Notes on Sir Gawain and the Green Lantern Ooops, sorry. Wrong genre. Let’s try this again. Presenting . . .
Notes on Sir Gawain and the Green Light Alas . . .
Notes on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Adapted from Cummings Guide to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) Characters Sir Gawain: Brave, chivalrous young knight of Camelot who is the nephew of King Arthur
and Morgan le Fay. He takes up the challenge proposed by the fearsome Green Knight.
King Arthur: Ruler of the legendary Camelot.
Guinevere: Queen of Camelot.
Green Knight / Bernlak de Hautdesert: Giant of green complexion and attire who pays a
surprise visit to Camelot at Christmastide to challenge the knights to a test of bravery.
The narrator reveals him at the climax as Bernlak de Hautdesert. Magic worked by
Morgan le Fay enabled him to assume the guise of the gigantic knight.
Morgan (or Morgain) le Fay: Half-sister of King Arthur and aunt of Sir Gawain. (She is
the daughter of Ygraine, Arthur’s mother, and Ygraine’s first husband.) She resides at
the castle of Bernlak de Hautdesert as the companion of Bernlak’s wife. From books and
from Merlin the Magician, Morgan le Fay learned sorcery and was particularly skilled in
the arts of healing and changing shape. Some accounts depict her as sinister and others
as generous and beneficent. She became an enemy of Queen Guinevere after the latter
banished Guitar, Morgan’s paramour.
It was Morgan who enabled Bernlak de Hautdesert to change into the Green Knight in
order to work a jest against Camelot, frighten Guinevere, and test the mettle of young
Gawain!
The Lady: Bernlak’s beautiful wife. She participates in the scheme of Morgan and
Bernlak.
Guide: Man who leads Gawain to a high place overlooking the valley of the Green Knight
and the mysterious Green Chapel at which Gawain is to meet the Green Knight.
Knights of the Round Table: Besides Gawain, these include Ywain, Erec, Sir Dodinel le
Sauvage, the Duke of Clarence, Lancelot, Lionel, Lucan the Good, Sir Bors, Sir Bedivere,
Sir Mador de la Port, and Agravain. I think that’s all.
Bishop Bawdewyn: Guest at Camelot.
Catholic Priest: Clergyman who hears Gawain’s Confession.
Porter: Man who greets Gawain at the entrance of Bernlak castle.
Ladies, Servants, and Others at the Courts of Arthur and Bernlak
Gringalet: Gawain’s trusty steed.
Settings
The action takes place in Medieval England and Wales in the age of the legendary King
Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. The story begins at Arthur’s castle at
Camelot when his nephew—Sir Gawain—takes part in a test of valor proposed by a
visitor, a giant of green complexion and attire. The scene shifts to the countryside, then
to another castle, then to the countryside, then to the valley of the giant—the centerpiece
of which is a mysterious Green Chapel—and finally back to Camelot. The location of
Camelot, if it existed, is uncertain. Some legends place it in Monmouthshire, Wales.
Others place it in England in Corneal, Soberest, or Hampshire.
Type of Work Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a medieval romance, a long poem resembling an epic
in its focus on heroic deeds. Unlike an epic, however, a medieval romance is light in
tone, and its content is at times fantastic and magical. In a medieval romance chivalrous
knights pay homage to lovely ladies. The knights are often pure in heart and soul,
although sorely tempted by the wiles of beautiful women.
Source The manuscript of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight appeared circa 1375, although it
may have been written some years earlier. Because the original language of the poem is
difficult for the modern reader, it appears today in translation.
Author
The author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has never been identified. He (or she)
wrote with considerable skill and sophistication, using specific details and vivid imagery
to develop the story. Three other works—The Pearl, Purity, and Patience—are also
attributed to this author.
Structure The story begins and ends at Camelot. Between the Camelot episodes are an episode in
the wilderness, an episode at Bernlak’s castle, another episode in the wilderness, and an
episode at the Green Chapel in which the Green Knight (Bernlak) wields the axe against
Gawain. Thus, the plot structure is balanced, with two Camelot episodes, two wilderness
episodes, and two episodes in Bernlak’s domain (at his castle and at the Green Chapel).
Language The original text is in Middle English and largely unintelligible to all but Middle English
scholars. In a preface to the first edition of the translation, published in 1898, Jessie
Weston describes the structure, language and style of the poem as follows:
“Our poem, or, to speak more correctly, metrical romance, contains over 2500 lines, and
is composed in stanzas of varying length, ending in five short rhyming lines, technically
known as a bob and a wheel—the lines forming the body of the stave being not rhyming,
but alliterative.”
Style “The author has a keen eye for effect; a talent for description—detailed without becoming
wearisome; a genuine love of nature and sympathy for mood variation; [and an] absence
of coarseness.” Whew!
Gawain’s Conflicts Gawain faces both external and internal conflicts. The main external conflict is his
contest with the Green Knight. Secondary external conflicts include his struggle to find
the Green Chapel during harsh weather and his encounters with wild animals. His
internal conflicts include his struggle to restrain his physical attraction to the lady, his
trepidation at having to submit his neck to the axe of the Green Knight, and the shame
he feels after resorting to a talisman (the sash) to protect himself.
In the first of the three internal conflicts, Gawain faces a no-win situation. On the one
hand, refusing the lady’s request for a kiss would uphold his loyalty to his host but offend
the lady, the host’s wife. On the other hand, granting her request for a kiss would uphold
the courtesy a knight is expected to show a lady but offend her husband. Gawain decides
to weasel out of his dilemma: Instead of bestowing kisses, he accepts them passively but
does not tell the lady’s husband about them. What Gawain did not realize (or chose to
ignore) was that as a knight his first duty was to God and the moral law. Relationships
with humans are secondary to this covenant.
Themes Flawed Humanity—or, Nobody’s Perfect
Gawain tries to be the perfect knight. And he is indeed brave, chivalrous, respectful, selfconfident, and deeply religious. But during his sojourn at Bernlak’s castle, he accepts on
several occasions—though he does not invite—the kisses of Bernlak’s wife, a woman of
surpassing beauty. In addition, he accepts from her a sash that he believes will make
him invulnerable to the axe blow of the Green Knight. He keeps secret all that passes
between him and the lady. These episodes reveal Gawain as a flawed human, a young
man who is less than he thinks he is. Here’s why:
1. Passive acceptance of the lady’s amorous advances is no less reprehensible than active
acceptance. It’s still kissing. His action wrongs his host.
2. Accepting the sash impugns his bravery and self-confidence, for it reveals him as
doubtful of his ability to defeat the Green Knight. It’s an indication of a lack of faith.
3. Keeping secret his acceptance of the sash—and the kisses—makes him seem devious
and disloyal. He’s not being transparent.
The good news: In the end, Gawain rides away chastened, with a more realistic opinion
of himself.
_____________________________________________________________
Woman Power
Through their wiles, Morgan le Fay and the lady teach Gawain a lesson that enlightens
him about himself. It was Morgan, not Bernlak, who contrived the scheme to deceive the
court at Camelot. “She sent me in this guise to yon fair hall to test the truth of the
renown that is spread abroad of the valor of the Round Table,” Bernlak tells Gawain.
“She taught me this marvel to betray your wits, to vex Guinevere and fright her to death
by the man who holds his head in his hand at the high table.” Bernlak’s wife plays a key
role in the scheme.
_____________________________________________________________
Friendship & Camaraderie
The entire court of Camelot supports Gawain as he leaves Camelot to find the Green
Knight. When he returns from his adventure downcast and embarrassed, the knights
and ladies comfort him and decide to wear a green sash in solidarity with him.
_____________________________________________________________
If Single, Try Not to Be Left Alone with the Opposite Sex
_____________________________________________________________
The Very Thing You Promise God You’ll Do (or Not Do) Is the Very Thing He’ll Test You
on Almost Immediately
_____________________________________________________________
The Pentangle on the Shield
On Gawain’s shield is a golden pentangle against a field of red. A pentangle is a star with
five points. Because the lines forming the pentangle on Gawain’s shield are continuous
and never broken, the star is a symbol of integrity; it signifies that all the knightly virtues
and moral values of the knight who bears the shield are intact in the knight’s character.
Whether these virtues and values will remain intact after Gawain leaves Camelot to find
the Green Knight becomes a key question in the story. The narrator of the story explains
and describes the pentangle, including the symbolism of each point of the star, in this
way:
“And why that noble prince bare the pentangle I am minded to tell you, though my tale
tarry thereby. It is a sign that Solomon set ere-while [some time ago], as betokening
truth; for it is a figure with five points and each line overlaps the other, and nowhere
hath it beginning or end, so that in English it is called “the endless knot.” And therefore
was it well suiting to this knight and to his arms, since Gawain was faithful in five and
five-fold, for pure was he as gold, void of all villainy and endowed with all virtues.
Therefore he bare the pentangle on shield and surcoat as truest of heroes and gentlest of
knights. For first he was faultless in his five senses; and his five fingers never failed him;
and all his trust upon earth was in the five wounds that Christ bare on the cross, as the
Creed tells. And wherever this knight found himself in stress of battle he deemed well
that he drew his strength from the five joys (Annunciation, Nativity, Resurrection,
Ascension, Assumption), which the Queen of Heaven had of her Child. And for this
cause did he bear an image of Our Lady on the one half of his shield, that whenever he
looked upon it he might not lack for aid. And the fifth five that the hero used were
frankness and fellowship above all, purity and courtesy that never failed him, and
compassion that surpasses all; and in these five virtues was that hero wrapped and
clothed. And all these, five-fold, were linked one in the other, so that they had no end,
and were fixed on five points that never failed, neither at any side were they joined or
sundered, nor could ye find beginning or end. And therefore on his shield was the knot
shapen, red-gold upon red, which is the pure pentangle.”