

3
poitrel: horsey breastplate

4
molains: bridle and bit

7

and his saddlebows in suit, and their sumptuous skirts,

which ever glimmered and glinted all with green jewels;

even the horse that upheld him in hue was the same,

I tell:

a green horse great and thick, 175

a stallion stiff to quell,

in broidered bridle quick:

he matched his master well.

9. Very gay was this great man guised all in green,

and the hair of his head with his horse’s accorded: 180

fair flapping locks enfolding his shoulders,

a big beard like a bush over his breast hanging

that with the handsome hair from his head falling

was sharp shorn to an edge just short of his elbows,

so that half his arms under it were hid, as it were 185

in a king’s capadoce
5
that encloses his neck.

The name of that mighty horse was of much the same sort,

well curled and all combed, with many curious knots

woven in with gold wire about the wondrous green,

ever a strand of the hair and a string of the gold; 190

the tail and the top-lock were twined all to match

and both bound with a band of a brilliant green:

with dear jewels bedight to the dock’s ending,

and twisted then on top was a tight-knotted knot

on which many burnished bells of bright gold jingled. 195

Such a mount on middle-earth, or man to ride him,

was never beheld in that hall with eyes ere that time;

for there

his glance was as lightning bright,

so did all that saw him swear; 200

no man would have the might,

they thought, his elbows to bear.

10. And yet he had not a helm, nor a hauberk either,

not a pisane,
6
not a plate that was proper to arms;

not a shield, not a shaft, for shock or for blow, 205

but in his one hand he held a holly-bundle,

that is greatest in greenery when groves are leafless,

and an axe in the other, ugly and monstrous,

a ruthless weapon aright for one in rhyme to describe:

the head was as large and as long as an ellwand,
7
210

a branch of green steel and of beaten gold;

5
capadoce: head piece

6
pisane: upper breastplate

7
ellwand: unit of measurement equal to 5/8 yd

8

the bit, burnished bright and broad at the edge,

as well shaped for shearing as sharp razors;

the stem was a stout staff, by which sternly he gripped it,

all bound with iron about to the base of the handle, 215

and engraven in green in graceful patterns,

lapped round with a lanyard that was lashed to the head

and down the length of the haft was looped many times;

and tassels of price were tied there in plenty

to bosses of the bright green, braided most richly. 220

Such was he that now hastened in, the hall entering,

pressing forward to the dais - no peril he feared.

To none gave he greeting, gazing above them,

and the first word that he winged: ‘Now where is’, he said,

‘the governor of this gathering? For gladly I would 225

on the same set my sight, and with himself now talk

in town.’

On the courtiers he cast his eye,

and rolled it up and down;

he stopped, and stared to espy 230

who there had most renown.

11. Then they looked for a long while, on that lord gazing;

for every man marveled what it could mean indeed

that horseman and horse such a hue should come by

as to grow green as the grass, and greener it seemed, 235

than green enamel on gold glowing far brighter.

All stared that stood there and stole up nearer,

watching him and wondering what in the world he would do.

For many marvels they had seen, but to match this nothing;

wherefore a phantom and fay-magic folk there thought it, 240

and so to answer little eager was any of those knights,

and astounded at his stern voice stone-still they sat there

in a swooning silence through that solemn chamber,

as if all had dropped into a dream, so died their voices

away. 245

Not only, I deem, for dread;

but of some ‘twas their courtly way

to allow their lord and head

to the guest his word to say.

12. Then Arthur before the high dais beheld this wonder, 250

and freely with fair words, for fearless was he ever,

saluted him, saying: ‘Lord, to this lodging thou’rt welcome!

The head of this household Arthur my name is.

Alight, as thou lovest me, and linger, pray thee;

and what may thy wish be in a while we shall learn.’ 255

‘Nay, so help me,’ quoth the horseman, ‘He that on high is
throned,

9

to pass any time in this place was no part of my errand.

But since thy praises, prince, so proud are uplifted,

and thy castle and courtiers are accounted the best,

the stoutest in steel-gear that on steeds may ride, 260

most eager and honorable of the earth’s people,

valiant to vie with in other virtuous sports,

and here is knighthood renowned, as is noised in my ears:

‘tis that has fetched me hither, by my faith, at this time.

You may believe by this branch that I am bearing here 265

that I pass as one in peace, no peril seeking.

For had I set forth to fight in fashion of war,

I have a hauberk at home, and a helm also,

A shield, and a sharp spear shining brightly,

and other weapons to wield too, as well I believe; 270

but since I crave for no combat, my clothes are softer.

Yet if thou be so bold, as abroad is published,

thou wilt grant of thy goodness the game that I ask for

by right.’

Then Arthur answered there, 275

and said: ‘Sir, noble knight,

if battle thou seek thus bare,

thou’lt fail not here to fight.’

13. ‘Nay, I wish for no warfare, on my word I tell thee!

Here about on these benches are but beardless children. 280

Were I hasped in armor on a high charger,

there is no man here to match me – their might is so feeble.

And so I crave in this court only a Christmas pastime,

since it is Yule and New Year, and you are young here and
merry.

If any so hardy in this house here holds that he is, 285

if so bold be his blood or his brain be so wild,

that he stoutly dare strike one stroke for another,

then I will give him as my gift this guisarme
8
costly,

this axe - ‘tis heavy enough - to handle as he pleases;

and I will abide the first brunt, here bare as I sit. 290

If any fellow be so fierce as my faith to test,

hither let him haste to me and lay hold of this weapon –

I hand it over for ever, he can have it as his own –

and I will stand a stroke from him, stock-still on this floor,

provided thou’lt lay down this law: that I may deliver him
another.

Claim I!

And yet a respite I’ll allow,

till a year and a day go by.

Come quick, and let’s see now

if any here dare reply!’ 300

8
guisarme: weapon

10

14. If he astounded them at first, yet stiller were then

and all the household in the hall, both high men and low.

The man on his mount moved in his saddle,

and rudely his red eyes he rolled then about,

bent his bristling brows all brilliantly green, 305

and swept round his beard to see who would rise.

When none in converse would accost him, he coughed then
loudly,

stretched himself haughtily and straightway exclaimed:

‘What! Is this Arthur’s house,’ said he thereupon,

‘the rumor of which runs through realms unnumbered? 310

Where now is your haughtiness, and your high conquests,

your fierceness and fell mood, and your fine boasting?

Now are the revels and the royalty of the Round Table

overwhelmed by a word by one man spoken,

for all blench now abashed ere a blow is offered!’ 315

With that he laughed so loud that their lord was angered,

the blood shot for shame into his shining cheeks

and face;

as wroth as wind he grew,

so all did in that place. 320

Then near to the stout man drew

the king of fearless race,

15. And said: ‘Marry! Good man, ‘tis madness thou askest,

and since folly thou hast sought, thou deservedst to find it.

I know no lord that is alarmed by thy loud words here. 325

Give me now thy guisarme, in God’s name, sir,

and I will bring thee the blessing thou hast begged to receive.’

Quick then he came to him and caught it from his hand.

Then the lordly man loftily alighted on foot.

Now Arthur holds his axe, and the haft grasping 330

sternly he stirs it about, his stroke considering.

The stout man before him there stood his full height,

higher than any in that house by a head and yet more.

With stern face as he stood he stroked at his beard,

and with expression impassive he pulled down his coat, 335

no more disturbed or distressed at the strength of his blows

than if someone as he sat had served him a drink

of wine.

From beside the queen Gawain

to the king did then incline: 340

‘I implore with prayer plain

that this match should now be mine.’

16. ‘Would you, my worthy lord,’ said Gawain to the king,

‘bid me abandon this bench and stand by you there,

so that I without discourtesy might be excused from the table,
345

11

and my liege lady were not loth to permit me,

I would come to your counsel before your courtiers fair.

For I find it unfitting, as in fact it is held,

when a challenge in your chamber makes choice so exalted,

though you yourself be desirous to accept it in person, 350

while many bold men about you on bench are seated:

on earth there are, I hold, none more honest of purpose,

no figures fairer on field where fighting is waged.

I am the weakest, I am aware, and in wit feeblest,

and the least loss, if I live not, if one would learn the truth. 355

Only because you are my uncle is honor given me:

save your blood in my body I boast of no virtue;

and since this affair is so foolish that it nowise befits you,

and I have requested it first, accord it then to me!

If my claim is uncalled-for without cavil shall judge 360

this court.’

To consult the knights draw near,

and this plan they all support;

the king with crown to clear,

and give Gawain the sport. 365

17. The king then commanded that he quickly should rise,

and he readily uprose and directly approached,

kneeling humbly before his highness, and laying hand on the
weapon;

and he lovingly relinquished it, and lifting his hand

gave him God’s blessing, and graciously enjoined him 370

that his hand and his heart should be hardy alike.

‘Take care, cousin,’ quoth the king, ‘one cut to address,

and if thou learnest him his lesson, I believe very well

that thou wilt bear any blow that he gives back later.’

Gawain goes to the great man with guisarme in hand, 375

and he boldly abides there - he blenched not at all.

Then next said to Gawain the knight all in green:

‘Let’s tell again our agreement, ere we go any further.

I’d know first, sir knight, thy name; I entreat thee

to tell it me truly, that I may trust in thy word.’ 380

‘In good faith,’ quoth the good knight, ‘I Gawain am called

who bring thee this buffet, let be what may follow;

and at this time a twelvemonth in thy turn have another

with whatever weapon thou wilt, and in the world with none
else

but me.’ 385

The other man answered again:

‘I am passing pleased,’ said he,

‘upon my life, Sir Gawain,

that this stroke should be struck by thee.’

12

18. ‘Begad,’
9
said the green knight, ‘Sir Gawain, I am pleased

to find from thy fist the favor I asked for!

And thou hast promptly repeated and plainly hast stated

without abatement the bargain I begged of the king here;

save that thou must assure me, sir, on thy honor

that thou’lt seek me thyself, search where thou thinkest 395

I may be found near or far, and fetch thee such payment

as thou deliverest me today before these lordly people.’

‘Where should I light on thee,’ quoth Gawain, ‘where look for
thy place?

I have never learned where thou livest, by the Lord that made
me,

and I know thee not, knight, thy name nor thy court. 400

But teach me the true way, and tell me what men call thee,

and I will apply all my purpose the path to discover;

and that I swear thee for certain and solemnly promise.’

‘That is enough in New Year, there is need of no more!’

said the great man in green to Gawain the courtly. 405

‘If I tell thee the truth of it, when I have taken the knock,

and thou handily hast hit me, if in haste I announce then

my house and my home and mine own title,

then thou canst call and enquire and keep the agreement;

and if I waste not a word, thou’lt win better fortune, 410

for thou mayst linger in thy land and look no further –

but stay!

To thy grim tool now take heed, sir!

Let us try thy knocks today!’

‘Gladly,’ said he, ‘indeed, sir!’ 415

and his axe he stroked in play.

19. The Green Knight on the ground now gets himself ready,

leaning a little with the head he lays bare the flesh,

and his locks long and lovely he lifts over his crown,

letting the naked neck as was needed appear. 420

His left foot on the floor before him placing,

Gawain gripped on his axe, gathered and raised it,

from aloft let it swiftly land where ‘twas naked,

so that the sharp of his blade shivered the bones,

and sank clean through the clear fat and clove it asunder, 425

and the blade of the bright steel then bit into the ground.

The fair head to the floor fell from the shoulders,

and folk fended it with their feet as forth it went rolling;

the blood burst from the body, bright on the greenness,

and yet neither faltered nor fell the fierce man at all, 430

but stoutly he strode forth, still strong on his shanks,

and roughly he reached out among the rows that stood there,

caught up his comely head and quickly upraised it,

9
Begad: gasp!

13

and then hastened to his horse, laid hold of the bridle,

stepped into stirrup-iron, and strode up aloft, 435

his head by the hair in his hand holding;

and he settled himself then in the saddle as firmly

as if unharmed by mishap, though in the hall he might wear

no head.

His trunk he twisted round, 440

that gruesome body that bled,

and many fear then found,

as soon as his speech was sped.

20. For the head in his hand he held it up straight,

towards the fairest at the table he twisted the face, 445

and it lifted up its eyelids and looked at them broadly,

and made such words with its mouth as may be recounted.

‘See thou get ready, Gawain, to go as thou vowedst,

and as faithfully seek till thou find me, good sir,

as thou hast promised in this place in the presence of these
knights.

To the Green Chapel go thou, and get thee, I charge thee,

such a dint as thou hast dealt - indeed thou hast earned

a nimble knock in return on New Year’s morning!

The Knight of the Green Chapel I am known to many,

so if to find me thou endeavor, thou’lt fail not to do so. 455

Therefore come! Or to be called a craven thou deservest.’

With a rude roar and rush his reins he turned then,

and hastened out through the hall-door with his head in his
hand,

and fire of the flint flew from the feet of his charger.

To what country he came in that court no man knew, 460

no more than they had learned from what land he had journeyed.

Meanwhile,

the king and Sir Gawain

at the Green Man laugh and smile;

yet to men had appeared, ‘twas plain, 465

a marvel beyond denial.

21. Though Arthur the high king in his heart marveled,

he let no sign of it be seen, but said then aloud

to the queen so comely with courteous words:

‘Dear Lady, today be not downcast at all! 470

Such cunning play well becomes the Christmas tide,

interludes, and the like, and laughter and singing,

amid these noble dances of knights and of dames.

Nonetheless to my food I may fairly betake me,

for a marvel I have met, and I may not deny it.’ 475

He glanced at Sir Gawain and with good point he said:

‘Come, hang up thine axe, sir! It has hewn now enough.’

14

And over the table they hung it on the tapestry behind,

where all men might remark it, a marvel to see,

and by its true token might tell of that adventure. 480

Then to a table they turned, those two lords together,

the king and his good kinsman, and courtly men served them

with all dainties double, the dearest there might be,

with all manner of meats and with minstrelsy too.

With delight that day they led, till to the land came the 485

night again.

Sir Gawain, now take heed

lest fear make thee refrain

from daring the dangerous deed

that thou in hand hast ta’en! 490

Part II

22. With this earnest of high deeds thus Arthur began

the young year, for brave vows he yearned to hear made.

Though such words were wanting when they went to table,

now of fell work to full grasp filled were their hands.

Gawain was gay as he began those games in the hall, 495

but if the end be unhappy, hold it no wonder!

For though men be merry of mood when they have mightily

drunk,

a year slips by swiftly, never the same returning;

the outset to the ending is equal but seldom.

And so this Yule passed over and the year after, 500

and severally the seasons ensued in their turn:

after Christmas there came the crabbed Lenten

that with fish tries the flesh and with food more meager;

but then the weather in the world makes war on the winter,

cold creeps into the earth, clouds are uplifted, 505

shining rain is shed in showers that all warm

fall on the fair turf, flowers there open,

of grounds and of groves green is the raiment,

birds are busy a-building and bravely are singing

for the sweetness of the soft summer that will soon be on 510

the way;

and blossoms burgeon and blow

in hedgerows bright and gay;

then glorious musics go

through the woods in proud array. 515

23. After the season of summer with its soft breezes,

when Zephyr goes sighing through seeds and herbs,

right glad is the grass that grows in the open,

when the damp dewdrops are dripping from the leaves

15

to greet a gay glance of the glistening sun. 520

But when Harvest hurries in, and hardens it quickly,

warns it before winter to wax to ripeness.

He drives with his drought the dust, till it rises

from the face of the land and flies up aloft;

wild wind in the welkin makes war on the sun, 525

the leaves loosed from the linden alight on the ground,

and all grey is the grass that green was before:

all things ripen and rot that rose up at first,

and so the year runs away in yesterdays many,

and here winter wends again, as by the way of the world 530

it ought,

until the Michaelmas moon

has winter’s boding brought;

Sir Gawain then full soon

of his grievous journey thought. 535

24. And yet till All Hallows with Arthur he lingered,

who furnished on that festival a feast for the knight

with much royal revelry of the Round Table.

The knights of renown and noble ladies

all for the love of that lord had longing at heart, 540

but nevertheless the more lightly of laughter they spoke:

many were joyless who jested for his gentle sake.

For after their meal mournfully he reminded his uncle

that his departure was near, and plainly he said:

‘Now liege-lord of my life, for leave I beg you. 545

You know the quest and the compact; I care not further

to trouble you with tale of it, save a trifling point:

I must set forth to my fate without fail in the morning,

as God will me guide, the Green Man to seek.’

Those most accounted in the castle came then together, 550

Iwain and Erric and others not a few,

Sir Doddinel le Savage, the Duke of the Clarence,

Lancelot, and Lionel, and Lucan the Good,

Sir Bors and Sir Bedivere that were both men of might,

and many others of mark with Mador de la Porte. 555

All this company of the court …

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• Author: Unknown

• The Pearl Poet

• Or The Gawain Poet

• Written in the late 14th Century

A Brief Summary

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Middle English: Sir
Gawayn and þe Grene

Knyȝt) is a late 14th-century Middle English chivalric romance.

• It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot
combining two
types of folk motifs, the beheading game and the exchange of
winnings.

• Written in stanzas of alliterative verse, each of which ends in
a rhyming bob
and wheel, (ABABA – five rhymed lines following a section of
unrhymed
lines)

• The tale draws on Welsh, Irish and English stories, as well as
the French
chivalric tradition.

• It is an important example of a chivalric romance, which
typically involves a
hero who goes on a quest which tests his prowess.

• It remains popular in modern English renderings from J. R. R.
Tolkien, and
others, as well as through film and stage adaptations.

A Brief Summary Continued

• The tale describes how Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's
Round Table,
accepts a challenge from a mysterious "Green Knight" who
dares any knight
to strike him with his axe if he will take a return blow in a year
and a day.

• Gawain accepts and beheads him with his blow, at which the
Green Knight
stands up, picks up his head and reminds Gawain of the
appointed time.

• In his struggles to keep his bargain, Gawain demonstrates
chivalry and
loyalty until his honor is called into question by a test involving
Lady
Bertilak, the lady of the Green Knight's castle.

• The poem survives in one manuscript, which also includes
three religious
narrative poems: Pearl, Purity and Patience.

• All are thought to have been written by the same author,
dubbed the "Pearl
Poet" or "Gawain Poet", since all four are written in a North
West Midland
dialect of Middle English

Genre: Romance

Elements of Romantic Literature:

• First, be cautioned—the word “romance” does not mean a love
story

• Adventure involving a knight on a quest

• Some fantasy and magic are present

• Both Christian and pagan elements

• Could be dragons and/or monsters

• Mysterious places

• Begins at a noble court

Romantic Hero

The Romantic Hero typically follows these criteria:

• Strict code of knightly conduct

• Absolute loyalty to his king

• Extremely generous

• Never breaks an oath

• Defends the helpless

Sub-Genre: The Testing Plot

A Testing Plot usually has…

• A strong main character

• Pushed to compromising high ideals

• Character wavers on making a decision because there is not an
easy
choice to be made
• The decision usually looks like choosing between the “wrong

thing” to do or

loosing money or social position

Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight in
Middle English • Wel gay watz þis gome gered in grene,And þe
here of his hed of his hors swete.

Fayre fannand fax vmbefoldes his schulderes;
A much berd as a busk ouer his brest henges,
Þat wyth his hi3lich here þat of his hed reches
Watz euesed al vmbetorne abof his elbowes,
Þat half his armes þer-vnder were halched in þe wyse
Of a kyngez capados þat closes his swyre;
Þe mane of þat mayn hors much to hit lyke,
Wel cresped and cemmed, wyth knottes ful mony
Folden in wyth fildore aboute þe fayre grene,
Ay a herle of þe here, an oþer of golde;
Þe tayl and his toppyng twynnen of a sute,
And bounden boþe wyth a bande of a bry3t grene,
Dubbed wyth ful dere stonez, as þe dok lasted,
Syþen þrawen wyth a þwong a þwarle knot alofte,
Þer mony bellez ful bry3t of brende golde rungen.
Such a fole vpon folde, ne freke þat hym rydes,
Watz neuer sene in þat sale wyth sy3t er þat tyme,
with y3e.
He loked as layt so ly3t,
So sayd al þat hym sy3e;
Hit semed as no mon my3t
Vnder his dynttez dry3e.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Middle
English

Click on the link to listen to the opening lines
of Sir Gawain spoken in Middle English

https://youtu.be/-nAd6fffVvs

Arthurian Romance/Courtly Love

• There is no solid evidence for/against
the reign of a historic “King Arthur.”

• Some historians suggest Arthur was a
Roman military leader who held power
anywhere from 3rd to 7th century A.D.
(Artorius = “plowman”)

• Arthur is more important for the
legends that developed around him
and his “Knights of the Round Table”

• Statue of King Arthur from around 1400AD

Arthurian Romance/Courtly Love
Continued

• Arthur traditionally credited with uniting all England (i.e.
uniting
the pagan tribes) and therefore creating the potential for the
development of a unique British character after the Norman
invasion of England.

• Arthurian legends reach height in/around 12th century A.D.

Chivalric Tradition

• Even more importantly, it is around
the legendary King Arthur that the
chivalric tradition of the middle ages
developed.

• Chivalry – from the French word
cheval or “horse” – refers to the code
of behavior that was expected of
knights (all noblemen).

• This tradition was also called
courtesie (also French), meaning “the
behavior of the court.”

Chivalry

• “Chivalry” comes from the French cheval, or horse (n.b.
Norman
influence in language).

• Only the wealthiest people in medieval society could keep
horses and afford to use them in combat.

• “Chivalry” became associated, therefore, with the qualities of
“horsemen”, or knights.

• related words: cavalier (Fr., L.), cavalry (from L. caval),
caballero
(Sp.)

Arthurian Tradition

• In Arthurian tradition, the “Knights of the Round Table”

• Lancelot,

• Galahad,

• Gawain

• Embodied – both individually and en masse, the
characteristics of
courtesie or “courtly love.”

Characteristics of Courtly Behavior

• Respect the king. Do nothing to bring him dishonor.

• Respect women. Do nothing to bring dishonor to any woman.

• Protect the poor and the weak.

• Honor God as a faithful Christian.

Examples of the Code of Chivalry

• Thou shalt defend the Church.

• Thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt constitute thyself
the defender of them.

• Live to serve King and Country.

• Live to defend Crown and Country and all it holds dear.

• Live one's life so that it is worthy of respect and honor.

• Live for freedom, justice and all that is good.

• Never attack an unarmed foe.

Medieval Alliterative Verse

• Like all other examples of literature we’ve read thus far, Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight almost certainly began as an oral
history carried from village-to-village by a bard – or singing
storyteller.

• Like the Iliad and Beowulf, therefore, Sir Gawain and the
Green
Knight is marked by meter, rhyme, and (as with Beowulf)
alliteration.

• All these poetic devices were intended to help in the oral
retelling of the story.

Why is it called Alliterative Verse?

• VERSE FORM: the "Gawain stanza"--a varying number of
alliterative long lines terminated by a "bob & wheel," five short
rhyming lines (ababa).

Alliterative Verse
• He was a fine fellow fitted in green --

And the hair on his head and his horse's matched.
It fanned out freely enfolding his shoulders,
and his beard hung below as big as a bush,
all mixed with the marvelous mane on his head,
which was cut off in curls cascading to his elbows,
wrapping round the rest of him
like a king's cape clasped to his neck.
And the mane of his mount was much the same,
but curled up and combed in crisp knots,
in braids of bright gold thread and brilliant green
criss-crossed hair by hair.
And the tossing tail was twin to the mane,
for both were bound with bright green ribbons,
strung to the end with long strands of precious stones,
and turned back tight in a twisted knot
bright with tinkling bells of burnished gold.
No such horse on hoof had been seen in that hall,
nor horseman half so strange as their eyes now held
in sight. A

He looked a lightning flash,B
they say: he seemed so bright;A
and who would dare to clash B
in melee with such might?A

As Epic Poetry

Review: Characteristics of the Epic Hero

1. He is a model of faith, loyalty, or bravery…

2. who makes a long, difficult journey…

3. to do battle on behalf of another…

4. perhaps using his own superhuman
talents…

5. against an enemy who may himself
have or be guarded by supernatural powers.

As Epic Poetry Continued

Review: Characteristics of the Epic Poem

1. An epic poem is a long, highly-stylized narrative poem…

2. that recounts the exploits of its main character – the epic
hero.

3. Because most epic poetry originated as sung or spoken
verse, it is rigidly metered and rhymed

Journey or Quest

• In medieval poetry, the epic hero’s journey to battle (like
Achilles’ voyage to Troy or Beowulf’s to Dane-land) becomes a
quest.

• A quest is “an adventurous expedition in search of something
spiritually fulfilling or self-enhancing.”

Conventions of Medieval Romance

Medieval Romances:
• Often have unprovoked and violent fighting!

• Are set in a mystical place and time (the Dark Ages)

• Present supernatural elements, and magical powers from the
pagan
world

• Have a hero who is on a noble adventure or quest

• Have a loose, episode-like structure

• Include elements of courtly love

• Embody ideals of chivalry

• Time frame of a year and a day

The Idea of Courtly Love

• This relationship was modeled on the feudal relationship
between a knight and his liege lord.

• The knight serves his courtly lady with the same obedience
and
loyalty which he owes to his liege lord.

• She is in complete control; he owes her obedience and

submission.

• The knight's love for the lady inspires him to do great
deeds, in order to be worthy of her love or to win her favor.

The Idea of Courtly Love Continued

• “Courtly love" was not between husband and wife because it
was an
idealized sort of relationship that could not exist within the
context of
"real life" medieval marriages.

• In the middle ages, marriages amongst the nobility were
typically
based on practical and dynastic concerns rather than on love.

• “Courtly love" provided a model of behavior for a class of
unmarried
young men who might otherwise have threatened social
stability.

• Knights were typically younger brothers without land of their
own
(hence unable to support a wife).

• They became members of the household of the feudal lords
whom
they served.

More on the Idea of Courtly Love

The lady is typically older, married, and of higher social status
than
the knight because she was modeled on the wife of the feudal
lord, who might naturally become the focus of the young,
unmarried knights' desire.

The literary model of courtly love may have been invented to
provide young men with a model for appropriate behavior.

It taught bored young knights to control their baser desires and
to
channel their energy into socially useful behavior (love service
rather than wandering around the countryside, stealing or raping
women).

Still More on the Idea of Courtly Love

The "symptoms" of love were described as if it were a sickness.

The "lovesick" knight’s typical symptoms: sighing, turning
pale,
turning red, fever, inability to sleep, eat, or drink.

What’s Next?

Review the instructional
materials for Sir Gawain and
the Green Knight: The
Literature

Sir gawain and the green knight –the literature• author

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