Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Fitt 3
The longest fitt:
Fitt 1 = 490 lines
Fitt 2 = 634 lines
Fitt 3 = 871 lines
Fitt 4 = 533 lines
The most complex narrative:
First Day
Second Day
1126-77: start of deer hunt.
1178-1307: first temptation scene
(one kiss).
1319-64: end of deer hunt.
1372-1401: first exchange scene.
1412-67: start of boar hunt.
1468-1557: second temptation scene (two kisses).
1561-1618: end of boar hunt.
1623-47: second exchange scene.
1657-63: the lady flirts with Gawain at dinner.
1670-83: Gawain is persuaded to stay another
night.
Third Day
1688-1730: start of fox hunt.
1731-1871: third temptation scene (three
kisses); Gawain accepts the girdle.
1872-93: Gawain confesses his sins and makes
merry.
1894-1921: end of fox hunt.
1922-51: third exchange scene.
1952-97: final night of festivities; Gawain takes
his leave.
A transition between the two strands of the narrative:
The lord for blysse abloy
Ful oft con lance and light,
And drof that day with joy
Thus to the derk night.
Thus laykes this lord by lynde-wodes eves,
And Gawayn the good mon in gay bed lyes,
Lurkes while the daylyght lemed on the wowes
Under covertour ful clere, cortayned about. (1174-81)
abloy
lance
light
laykes
lynde-wodes eves
gay
lurkes
lemed
wowes
covertour
clere
transported
gallop
dismount
plays
the edges of the forest
beautiful
lies at ease, dozes
gleamed
walls
coverlet
bright, beautiful
First contrast: outside / inside
The lord for blysse abloy
Ful oft con lance and light,
And drof that day with joy
Thus to the derk night.
Thus laykes this lord by lynde-wodes eves,
And Gawayn the good mon in gay bed lyes,
Lurkes while the daylyght lemed on the wowes
Under covertour ful clere, cortayned about. (1174-81)
abloy
lance
light
laykes
lynde-wodes eves
gay
lurkes
lemed
wowes
covertour
clere
transported
gallop
dismount
plays
the edges of the forest
beautiful
lies at ease, dozes
gleamed
walls
coverlet
bright, beautiful
Second contrast: active / inactive
The lord for blysse abloy
Ful oft con lance and light,
And drof that day with joy
Thus to the derk night.
Thus laykes this lord by lynde-wodes eves,
And Gawayn the good mon in gay bed lyes,
Lurkes while the daylyght lemed on the wowes
Under covertour ful clere, cortayned about. (1174-81)
abloy
lance
light
laykes
lynde-wodes eves
gay
lurkes
lemed
wowes
covertour
clere
transported
gallop
dismount
plays
the edges of the forest
beautiful
lies at ease, dozes
gleamed
walls
coverlet
bright, beautiful
Third contrast: joyful / melancholy
The lord for blysse abloy
Ful oft con lance and light,
And drof that day with joy
Thus to the derk night.
Thus laykes this lord by lynde-wodes eves,
And Gawayn the good mon in gay bed lyes,
Lurkes while the daylyght lemed on the wowes
Under covertour ful clere, cortayned about. (1174-81)
abloy
lance
light
laykes
lynde-wodes eves
gay
lurkes
lemed
wowes
covertour
clere
transported
gallop
dismount
plays
the edges of the forest
beautiful
lies at ease, dozes
gleamed
walls
coverlet
bright, beautiful
Gawain meditates on his imminent death:
The freke ferde with defence and feted ful fayr;
That ho were burde bryghtest, the burn in mynde had
The lasse luf in his lode for lur that he soght
Bout hone,
The dint that schulde him deve,
And nedes hit most be done.
The lady then spek of leve;
He graunted hir ful sone. (1282-89)
In drye dourpyng of dreme draveled that noble,
As mon that was in mournyng of mony thro thoghtes,
How that destiny schulde that day dele him his wyrde
At the Grene Chapel when he the gome metes,
And behoves his buffet abide withoute debate more.
Bot when that comly come he kevered his wyttes,
Swenges out of the swevenes and swares with hast. (1750-56)
First connection: the lord hunts animals / the lady
hunts Gawain.
First connection: the lord hunts animals / the lady
hunts Gawain.
Second connection: the lord masters his domain
(the forest) and its inhabitants (the animals) / the
lady masters her domain (the bed-chamber) and
its inhabitant (Gawain).
First connection: the lord hunts animals / the lady
hunts Gawain.
Second connection: the lord masters his domain
(the forest) and its inhabitants (the animals) / the
lady masters her domain (the bed-chamber) and
its inhabitant (Gawain).
Third connection: the lord hunts deer, boar and fox
/ Gawain behaves like a deer, boar and fox [?]
Hunting scenes: exemplary hunter pursues all three
types of game (red, black and small), and does so
brilliantly.
Hunting scenes: exemplary hunter pursues all three
types of game (red, black and small), and does so
brilliantly.
Temptation scenes: exemplary rhetorician tempts
Gawain in every possible way, and does so brilliantly.
Hunting scenes: exemplary hunter pursues all three
types of game (red, black and small), and does so
brilliantly.
Temptation scenes: exemplary rhetorician tempts
Gawain in every possible way, and does so brilliantly.
Temptation (and exchange) scenes: exemplary knight
balances obligations to both his hosts, and does so
brilliantly.
Hunting scenes: exemplary hunter pursues all three
types of game (red, black and small), and does so
brilliantly.
Temptation scenes: exemplary rhetorician tempts
Gawain in every possible way, and does so brilliantly.
Temptation (and exchange) scenes: exemplary knight
balances obligations to both his hosts, and does so
brilliantly.
Throughout Fitt 3: exemplary poet describes all types
of aristocratic hunting practices and courtly
conversation, weaves together the strands of the
narrative, and does so brilliantly.
Gawain’s ethical tightrope-walk:
For that prynces of pris depresed him so thik,
Nurned him so negh the thred, that nede him behoved
Auther lach there hir luf auther lodly refuse.
He cared for his cortaysye, lest crathayn he were,
And more for his meschef if he schulde make synne
And be traytor to that tulk that the telde aghte.
‘God schelde,’ quoth the schalk, ‘that schal not befalle.’
With luf-laghyng a lyte he layd him biside
All the speches of specialty that sprang of hir mouth. (1770-78)
prynces
pris
depresed
so thik
nurned him so negh the thred
lach
lodly
crathayn
meschef
telde
aghte
specialty
princess
excellence
pressed, urged
so hard, so insistently
pushed him so close to the limit
take, accept
rudely
churl, boor (from Old French cracheron, spittle; see Middle English Dictionary ‘crachoun’ http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/med/)
harm, wrongdoing
dwelling
owned
partiality, affection
Gawain returns a kiss to his host:
He haspes his fayr halse his armes withinne
And kysses him as comlyly as he couth avyse:
‘Tas yow there my chevisaunce, I cheved no more.
I wowche hit saf fynly thagh feler hit were.’
‘Hit is good,’ quoth the goodmon, ‘grant merci therfore.
Hit may be such hit is the better, and ye me breve wolde
Where ye wan this ilk wele by wyt of yourselven.’
‘That was not forward,’ quoth he, ‘frayst me no more.’ (1388-95)
haspes
halse
comlyly
couth avyse
tas
chevisaunce
cheved
wowche hit saf fynly
feler
grant merci
breve
this ilk wele
forward
frayst
clasps
neck
appropriately; nicely
could devise, could manage
take
winnings
acquired
vouchsafe it completely
more
many thanks
declare
this same wealth
agreement, pact
ask; test
Gawain refuses to say where he got the kiss:
He haspes his fayr halse his armes withinne
And kysses him as comlyly as he couth avyse:
‘Tas yow there my chevisaunce, I cheved no more.
I wowche hit saf fynly thagh feler hit were.’
‘Hit is good,’ quoth the goodmon, ‘grant merci therfore.
Hit may be such hit is the better, and ye me breve wolde
Where ye wan this ilk wele by wyt of yourselven.’
‘That was not forward,’ quoth he, ‘frayst me no more.’ (1388-95)
haspes
halse
comlyly
couth avyse
tas
chevisaunce
cheved
wowche hit saf fynly
feler
grant merci
breve
this ilk wele
forward
frayst
clasps
neck
appropriately; nicely
could devise, could manage
take
winnings
acquired
vouchsafe it completely
more
many thanks
declare
this same wealth
agreement, pact
ask; test
Gawain accepts the magical girdle:
• Is this wrong? (If so, why? If not, why not?)
• What motivates Gawain to do this?
• Is he breaking the rules of the Exchange Game…
• …or of the Beheading Game…
• …and do we blame him, in either case?
• What should Gawain have done?
Gawain goes to confession:
• Does he confess to taking the girdle, and to
promising the lady that he would conceal it from
her husband?
• Does he behave differently after the confession?
• What is the function of this passage in relation to
the rest of the poem?
The final exchange of winnings:
He metes me this goodmon inmyddes the flore,
And all with game he him gret and goodly he sayd:
‘I schall fylle upon fyrst oure forwardes nowthe,
That we spedly han spoken there spared was no drynk.’
Then acoles he the knight and kysses him thryse
As saverly and sadly as he hem sette couth.
‘By Cryst,’ quoth that other knight, ‘ye cach much sele
In chevisaunce of this chaffer, if ye had good chepes.’
‘Ye, of the chepe no charge,’ quoth chefly that other,
‘As is pertly payed the porchas that I aghte.’ (1932-41)
•
Why does Gawain initiate the exchange this time?
•
Why does he mention the drink with which the agreement was sworn?
•
Is there anything significant about the way Gawain kisses the lord this time?
•
What is the tone of Gawain’s response to the lord’s comments?
‘The structure of fitt III itself is the most symmetrically organised piece of narrative in Middle English: three days of simultaneous action in hunting-field
and bedroom in an a-b-a pattern (opening of hunt, bedroom conversation, completion of hunt), followed on each day by a meeting in the hall. The
pattern encourages readers to observe the subtleties of variation, the similarities and differences in the large-scale deer-drive, the fierce challenge of a
boar-hunt, the dogged pursuit of a scent in a fox-hunt, the ambiguities and rhetorical shadow-play in the conversations between Gawain and the Lady,
the gradations of bonhomie in the exchanges of winnings between Gawain and his host… Throughout the poem there is an interplay of indoor and
outdoor scenes: Camelot at Christmas, Gawain’s lonely winter journey, the alternation of hunting field and bedroom, the warmth and comfort of
Hautdesert followed by Gawain’s chilly early waking and his ride by rushing mountain streams to the Green Chapel. These contrasts are conveyed by
apt linguistic shifts, most marked in the differences between quick-moving lines of outdoor action…and the tortuous sentences of the dialogues about
love between Gawain and the Lady.’ (Tony Davenport, ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’, in A Companion to Medieval Poetry, ed. Corinne Saunders
(Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), pp. 385-400; 391, 393) [available online]
‘The hunt is a spectacular demonstration of mastery over man, beast and land; a display that Susan Crane has called a ‘mimesis of aristocratic power’
because as in warfare, it marshalls man and beast in strict hierarchical order under the direction of a single noble… The institution of the forest was
created to satisfy the appetite of aristocrats like Bertilak for game.’ (Michael W. Twomey, ‘How Green Was the Green Knight? Forest Economy at
Hautdesert’, in Arthurian Literature XXX, ed. Elizabeth Archibald and David F. Johnson (Suffolk: Boydell and Brewer, 2014), pp. 27-54; 48, 50) [available
online]
‘[T]he symbolism of deer, boar and fox is not to be pressed to the point of identity any more than is the symbolism of the pentangle. To look for an
identity between symbol and referent is to deny the very meaning of a symbol, which lies not in denotation but in suggestiveness. Judgment is always
required of the reader in knowing how far and in what directions to press the potential significance of a symbol. To look for a symbolic identity between
Gawain and the deer, boar and fox respectively is an error of judgment…based upon the elevation of character at the expense of fable, and the
consequent imposition of a psychological frame of reference alien to the poet’s exposition of his abstract, co-ordinating idea… We may contrast in this
respect the symbol of the pentangle and its value of nobility or righteousness. The poet intends to apply this symbol directly to Gawain, and he goes out
of his way to do so, enforcing the relation with a syllogistic precision (623-35). The symbols of deer, boar and fox are not fastened on Gawain in this
way.’ (Gerald Morgan, The Shaping of English Poetry (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2010), pp. 55-56) [available online]
‘[The three hunts] reflect the three distinct categories into which game could be divided, each involving different hunting challenges and tactics. The
deer belong to the category of red game, often hunted in great numbers; the boar to that of black game, which required courage, since the animal
(bear or boar) was dangerous, and usually hunted singly; the fox to that of small game, where the quarry (commonly fox or hare) was typically a pest.’
(The Works of the Gawain Poet, ed. Ad Putter and Myra Stokes (London: Penguin, 2014) [Kindle e-book], Introduction to Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight, location 6151)
‘Bertilak’s responses to Gawain’s kisses foreground the question of their value, and the related but unspoken question of their meaning. There is an
obvious awareness of the possible erotic significance of kissing within the poem: Gawain’s initial wariness about agreeing to kiss the Lady shows this
clearly. But as Gilbert notes, the returned kisses between Gawain and Bertilak represent homosocial, not homosexual behaviour: if anything, they are
an affirmation on Gawain’s part that non-sexual bonds of loyalty between men take precedence for him over heterosexual desire. In this way, far from
representing a sexual act, the returned kisses constitute a rejection of sex.’ (Conor McCarthy, ‘Luf-talkyng in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’,
Neophilologus 92 (2008), 155-162; p. 161) [available online]