Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

2. Historical Background (since Anglo-Saxons) • The Viking Age began in Britain on June 8, 793 when Viking raiders attacked the abbey at Lindesfarne • This started a series of invasions by Vikings throughout England • Eventually Vikings settled and took up an agrarian way of life • Similar invasions occurred throughout Europe

3. Historical Background • In some cases Vikings drove out the Anglo-Saxons but they also inter-married and lived together • Religions, cultural practices, and languages blended together in many areas • There became a strong link between the ruling class in England and that in Norway • Normans: Vikings (“Norse Men”) who had invaded and settled in northern region of France

4. Norman Invasion of 1066 • British King Edward died without a clear heir • Throne was contested by William (“the Bastard”), Duke of Normandy and HaraldHardrata, King of Norway • Clash came to a head in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings • William became known as “William the Conqueror” won the throne of England

5. Norman England • Norman aristocracy replaced the old Anglo-Saxon aristocracy • Anglo-Saxons were purged from government and church positions • Norman French became the language of the government and the upper classes • Only the lower classes spoke English

6. Literature and Language • English ceased to be a written language • Norman French was used for government texts and for literature • Latin was used for religious texts • English was stigmatized as a language for the poor and uneducated • It was unsuitable for literature for many centuries

7. Chanson de Geste • “Songs of Deeds” • Much of the poetry of the time deals with the great deeds of heros • King Arthur and his knights are a major subject for these poems • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight falls into this genre

8. Characters • King Arthur: mythical king who united England. He ruled from Camelot, an ideal place, with the help of the Knights of the Round Table • Sir Gawain: a Round Table knight and Arthur’s nephew • Morgan Le Fey: Arthur’s half-sister. She is a powerful sorceress and enemy of Arthur and his knights

9. The Chivalric Code • An ideal for knightly behavior based on concepts of Christian morality. • The virtues of knights: • Friendship • Generosity • Chastity • Courtesy • Piety • Gawain is considered to be one of the most virtuous knights in the land because of his adherence to the chivalric code.

10. The Style • Similar to that of Old English poetry • Alliteration connects the two half-lines • Stanzas are structured around rhyme • Each stanza ends with a “bob and wheel”: two syllables followed by a quatrain • “Bob and Wheel” comments on what just happened or creates suspense by foreshadowing the future

11. The Plot Three main plots (all of which are common to Medieval poetry) • The beheading game • The exchange of winnings • The hero’s temptation These plots dramatize tests of the hero’s loyalty, honesty, and chastity – the most important knightly qualities.

12. Part One • Arthur’s court is holding a New Year’s Eve Feast • A strange visitor, known only as the Green Knight, arrives • He extends a challenge: a knight may strike him with an axe if the knight agrees to receive a strike in a year • Arthur takes the challenge but Gawain intervenes • With one blow, Gawain chops the head off the knight

13. Part One • The description of the beheading is particularly gory: blood spurts every where and the head rolls all around the room. • The headless knight picks up his head, reminds Gawain of the second half of the bargain, and rides away.

14. Part Two • Begins with a description of changing seasons, used to illustrate that it’s almost time for Gawain to complete his bargain • Gawain grabs his shield (decorated with a pentacle), hops on Gringolet, and rides off in search of the Green Chapel • In desperation, he prays to the Virgin Mary, repenting of his sins and asking for her to supply him a place to spend Christmas Eve

15. Part Two • He immediately sees a beautiful castle, where he is welcomed with great joy • The host proposes that Gawain play a game with him: For three days, the host will go out hunting while Gawain stays at the castle with the ladies. At the end of each day, the two men will exchange whatever they have won

16. Symbols The pentacle: a symbol of truth. • The five points are interlocking, forming an endless knot. • It symbolizes the virtues to which Gawain aspires: • To be faultless in his five senses • Never to fail in his five fingers • To be faithful to the five wounds of Christ • To be strengthened by the five joys that the Virgin Mary had in Jesus (Annunciation, Nativity, Resurrection, Ascension, and Assumption) • To possess the five knightly virtues: generosity, brotherly love, courtesy, piety, and chastity

17. Recurring Images • Weather: the weather corresponds to Gawain’s emotional and psychological states • Games: these forms of social behavior are used to disguise tests of an individual’s character • The color green: pay attention to things that are described as being green – there is a symbolic connection between them

18. Part Three • Each day the host goes hunting while Gawain stays at the castle. • Each day the host’s wife tries to seduce Gawain and kisses him. • When the host returns from hunting, he gives Gawain whatever he killed. • Gawain gives him the kisses he received from the host’s wife.

19. Part Three • On the third day, the lady offers to give Gawain her green girdle as a token of her love. • She says it will keep him safe. • He accepts. • At the end of the day, he gives the host the kisses but keeps the girdle. • The host throws a party for Gawain on his final night in the castle.

20. Part Four • Gawain ties on the girdle and rides off in search for the Green Chapel. • He finally finds the Green Knight and is filled with fear. • At the first swing of the axe, Gawain flinches so the Knight stops. • Gawain does not flinch at the second swing and the Knight stops and congratulates his courage.

21. Part Four • The Knight brings the third swing down hard, but it causes Gawain no harm. • He explains that the first two swings were because Gawain kept the terms of the host’s bargain on the first two days. • The cut on the third swing was payment for his failure on the third day. • The Green Knight reveals himself to be Bertilak, the host of the castle.

22. Part Four • He is a servant of Morgan le Fey. • Morgan has put a spell on him to disguise him as the Green Knight. • Morgan herself is disguised as the old lady in the castle. • She devised this game to test the valor of Arthur’s knights (and severely frighten Guinevere). • Gawain wears the girdle on his arm as a reminder of his sin.

23. The Failure of the Chivalric Code • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight illustrates a flaw in the code: it is based on the appearance of virtue, rather than the real existence of internal virtue. • Gawain must learn that the chivalric code does not guarantee virtue. • Although he is the most courteous knight in the land, he has still sinned and failed as a human being.