Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

During the second half of the 14th Century, there occurred a literary phenomenon called the "Alliterative Revival." Suddenly, in the North and West of England, there appeared poems in a style that had not appeared in English literature (what little there was of it) since shortly after the Norman Conquest. This was the alliterative style of Beowulf and other Anglo-Saxon poems. It was used for a variety of purposes, though primarily in a narrative mode: there are alliterative poems composed to celebrate victories in battle, and a large group of romances about Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Not a lot is known about the circumstances in which these poems were written. What evidence is available to scholars suggests that alliterative poems were favored by the provincial gentry in those parts of England where the tradition had survived (as an oral tradition) during the long period in which English was the language only of peasants and commoners. Reflecting this background, they tend to be celebrations of chivalry and the knightly virtues - but not all. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a story about testing a knight's nobility. The passage of interest for me is the third attempted seduction of Sir Gawain by the Lady of the castle, Bercilak's wife. [Norton, 237-239: 1719-1815] On the third day of Sir Gawain's visit in the castle, Bercilak, also known as the Green Knight, leaves the place to hunt for a fox. A fox is a smart, cunning animal that would rather trick its pursuers than try to outrun or outfight them. It is the hardest animal to outwit in medieval mythology. This day Bercilak's wife tries to seduce Sir Gawain with all her wit. She comes early in the morning to Sir Gawain's room dressed to the bear minimum. He is still asleep, and she wakes him up. After an unsuccessful attempt to lure him, the lady asks Sir Gawain whether he has a girlfriend back home since he resists her charms so much. He answers that he has no lover, and will not have one for awhile; however, God forbids him to take her love. The lady kisses him, and asks if it is possible for her to get some token of love from Sir Gawain. He says that he has nothing to give her and, in addition, it is not honorable for her to have something of his. Bercilak's wife then gives a girdle to Sir Gawain that is supposed to be magical to save him from the Green Knight's blows. This girdle is the centerpiece of the work since it signifies Sir Gawain's mistake and his lesson.

The poet of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is unknown, but he must have been rather educated and very talented for the story is written quite beautifully. There is a striking description of Bercilak's wife in the passage. Reading it, one starts to understand Sir Gawain's temptation and how strong his will power must have been if he is able to resist the beautiful lady. "He sees her so glorious, so gaily attired, So faultless her features, so fair and bright, His heart swelled swiftly with surging joys." [Norton, 238:1760-1762] Considering that Sir Gawain is a young fellow, temptation must have been great. Sir Gawain's behavior is truly noble and this is the theme throughout the passage. Sir Gawain's dedication to the code of knighthood is extreme. He is noble from his toes to his head so to speak. The passage has a number of phrases that I would consider essential to an understanding of the poem and Sir Gawain's character. "God forbid!" said the bold knight, "That shall not befall!" [Norton, 238:1776] The truth is the most important for the knight, and he is not running away from it and would rather say everything straight than play games. "Nay, noblest knight alive," Said that beauty of body white." [Norton, 239:1812-1813] Since nobility is one of the main themes of the poem, this line is very important since it represents Bercilak's wife's defeat and her acceptance of Sir Gawain's true nobility (though he does make one small error later). In fact, Sir Gawain is considered one of the noblest and most honest knights of King Arthur's court. His honor is also a theme in other Arthurian stories. The main theme of the passage is Sir Gawain's nobility. He is polite, honest (in the passage), and courteous. In almost every line, it is possible to see Sir Gawain's true nobility as he gently refuses Bercilak's wife's love, being sure that he does not hurt her feelings. This theme of nobility makes Sir Gawain and the Green Knight look like a medieval story of Superman who does not exist in the real world, but is created by poets and artists as are ideal models of human behavior. It is difficult to define rules of conduct for a knight. There is no set code of conduct, and many variations of it exist nowadays. However, even though there are so many versions of the rules of knighthood, the main idea is always the same. Knightly virtues are liberality, honor, good faith, glory, unselfishness, pride, courtesy, bravery, and loyalty. For me, these ten rules for chivalrous love make the most sense. The virtues of love: modest, attentive, honest, graceful, well-groomed, faithful, discrete, generous, and worthy of praise. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is considered the definitive masterpiece of the Alliterative Revival; The 2,530 lines and 101 stanzas that make up Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Instead of focusing on a metrical syllabic count and rhyme, the alliterative form of this period usually relied on the agreement of a pair of

stressed syllables at the beginning of the line and another pair at the end. Each line always includes a pause, called a caesura, at some point after the first two stresses, dividing it into two half-lines. Although he largely follows the form of his day, the Gawain poet was somewhat freer with convention than his or her predecessors. The poet broke the alliterative lines into variable-length groups and ended these nominal stanzas with a rhyming section of five lines known as the bob and wheel, in which the "bob" is a very short line, sometimes of only two syllables, followed by the "wheel," longer lines with internal rhyme. Many critics have observed that the plot of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is symmetrical. This symmetry is most obvious in the book-ending of the tale with the legend of Troy, and the fact that the action begins and ends at Camelot. Another obvious symmetry is between the courts of Camelot and Hautdesert; the two courts, their lavish Christmas feasts, and Gawain's place of honor in them are like mirror images. In addition, many parallel characters and themes within the plot invite comparison or contrast: Arthur and the Green Knight, Arthur and Morgan, Bertilak and the Green Knight, the Lady and Morgan, the natural and the artificial, death and renewal, Gawain's arming at his departure from Camelot and his disarming at his arrival in Hautdesert (and his subsequent re-arming as he leaves for the Green Chapel), Gawain's dealing of the blow and his acceptance of it. The three hunts are also regular and balanced, following exactly the same pattern each day. However, I think that the structure of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is circular. The cycle of the year passes; the action begins in winter, completes the seasons, and returns to winter. Gawain goes out from Camelot on his journey but returns to the place he began. The cycles of history also frame the poem, in the passing of empires from Troy to Rome to Arthurian Britain, and from there to the poet's own England. This pattern of circular motion, of going out and coming back, of failure and recovery, is at the basis of the poem's action.

Bibliography: Structure of Sir Gawain and The Green Knight http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/sir-gawain-and-the-greenknight/critical-essays/structure-of.html

 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. Volume 1. New York: W.W.Norton & Company, 1993. 200254.

Cox, Christian; Smith, Elizabeth, et.al. King Arthur: Reality and Romance. Online. Internet. December 1998. Available HTTP: http://dc.smu.edu/kinga/arthur_main.html

Camelot International. The World of British Heritage. Online. Internet. December 1998. Available HTTP: http://www.camelot-group.com/homepage/homepage.html Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Gawain_and_the_Green_Knight#Verse_form