1. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight represents a community of assimilated
Christianity, with its liturgical year and festivities, and closely related, a society ruled
by the culture of honour. These traits can be found displayed in the emblem Gawain
wears, the Pentacle. This symbolic object has its roots in the Old Testament appearing
first with the name of Salomon’s seal. This object which depicted perfection also
served as a reminder to the knights of what was expected from them in terms of
honour and chivalry by God and by their community.
This apparently cemented code of honour is challenged by a pagan object, the girdle.
When Gawain engages in the exchange of winnings’ game and hides the girdle from
Sir Bertilak his identity collapses. It is important to notice that this collapse does not
take place until he is publicly exposed by the Green Knight, who is actually Sir
Bertilak. Since his identity was closely connected to his public image and display of
knightly deeds, a public exposure of the kind meant the failure as a member of the
round table and also symbolized the crisis of the chivalric code of honour.
The girdle is described by Gawain as “noble” and this brings about consequences in
his identity because this emblem is considered noble by the knight only because it
can save his life. “In the public domain of the community to which Gawain belongs
it would be impossible to categorize an action… as ‘noble’ simply because it might
enable an individual to live longer” (Aers 1988:165). As a result, the pursuit of his
individualism makes his identity as a knight collapse. This is further developed when
Gawain confesses himself to the Green Knight and the GK says that his desire to save
his life is understandable and human.
Therefore this pagan emblem is a reminder of Gawain’s fault and as an extension a
reminder of the crisis of knightly virtue. This brings to light the impossibility of living
up to Christian and courtly ideals.
2. The Anglo-Saxon Elegies “Deor” and “The Ruin” focus on the futility of life and how
time consumes all. Though the former has a more hopeful and consolatory tone, the
latter has a tone full of resignation. In “Deor” there are different tragic narratives that
give us the idea that there is an unescapable suffering in the world, but the refrain
with which each narrative closes contains a sort of promise “this, too, shall pass”.
This hopeful tone manifested in this phrase is repeated until the end and at that point
we can see that the last narrative is about the poet’s life. The last narrative describes
how Deor’s position as a poet with his lord is lost and how he has been replaced by
another poet. Therefore we can say that this poem has an introspective tone and also
as with “The Wanderer” and “The Seafarer”, “the presence of the first-person
pronoun… suffering” (Amodio 2014:230). This makes the elegies more relatable to
the reader and even now these poems resonate with contemporary readers.
In “The Ruin” the poet focuses on the transience nature of life by observing the
Roman ruins, apparently Bath. As Donoghue (2004:47) points out the detailed
description of the buildings falling apart makes the poet reflect on transience “which
overtakes every human culture no matter how splendid” (47). This poem attempts to
portray the futility of time and the fatal destiny we all as human face no matter how
powerful, rich or prosperous.
References:
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Aers, David (1988) “`In Arthurus day´: community, virtue, and individual identity in
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”. Community, Gender, and Individual Identity.
English Writing 1360-1430. London & New York: Routledge, 154-178.
Amodio, Mark C. (2014), “The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Tradition”. Anglo-Saxon
Literature Handbook, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
Donoghue, D. (2004), Old English Literature. A Short Introduction, Australia:
Blackwell. (use search tool for specific references)