The Middle Ages
King Edward died in 1066 & Duke of
Normandy laid claim to England’s throne;
he won England through battle, becoming
England’s 1st Norman king—William I
This brings French influence into England,
including ideas of feudalism & chivalry
Feudalism
• King parceled land out to lords; lords
granted land to vassals in exchange
for an oath of military duty
Heroic Ideal – demands skill & courage
of king & his followers in all aspects of life
King’s duty:
Protect & share spoils of war
+
Person’s duty:
Provide military
service/protections &
give back to kingdom
=
Code of Reciprocity
Knights had to show loyalty to
5 things:
• Their Word
• Earthly Lord or
King
• God
• Lady
• Fellow Knights
Knightly duties:
• To love God &
• To stay clean in
give his life for
flesh & pure in
Him
spirit
• To possess justice • To avoid pride
& loyalty; to
protect the poor
& weak
Chivalry
• Describes courtly
behavior off the
battlefield (championing
the weak, acting devoutly
and piously, upholding
the truth)
• Became associated with
courtly love (knight
showed skill in poetry
and music, pledged to
defend and protect a
noblewoman.
• Many knights carried
tokens from their ladies,
such as scarves or gloves
that she would bestow
upon the knight before
he rode into battle)
• Swearing an Oath
– Swearing means making a
promise. A knight who
swore in truth could be
counted on to keep his
word. A knight who
didn't keep his word was
not honorable.
Ideals of Chivalry
• Prowess
• Loyalty
• Generosity
• courtesy
• Piety
• Temperance
• Chastity
Additional Info:
• The knight’s reputation was very
important as an indication of his
character
• He often sought adventures in battle or
w/ women to heighten/develop his
reputation
• A knight was expected to attend Mass
Medieval Romance - genre of literature
characterized by:
• Form of narrative poetry
that came after the old
heroic poem
• Everyday language—
didn’t have to be read
only by the Greek or
Latin scholars
• set in the world of
knights, kings, and
supernatural creatures
• Includes quests & tests of
the knight (moral &
physical strength)
• Element of the
supernatural
• Written for nobles
• Three stages of a
medieval romance: a
dangerous quest, a test of
honor or courage, and a
return to the beginning
point of the quest
Malory-English author of
Le Morte d’Arthur
• Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revell
• Knighted in 1442
• Served in Parliament of 1445 (*title-Sir)
An upstanding character???
• violent, lawless individual
• committed crimes such as poaching,
extortion, robbery, and murder
• Most of Malory’s life from 1451 was spent
in prison (*probably did most of his writing
there)
• Igraine/Uther--Arthur’s parents
• Merlin--magician to whom Arthur was
promised as payment for his father’s pact
with the magician
Arthur
• became king of Britain
when he removed the
sword from the stone
• Powerful; heroic-joins fight “rode
steadily” into
Mordred’s army to
fight
• Not scared; proud;
unmoved by fear
Sir Mordred
• Arthur’s son
• Wicked, greedy,
arrogant
• Selfish--Arthur & his
men must beg him to
accept peace terms
• Brave, fearless,
unmoved by fear
(*like Arthur)
• Works until he gets
what he wants
Both men share this...
Both are faithful leaders
who are unmoved by fear
Guinevere-Arthur’s wife;
queen
Lancelot--Knight
of the Round
Table; had an
affair with
Guinevere
Morgan Le Fay--Arthur's
half sister; the
daughter of Arthur's
mother Igraine and her
1st husband; an
adversary of
Arthur's
• Also spelled
Morgaine
Lady of the Lake-mysterious
female who gave
Arthur Excalibur
Excalibur--had special
powers
Romance hero
Romance hero –
 usually born under mysterious circumstances
 grows up in obscurity & undergoes a childhood
initiation involving a magic weapon
 In his maturity he fights to defeat evil and
promotes peace.
 Aided by magic weapons and wise mentors
 Fate is often uncertain. Very mysterious events
surrounding his death suggest he may return when
his people need him the most.
– Arthur-Guinevere-Lancelot triangle--a lesson in
love, fidelity, and forgiveness
– Arthur’s pulling of the sword from the stone-mankind’s continual hope that an unrecognized
leader will arise from us to lead us in our
purpose
– Promise of the leader’s return--Symbolizes the
better hopes we share for times to come.
“Utopia” – a perfect society
based on selflessness
– Camelot-humanity’s
nearest approach
to the city of God
on earth
– Round Table-symbol of equality
and friendship
Holy Grail
quest--a search
for spiritual
fulfillment
Foreshadowing
Dream/vision--foreshadows
Arthur’s death
Symbolism
• Dream/vision--Second chances for life, for
peace
– chair--throne
– wheel--instability of Arthur’s throne/rule/kingdom
– platform--isolation--Arthur ultimately faces this
“darkness” alone
– gold robes--Arthur’s dress--indicates riches &
wealth/royalty
– In black lake--worms, serpents, wild beasts--the
dangers that await Arthur (Sir Mordred and his
army)
Color Symbolism
• Lake--black
– death, evil, or something harmful
– hard to see through dark water--symbolizes
blindness/naivete--Arthur can’t see through
Mordred
• Ladies--black hoods/cloaks/robes
– Another indication of death
– Have come to take Arthur to the “other side”-Avalon (heaven??)
Honorable Acts Committed
• Knights & King stay to fight until the bitter
end
• Sir Bedivere carries his king to save him;
Lucas helps
• Sir Gawain (even in death) helps warn his
king, Arthur, staying loyal even after mortal
life
Dishonorable Acts Committed
• Son vs. Father & vice versa
• Robbers/looters--stealing from dead bodies
& those mortally wounded
• Sir Bedivere--twice doesn’t throw
Excalibur into the lake per Arthur’s request
and lies to Arthur about it (*he is seduced
by thoughts of the sword’s material)
[richness=greed]
Here lies Arthur, the once and future
King.
• Final comment in the text
• Arthur’s strange death, departure, and
promised return are typical of all romance
heroes
• Arthur’s return is always hoped for
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• Sir Gawain
– has been shown to be ruthless
and bloodthirsty by some
writers, and noble and
courageous by others
– possesses the ideal traits of a
Knight of the Round Table:
• Physical ideals--strength,
skill at arms, horsemanship
• Non-physical ideals-courage, humility, courtesy,
and loyalty
• Sir Gawain was a moral
story. “Anti-romance”
(most romances didn’t
preach a moral)
• Two divisions of the story:
– tests physical courage—
beheading and returning for
payment
– tests moral courage—
temptations
Symbol of Truth - Five-pointed star
(Pentangle)
• Gawain’s strength
symbolized in the star on
his shield
– Faultless in 5 senses
– Faultless in 5 fingers
– Faith in 5 wounds of
Christ on cross
– Fierceness from 5 joys
from the Virgin Mary
• 5 virtues: generosity, love
for fellow man, purity
(truth & goodness),
courteous, courage
• Truth was valued above
all other virtues in the
code of honor
• Color Symbolism-colors
are used to
represent/give meaning
to the work.
– Color-green
• Green sash
• Setting/time of year