The Significance of the Pentangle Symbolism in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"
Author(s): Gerald Morgan
Source: The Modern Language Review, Vol. 74, No. 4 (Oct., 1979), pp. 769-790
Published by: Modern Humanities Research Association
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OCTOBER I979
VOL. 74
PART4
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PENTANGLE SYMBOLISM
IN 'SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT'
In narratives, where historical veracity has no place, I cannot discover why there should not
be exhibited the most perfect idea of virtue; of virtue not angelical, nor above probability,
for what we cannot credit we shall never imitate, but the highest and purest that humanity
can reach, which, exercised in such trials as the various revolutions of things shall bring upon
it, may, by conquering some calamities, and enduring others, teach us what we may hope,
and what we can perform. (Dr Johnson)
The dominant characteristic of medieval poetry is its objectivity; the primary
interest, that is to say, is moral and not psychological. In his description of the
device of the pentangle on Sir Gawain's shield, the author of Sir Gawain and the
GreenKnight reveals to us that such a moral interest can take exceedingly intricate
forms.l If we are to believe the poet, the pentangle passage is crucial to the understanding of his poem:
And quy De pentangel apendez to bat prynce noble
I am in tent yow to telle, lof tary hyt me schulde
(623)
In carrying out this purpose the poet reminds us of another characteristic of
medieval poetry: the schematic arrangement of its parts. The medieval love of
schematism sometimes results, however, in the production of schemes that are more
ingenious than they are just. It cannot be said that this is a danger that the Gawain
poet has himself wholly avoided. There is not, for example, a consistent relationship
between the five sides of the pentangle and the virtues represented by them; the
fourth group of five, the five joys of Mary (644-50), stands for the single virtue of
courage, whereas the fifth group stands for five distinct virtues (651-55). It seems
likely too that the second group of five fingers (641) has been necessitated by the
poet's scheme and not by his moral exposition.2 These minor blemishes (for such
they are) need not be felt as calling into question the unity of the poem. The judgement of Professor Davis as to the relevance of the fifth group of five is, however, a
good deal more disturbing:
Despite the importance given to this group of virtues by their climactic position, they do not
seem to have been chosen by the poet with especially close regard to the adventure which
follows, or to the particular qualities for which Gawain is later praised. The emphasis at the
end of the poem is almost all on faithfulness to one's pledged word (2348, 238I); this is also
given the leading place as the total significance of the pentangle (626); yet here it is pite that
'passez alle poyntez', though at the same time Gawain practises fraunchyseand fela3schyp
'forbe al 1yng'. It looks as if these qualifying phrases, as well as the associations of the pairs
of virtues, were determined more by form than meaning. (p. 95)
This is a judgement which it is quite impossible to accept if we are to continue to
think of the poem as a masterpiece. Although Dr Brewer seems to regard Sir
Gawain as 'one of the great achievements of English literature', he nevertheless
cautions us against asking too much of it:
1 Sir GawainandtheGreenKnight,11.619-65; referencesare throughoutto the edition of J. R. R.
Tolkien and E. V. Gordon,second edition, revisedby N. Davis (Oxford, I967).
2
of SirGawainand theGreenKnight(London,I965), p. 46.
SeeJ. A. Burrow,A Reading
49
770
'Sir Gawainand the GreenKnight'
In particular, Gawain's courtesy is associated with his virtue in the symbolic device of the
pentangle in his shield. The five virtues attributed to him, separate yet inextricably connected like the points of the pentangle, are franchise,fellowship, cleanness, courtesy, pity
(652-5). Really, all these virtues might be said to be subsumed, in one way or another,
under courtesy.... The pentangle shows that the meanings of the words are not distinct.
We are not to attribute the same kind of precision of meaning to part-oral poetry as we are
to the poetry of print. Gawain's five moral virtues are doubtless not analytically set down, and
they all mingle with each other.1
Even Professor Burrow, the best of the modern critics of the poem, is not equal to
the precision of the poet's conception. In his analysis of the semantic range of
trawfe in the late fourteenth century he recognizes the importance of the sense
'fidelity' (OED I) but fails to identify this sense in the pentangle passage itself.2
It would seem that we are to assume that the pentangle symbolism does not exhaust
the moral content of the poem.
In the course of the present article I want to insist upon the justice of the poet's
conception of the pentangle for the meaning of his poem as a whole. In order to do
so it will be necessary to match the subtlety of his moral thinking. It will become
increasingly evident that this is no mean requirement.
The poet explicitly states that the pentangle is a fitting symbol for Gawain (622),
and reinforces his point by the development of an argument which, as Professor
Burrow has shown (pp. 42, 44), takes the form of a syllogism:
The pentangle is a symbol of trawfe (625-26)
I.
2. Gawain isfaythful, that is, trwe (632)
3. Therefore the pentangle befits Gawain (63I)
There is thus a complete identification of the hero and the heraldic device that he
bears on his shield. Just as the pentangle is a unity in which all the parts are interrelated (627-30), so spiritual, moral, and social qualities are united in Gawain
(656-6I). It is important, however, to be clear as to what exactly this identification
implies.
The poet assures us that there is a natural correspondence between the symbol
and its referent (625-26).3 Since this is so, we need to ask ourselves what the natural
resemblance between the geometrical figure and the concept of trawie may be.
As we have seen, the specific point of comparison is a unity made up of interrelated
parts. Professor Burrow is therefore surely right in concluding (p. 44) that trawpe at
line 626 has the inclusive sense of 'integrity' or 'righteousness' (OED 4). This
sense has the support of the pervasive colour symbolism, for the pentangle is 'depaynt
of pure golde hwez' (620).4 In the stanza that follows (640-55) the poet gives an
account of the parts that make up this unity.
1 D. S. Brewer, 'Courtesy and the Gawain-Poet', in Patterns Loveand
of
Courtesy,edited byJ. Lawlor
1966), pp. 54, 68.
(London,
2 See
Burrow, pp. 42-48. Professor Burrow interprets trawpeat line 626 as 'integrity' or 'righteousness' and trwe at line 638 as 'truthful' (pp. 44-45).
3 See Burrow, pp. 187-89.
4 The
symbolic value of gold is explicitly identified by Langland, Piers Plowman, B xix. 83-86:
be secounde kynge sitthe sothliche offred
Ri3twisnesse vnder red golde resouns felawe.
Gold is likned to leute bat last shal euere,
And resoun to riche golde to ri3te & to treuthe.
Reference is to The Visionof William concerningPiers the Plowman,edited by W. W. Skeat (London,
1869).
GERALD MORGAN
77I
The process of semantic widening (from 'fidelity' to 'righteousness') that is to
be discerned in the history of trawbeis by no means an uncharacteristic development
within the moral vocabulary of chivalry. Thus gentilesse can bear the specific sense
of 'generosity' or 'magnanimity', and Chaucer seems to use it in this way in
describing the conditions of an authentic marriage relationship in The Franklin's
Tale. It is by means of a reciprocating generosity (resulting in obedience) that the
issue of sovereignty within marriage is resolved (F 753-63).1 At the same time the
discussion of gentilesse in The Wife of Bath's Tale (not surprisingly, perhaps, in view
of its antecedents) makes it clear to us that Chaucer also uses the word in the broad
sense of 'nobility of character' (D I I 13 ff.). This is the sense that it bears in the moral
ballade on Gentilesse, where it is used synonymously with noblesse (I7). Gentilesse,
that is to say, is the principle of virtue in man:
This firste stok was ful of rightwisnesse,
Trewe of his word, sobre, pitous, and free,
Clene of his gost, and loved besinesse,
Ayeinst the vyce of slouthe, in honestee;
And, but his heir love vertu, as dide he,
He is noght gentil, thogh he riche seme,
Al were he mytre, croune, or diademe.
(8)
Unfortunately these two distinct senses are not formally distinguished either by the
OED or the MED (2 (a) ). Nevertheless the dictionaries do sanction a distinction
of such a kind for the word cortaysye.In The Squire's Tale (appropriately enough)
cortaysyebears the specific sense of 'politeness':
This strange knyght, that cam thus sodeynly,
Al armed, save his heed, ful richely,
Saleweth kyng and queene and lordes alle,
By ordre, as they seten in the halle,
With so heigh reverence and obeisaunce,
As wel in speche as in his contenaunce,
That Gawayn, with his olde curteisye,
Though he were comen ayeyn out of Fairye,
Ne koude hym nat amende with a word.
(F 89)
Its use is also extended, however, so as to include the chivalric ethic in its various
manifestations; at least the MED offers the gloss (s.v. courteisie,n. I): 'the complex
of courtly ideals; chivalry, chivalrous conduct'. Such a meaning is supported by
Dante's definition of courtesy as propriety, that is, behaviour in accordance with the
custom of the court:
E non siano li miseri volgari anche di questo vocabulo ingannati, che credono che cortesia
non sia altro che larghezza; e larghezza e una speziale, e non generale, cortesia! Cortesia e
onestade e tutt'uno: e pero che ne le corti anticamente le vertudi e li belli costumi s'usavano,
si come oggi s'usa lo contrario, si tolse quello vocabulo da le corti, e fu tanto a dire cortesia
quanto uso di corte. (Convivio,II.x.7-8)2
The OED distinguishes between polite behaviour (OED I) and the quality of mind
that leads to it (OED 2). The medieval assumption of a unity between action and
1 Referencesto Chaucerare throughoutto TheWorksof Geoffrey
editedby F. N. Robinson,
Chaucer,
second edition (London, I957).
2
Referenceis throughoutto II Convivio,
edited by G. Busnelliand G. Vandelli, second edition
(Florence, I964).
772
'Sir Gawainand the GreenKnight'
intention implies that the external form will be accompanied by the appropriate
inward disposition (a certain magnanimity). Indeed, true courtesy can never be
merely a matter of politeness.
It is a perfect analogy, therefore, that leads to the use of trawfe not only in the
sense of 'fidelity' or 'loyalty' (OED s.v. troth,sb. I), as, for example, in the famous
description of the Knight in the GeneralPrologue:
he loved chivalrie,
Troutheand honour,fredomand curteisie
(A 45)
but also in the sense of 'righteousness' as in the pentangle passage in Sir Gawain.
The OED again does not formally isolate this sense (see truth,sb. 4), and Professor
Burrow is certainly right in questioning its failure to do so.1
Indeed the dictionaries have been unwilling consistently to discriminate between
the broad and narrow senses that we have been considering, but it would seem that
gentilesse,cortaysye,and trawpfehave each in their turn come to be regarded as in
some special sense distinctive or characteristic of the chivalric ethic, while at the
same time retaining their specific meaning. The lack of lucidity in our understanding of such a poem as Sir Gawainwould seem in part to be explained by the refusal
of lexicographers to make such discriminations. At any rate the use of trawbfe
by the
Gawain poet in the comprehensive sense of 'righteousness' suggests the special
significance of fidelity in the moral world that he has created, and gives to the poem
its distinctive orientation. We are reminded of the noble words of Arveragus to his
wife:
Ye shul youretroutheholden,by my fay!
For God so wislyhave mercyupon me,
I haddewel levereystikedfor to be
For verraylove which that I to yow have,
But if ye sholdeyouretrouthekepe and save.
Troutheis the hyestethyngthat man may kepe.
(F I474)
To this extent, therefore, Professor Burrow is right in his insistence upon the
importance of fidelity in the poem.
The Gawainpoet expects his audience to be familiar with the pentangle:
and Englychhit callen
Oueral,as I here,pe endelesknot.
(629)
This ready assumption of familiarity has proved puzzling to the modern reader of
the poem, since scholarship has not been able to provide him with the necessary
references. The symbolism of the pentangle, however, is to be found in some
rather obvious places, the Convivioof Dante and the SummaTheologiaeof St Thomas
Aquinas.2 From a reading of the Convivioit becomes clear that the pentangle is a
common symbol in scholastic philosophy for the rational soul:
1 See Burrow, p.
43. For a fuller discussion of the relationship between fidelity and righteousness
see the Appendix.
2 R. H.
Green, 'Gawain's Shield and the Quest for Perfection', ELH, 29 (1962), 121-39, reprinted
in R. J. Blanch, Sir Gawainand Pearl: CriticalEssays (Bloomington and London, 1966), pp. 176-94,
draws attention to these texts (p. 187), but fails to realize their full significance.
GERALD MORGAN
773
Che, si come dice lo Filosofo nel secondo de l'Anima, le potenze de l'anima stanno sopra se
come la figura de lo quadrangulo sta sopra lo triangulo, e lo pentangulo, cioe la figura che
ha cinque canti, sta sopra lo quadrangulo: e cosi la sensitiva sta sopra la vegetativa, e la
intellettiva sta sopra la sensitiva. Dunque, come levando l'ultimo canto del pentangulo
rimane quadrangulo e non piu pentangulo, cosi levando l'ultima potenza de l'anima, cioe
la ragione, non rimane piu uomo, ma cosa con anima sensitiva solamente, cioe animale
bruto. (Iv.vii. I4)
The symbolism is implicit in Aristotle's De Anima, although the pentangle is not in
fact mentioned:
Typ v t(pEtj
f 5tdapXet
8'EiXt T( itcpi T&VGXrllz TOv Kalit KaCaut& IVeV.i ytap
rIapantiriox;
/ni TE TOV oaXi6aToV Kai ni\ TOv 1nV5X0ov,oiov Iv TCTpayc&0v)
6TOTp6epov
pEv
8 r6 OpERxtK6v
(414 b 28).
Tpiyovov, tv aioCrOlTtKcp
suvalpet
The facts regarding the soul are in the same position as those concerned with figures; for in
any series the first term has always a potential existence, both in the case of figures and of
what possesses soul; for instance, the triangle is implied by the quadrilateral, and the
nutritive faculty by the sensitive.1
Dante's immediate source, however, must be the work of a contemporary scholastic
theologian; St Thomas, for example, conveys the Aristotelian doctrine to us in the
following form:
Et in De Animacomparat diversas animas speciebus figurarum, quarum una continet aliam,
sicut pentagonum continet tetragonum, et excedit. Sic igitur anima intellectiva continet in
sua virtute quidquid habet anima sensitiva brutorum et nutritiva plantarum. Sicut ergo
superficies quae habet figuram pentagonum non per aliam figuram est tetragona et per
aliam pentagona, quia superflueret figura tetragona ex quo in pentagona continetur,
ita nec per aliam animam Socrates est homo et per aliam animal, sed per unam et eandem.
(ST la 76. 3 corp.)2
The Aristotelian (and hence the Scholastic) conception of being is hierarchical;
among living organisms we can observe a hierarchy of vegetative, sensitive, and
rational powers. Each has its corresponding geometrical symbolism: the triangle,
the quadrangle, and the pentangle. The pentangle is therefore established as a
symbol of human excellence or perfection. The general term that the Gawain poet
uses to describe such perfection is (as we have seen) trawfie;the term that Dante uses
is gentilezza or nobilitade.
Nobility, Dante observes, is a term that can be applied without impropriety to
any number of different objects; there are, for example, noble stones, noble plants,
noble horses, and noble falcons as well as noble men (Iv.xvi.5). By the use of this
term we indicate the perfection in each thing of the nature peculiar to it: 'Dico
adunque che, se volemo riguardo avere de la comune consuetudine di parlare, per
questo vocabulo "nobilitade" s'intende perfezione di propria natura in ciascuna
cosa' (IV.XVi.4). When we talk of the nobility of the man we must first of all, therefore, determine what kind of being man is. Here Dante would propose a distinction
between the order of nature and that of reason: 'E a vedere li termini de le nostre
operazioni, e da sapere che solo quelle sono nostre operazioni che subiacciono a
la ragione e a la volontade; che se in noi e l'operazione digestiva, questa non e
umana, ma naturale' (IV.ix.4). That which is distinctive of man is the habit of
1 Aristotle: On the Soul, edited and translated by W. S. Hett (London and Cambridge,
Massachusetts, 1935).
2 Reference is to the edition of T.
Gilby and others (London, I964-).
774
'Sir Gawainand the GreenKnight'
choice; the authentic and distinctively human activity is moral activity, the product
of our free will:
Sono anche operazioniche la nostra[ragione]considerane l'atto de la volontade,si come
offenderee giovare, si come star fermo e fuggire a la battaglia,si come stare casto e
lussuriare,e questedel tutto soggiaccionoa la nostravolontade;e pero semodetti da loro
buoni e rei perch'ellesono proprienostredel tutto, perche, quanto la nostravolontade
ottenere puote, tanto le nostre operazioni si stendono. (Iv.ix.7)
Nobility is not, however, to be identified with moral virtue, but is a more comprehensive term; its relationship to virtue is as cause to effect (Iv.xviii.2). Thus nobility
includes not only moral virtues but also natural dispositions, passions, and bodily
graces:
Riluce in essa le intellettuali e le morali virtudi; riluce in essa le buone disposizioni da natura
date, cioe pietade e religione, e le laudabili passioni, cioe vergogna e misericordia e altre
molte; riluce in essa le corporali bontadi, cioe bellezza, fortezza e quasi perpetua
valitudine. (Iv.xix.5)
Once he has defined nobility Dante goes on to consider the means by which we
are able to discover true nobility in individual men. Since all men possess rational
souls (for this is the very definition of the species) no recourse is possible to essential
principles. Instead the means of distinguishing excellence among men is by examining the effects or fruits of nobility, that is, the moral and intellectual virtues:
'Dico adunque che, con cio sia cosa che in quelle cose che sono d'una spezie, si
come sono tutti ii uomini, non si puo per li principii essenziali la loro ottima
perfezione diffinire, conviensi quella e diffinire e conoscere per li loro effetti'
(Iv.xvi.9). Dante specifies the moral virtues in accordance with the analysis that
Aristotle provides in his Ethics(Iv.xvii.4-8). He then proceeds, however, to give the
specific marks of nobility that are to be found in the four ages of man: adolescence
(up to 25), youth (25-45), old age (45-70), and senility (70-80). Youth is for him
the period of man's perfection and maturity (Iv.xxiv. ). There are five marks
of nobility in youth:
soavee vergognosa,
Dice adunque che si come la nobile natura in adolescenza ubidente,
e adornatrice de la sua persona si mostra, cosi ne la gioventute si fa temperata,forte,
amorosa, cortese e
leale: le quali cinque cose paiono, e sono, necessarie a la nostra perfezione, in quanto avemo
rispetto a noi medesimi. (Iv.xxvi.2)
All five qualities are illustrated from the conduct of Aeneas in Virgil's Aeneid,
Iv-vI, that is, from the period of his own youth (Iv.xxvi.8-I4).
It will be apparent that the correspondences between the Convivio and Sir Gawain
are by no means restricted to the mere fact of the pentangle symbolism. That they
are closer than it may even yet appear I hope to show in the detailed analysis of
the pentangle passage in Sir Gawain that now follows.
The Gawain poet conceives of trawp]eas Dante conceives of nobilitade, that is, as a
comprehensive term that includes not only moral virtues but also religious faith
(642-43) and the operation of the senses (640). In his account of the five groups of
five (640-55) he specifies the spiritual, moral, and social virtues that constitute
trawbejust as Dante specifies the fruits of nobility. This may seem to be an obvious
point but it has not always been recognized for what it is.
From the poet's attribution to his hero of perfection in the five senses (640) it
would seem that we are to understand that Gawain does not sin through mere
GERALDMORGAN
775
sensual gratification: that is, the movements of his sensitive appetite are properly
regulated by reason. Thus Gawain is not, for example, guilty offin'amors,the crime
of which is precisely the subjection of reason to desire, as can be seen in
the behaviour of Lancelot in Chretien's Le Chevalierde la charrete,the young lover
in Le Romande la roseof Guillaume de Lorris, and Troilus in Chaucer's Troilusand
Criseyde.lWe may be reminded here of Dante's view that nobility is made manifest
in the whole man, and not merely the rational part of the soul: 'Germoglia dunque
per la vegetativa, per la sensitiva e per la razionale; e dibrancasi per le vertuti di
quelle tutte, dirizzando quelle tutte a le loro perfezioni' (Iv.xxiii.3).
The five wounds of Christ (642-43) are the object of Gawain's afyaunce,that is to
say, the poet's conception of trawfiehas a specifically religious dimension. Those who
are familiar with Chaucer's portrait of the Knight in the GeneralPrologue(A 43-78)
will not find this image of Christian chivalry at all remarkable in a late fourteenthcentury English context. Indeed, this aspect of Gawain's chivalry is reinforced
by the succeeding reference to the five joys of Mary (644-50), for these
are the source of his courage. The attention that is devoted to this fourth group of
five suggests that courage is a significant element in the moral scheme of the poem.
At any rate the Gawainpoet would not be the first to see in his hero this special mark
of distinction; for such a writer as Chretien de Troyes, Gauvain is no less renowned
for his prowess as a knight than for his courtesy. Erec's fame is defined by the fact
that he ranks second only to Gauvain (Erecet Enide, 2230-36); the true prowess of
Yvain is shown in his ability to fight on equal terms with Gauvain (Le Chevalierau
lion, 6 o6 if.; see especially 6447-54) 2
The fifth group of five (651-55) presents a number of related virtues that have a
specifically social extension. Because of the identification of each constituent element in the group and also because of the climactic position of the group as a
whole, it would seem that the poet attaches a special significance to these virtues.
This is to assume, of course, that the poet is still in control of his poem. Since it is
precisely this assumption that ProfessorDavis has called into question, it becomes
especially necessary to consider, with some care, the five virtues that make up the
fifth group.
Fraunchyse(652) is perhaps the least problematic of all of them, for everyone
seems to be agreed that by it the poet intends to single out the virtue of magnanimity
or generosity of spirit. This quality has already been displayed by Gawain in taking
up from Arthur the challenge of the Green Knight, for he does not lay claim to any
special fitness in himself to do so:
Bot for as much as 3e ar myn em I am only to prayse,
No bountebot your blod I in my bod6knowe;
And sylen Pis note is so nys bat no3t hit yow falles,
And I haue fraynedhit at yow fyrst,foldezhit to me.
(356)
Nevertheless it may not be altogether advisable to rule out an implication also of
material generosity (largesse),for it is a moral concept that subsequently becomes of
importance in Gawain's bitter condemnation of himself:
1 On the distinction betweenfin'amorsand amourcourtoissee my article 'Natural and Rational Love
in Medieval Literature', TES, 7 (I977), 43-52.
2 References are to Erec et Enide, edited by M. Roques (Paris, 1970), and to rvain, edited by
T. B. W. Reid (Manchester, 1942).
776
'Sir Gawainand the GreenKnight'
For care of by knokkecowardyseme ta3t
To acordeme with couetyse,my kyndeto forsake,
bat is largesand lewt6dat longezto kny3tez.
(2379)
A lofty disregard for wealth remains throughout the Middle Ages a distinctive
quality of those who are of free or noble birth. The fundamental link between
nobility and generosity (already evident in the semantic history of gentilesse)is
reflected by Caxton in his translation (c.I484) of a French version of Ram6n
Lull's LeLibredelOrdedeCauayleria:
'Chyualrye and Fraunchyse accorden to gyder...
the knyght must be free and franke' (I 6/6-9).1 Chaucer himself uses the word
fredomto denote the virtue of generosity in his portrait of the Knight in the General
Prologue (A 46), and also combines the notions of freedom and generosity in
stressing the hospitality of the Franklin (A 339-54). The MED glossesfraunchis(e)
(2(a) ) as: 'nobility of character, magnanimity; liberality, generosity; a noble or
generous act'. Both senses of generosity are relevant here, and are to be found in the
accompanying citations. It seems likely, therefore, that in his use offraunchysethe
Gawainpoet intends us to be aware of both spiritual and material generosity.
The meaning offela3schyp(652) has also not detained readersof the poem for long,
but again it is not so self-evident as it might at first appear. The obvious sense of the
word is 'companionableness', and this is certainly appropriate in its context. Gawain
has indeed already shown to us his companionableness, as ProfessorBurrow notes
(p. 47), in his ability to share with Arthur in such pleasureas is to be derived from the
extraordinary confrontation with the Green Knight:
be kyng and Gawenbare
At bat grenebay la3e and grenne.
(463)
The MED glossesfela3schypin this context (s.v. felaushipe,n. 4) as: 'the spirit that
binds companions or friends together; charitable feeling for one's fellows; charity,
amity, comraderie'. But the moral quality that is distinctive of the relationship
between companions and is the force that binds the companions together is that of
loyalty, and this meaning is at least implicit in the poet's use offela3schyp here.
Such an implication would, of course, be especially evident in a chivalric context.
The best illustration of the moral significance offela3schyp is to be found in The
Knight'sTale in the relationship of Perotheus and Theseus, for the Knight is here
concerned to show by juxtaposition the infidelity of Palamon and Arcite to one
another as a result of a disordered love:
A worthyduc that hightePerotheus,
That felawewas unto duc Theseus
Syn thilkeday that they were childrenlite,
Was come to Attheneshis felaweto visite,
And for to pleye as he was wont to do;
For in this worldhe loved no man so,
And he loved hym als tendrelyagayn.
So wel they lovede,as olde bookessayn,
That whan that oon was deed, soothlyto telle,
His felawewente and soughtehym doun in helle.
(A II9I)
1 Reference is to William Caxton, TheBookof theOrdreof Chyualry,edited by A. T. P. Byles
(London,
1926).
GERALD MORGAN
777
Indeed it is unthinkable that the Gawainpoet should fail to specify the virtue of
fidelity in the pentangle passage.
Whereas some significant meanings in the Gawainpoet's use of fraunchyseand
fela3schyphave in the past been overlooked, the critical discussion on the moral
implications of clannes(653) and cortaysye(653) has been if anything too elaborate.
ProfessorDavis in his note to lines 652-54 (p. 95) observes that clannes'in ME meant
not simply "chastity" but "sinlessness,innocence" generally'.1 But the meaning of
clannesin Middle English is not at issue here; it is the meaning of the Gawainpoet
that we must attend to. As far as that is concerned it is evident that the sense of
'sinlessness'or 'innocence' is quite inappropriate. It is a specific and not a general
meaning that is required by the immediate context, and there can be no doubt
that the meaning which the poet intends is 'chastity'. The use of the word clannesin
this specific manner is, of course, well attested in the late fourteenth century. It is
unambiguously used thus by Chaucer in The SecondNun's Tale:
And if that ye in clene love me gye,
He wol yow loven as me, for youreclennesse.
(G I59)
It is this meaning that gives point to the linking of clanneswith cortaysye:the relationship between the moral concepts the poet is to examine at some length in the
bedroom scenes at Hautdesert. Professor Burrow wishes to stress (p. 48) that
clannesdoes not necessarily imply celibacy. This is indeed true, but it does imply
celibacy or rather virginity outside marriage. ProfessorBurrow goes on to explain
the poet's conception of clannesas follows: 'The poet understood "cleanness", I
am sure, as the generally-accepted condition of knightly love - a condition
which ruled out the "vnleful lust" of adultery as a matter of course, but not truelove or even "love-talking" with one's hostess' (p. 48). Much depends on what we
understand by 'true-love' here, for ProfessorBurrow is perhaps a little too anxious
to assure us (p. 41) that the ideal represented by Gawain is not an ascetic ideal.
There is, of course, no middle ground between adultery (fin'amors)and chastity
(amourcourtois);if by 'true-love' we understand a chaste love before marriage and
by luf-talkyng (927) we understand that such chaste love is accompanied by
courtesy, then ProfessorBurrow's analysis can be accepted. It is worth bearing in
mind here that when Dante attributes to Youth the perfection of loving he is
thinking only of those loves that are lawful; indeed he shows to us that love does not
necessarily presuppose a sexual connotation (Convivio,Iv.xxvi. to-I I). Thus we can
accept the possibility of a chaste love between a young man and another man's
wife. The moral idealism of the pentangle passage certainly rules out any ambiguity
in the poet's conception of clannes.
Cortaysyeis, as we have seen, a word of considerable scope in the fourteenth
century, and it is this aspect of the word that Professor Davis chooses to stress in
was a word of great range and power at this time, embracing
his note: 'Cortaysye
"chivalrous" conduct of all kinds from courtly politeness to compassion and
nobility of mind, and extending to divine grace.' But it is a specific and not a general
meaning that is again required in the present context. This specific meaning is
n. 2 (a)), for the generosity
'politeness' or'refinement of manners' (MED s.v. courteisie
1 Compare MED s.v. clennessen. 2(a), where the glosses 'uprightness' and 'integrity' are also
provided.
778
'Sir Gawainand the GreenKnight'
that prompts such politeness has already been specified by fraunchyse.Dante uses
cortesiain this sense in his illustration of the nobility of youth:
Ancorae necessarioa questaetade esserecortese. . . E questacortesiamostrache avesse
Enea questoaltissimopoeta, nel sestosopradetto, quandodice che Enea rege, per onorare
lo corpodi Misenomorto,che erastatotrombatored'Ettoree poi s'eraraccomandatoa lui,
s'accinsee presela scuread aiutaretagliarele legne per lo fuocoche doveaarderelo corpo
morto, come era di loro costume. (Iv.xxvi.I2-I3)
Gawain is in medieval literature the very pattern of courtesy, and it is for this
reason (as we have seen) that he is invoked by Chaucer in The Squire's Tale.
Gauvain's courteous behaviour towards the wounded Erec (contrasted with the
boorishness of Keu) is made much of by Chretien in Erec et Enide (3907-4252).
No better illustration of the Gawainpoet's conception of cortaysyecan be found,
however, than in his own representation of the manner in which Gawain takes up
from Arthur the game proposed by the Green Knight (339-6i).
The Gawainpoet would seem to attach a special significance to pite (654), the
fifth and final virtue of the fifth and final group of five, and indeed he tells us that it
'passez alle poyntez' (654). Unfortunately the form pite is ambiguous in the late
fourteenth century, and can stand for either 'pity' or 'piety'.' The first of these two
meanings is in many ways an attractive one. The sense of 'compassion' fits easily
into the social context of the fifth group of virtues, and points to a quality that
is a familiar element of the ideal of chivalry in the late fourteenth century. The
compassion of Theseus in The Knight'sTale, for example, is evident in his response
to the distress of the company of ladies that greets him on his triumphant return to
Athens:
This gentilduc doun fromhis coursersterte
With hertepitous,whan he herdehem speke.
Hym thoughtethat his hertewolde breke,
Whanhe saughhem so pitousand so maat,
That whilomwerenof so greetestaat;
And in his armeshe hem alle up hente,
And hem confortethin ful good entente.
(A 952)2
Nevertheless there are two serious (and, I think, decisive) objections to the interpretation of pite as 'compassion'. First, it is not at all clear why compassion 'passez
alle poyntez'; second, nothing much is said about Gawain's compassion (unlike
that of Theseus).
An explanation of pite as 'piety' might start with Dante, who does accord to
pietadethe kind of significance accorded to pite by the Gawainpoet, for it 'fa risplendere ogni altra bontade col lume suo. Per che Virgilio, d'Enea parlando, in
sua maggiore loda pietoso lo chiama' (II.x.5). Indeed there is more than a formal
connexion between pity and piety, as the single origin of the two words suggests.
The relationship between the two concepts and the true nature of piety is explained
by Dante as follows:
E non e pietadequellache credela volgargente,cioe dolerside l'altruimale, anzi e questo
ed e passione;ma pietadenon e passione,
uno suospezialeeffetto,che si chiamamisericordia
anzi e una nobile disposizioned'animo,apparecchiatadi ricevereamore, misericordiae
altre caritative passioni. (I.x.6)
1 Both pity and piety are derived ultimately from Latin pietas; see OED's note s.v. pity.
2 See also A
1748-61.
GERALD MORGAN
779
Dante refers to pity as a passion; St Thomas, however, distinguishes between the
passion and the moral virtue:
Dicendumquod misericordiaimportatdoloremde miseriaaliena. Iste autem dolor potest
nominare,uno quidem modo, motum appetitussensitivi.Et secundumhoc misericordia
passio est, et non virtus. Alio vero modo potest nominaremotum appetitusintellectivi,
secundumquod alicui displicetmalum alterius.Hic autem motus potest esse secundum
rationemregulatus;et potest secundumhunc motum ratione regulatumregularimotus
inferiorisappetitus.(ST 2a 2ae 30.3 corp)
Piety, too, can be regarded as a moral virtue, that is, as a specific kind of justice,
consisting in the payment of the debt we owe to our parents and country for our
upbringing (ST 2a 2ae 10.3 corp.and ad. I). Piety is thus nearly allied to religion,
that is, the moral virtue of honouring our debt to God as creator. Since religion
is a more comprehensive term than piety, it contains piety within it; so it is that
piety itself can come to be used for the worship of God: 'Ad primum ergo dicendum
quod in majori includitur minus. Et ideo cultus qui Deo debetur, includit in se,
sicut aliquid particulare, cultum qui debetur parentibus ... Et ideo nomen pietatis
etiam ad divinum cultum refertur' (ST. 2a 2ae IOI.Iad I). There is not only the
virtue of piety, but also the gift of piety, that is, a special habitual disposition of the
soul whereby it is made responsive to the Holy Spirit (ST 2a 2ae
I21.I
corp.). The
gift of piety is the honouring of God not as creator but as father. It is more excellent
than the virtue either of religion or of piety, for the gifts of the Holy Spirit are in
themselves more excellent than the moral virtues (ST 2a 2ae I21.I ad 2).
Dante would seem in the Convivioto have had in mind primarily the gift of piety
(compare ST 2a 2ae 121.2 ad 3); the author of Sir Gawainuses pite rather in the
sense of the virtue of religion, that is, the prevailing modern sense of piety (OED
II. 2). ProfessorDavis rejects this interpretation (p. 96) because 'Gawain's piety has
been fully shown in 642-50, and further emphasis on it would be otiose'. This
observation does less than justice to the accuracy of the poet's thought. The five
joys of Mary are introduced by the poet to account for Gawain's courage and not
his piety (644-50). The five wounds of Christ are the object of Gawain's faith or
belief (642-43); faith is a theological virtue (see ST ia 2ae 62.3 corp.)and not a
moral virtue. Piety is not faith but the scrupulous observance of religious duties.
Since it is clear that such piety is an important element in the poet's subsequent
representation of Gawain, it should be clear also that in the pentangle passage pite
means 'piety' and not 'pity'.
If the foregoing analysis of the system of spiritual, moral, and social values
symbolized by the pentangle is substantially correct. then it is evident that the
correspondencebetween Dante's conception of the nobility of youth and the Gawain
poet's conception of the nobility of his hero is striking indeed. Four of Dante's five
marks of such nobility (courage, love, courtesy, and loyalty) are conspicuously
present in the pentangle passage; the remaining mark, that oftemperance, we may
perhaps suppose to be accounted for in the proper regulation of desires that is
implicit in the first group of five (640). It is not, of course, suggested that the
Gawainpoet is in any direct manner indebted to Dante; the truth would seem to be
rather that the Convivioand Sir Gawainboth belong to moral and intellectual worlds
that have been formed by the habits and presuppositions of Scholastic philosophy.
If we look more closely at the common literary inheritance we shall undoubtedly
discover further points of contact. Two features of Dante's discussion of nobility in
780
'Sir Gawainand the GreenKnight'
particular seem to me to be of special interest for our understanding of Sir Gawain:
the first is that the life of Aeneas is taken as establishing the true pattern of nobility;
the second is that youth is the period in which such nobility is raised to its highest
level of excellence.
It is the purpose of the first stanza of Sir Gawainto show to us that the nobility of
Camelot is to be explained in part by its origins. The poet moves in a logical progression, from 'Ennias be athel, and his highe kynde' (5), to Felix Brutus the 'burn
rych' (20) who founded Britain, and to 'Arthur be hendest' (26) of the kings of
Britain. His strategy here would seem to be quite unambiguous. Nevertheless it has
to some extent been disputed. A number of readers (among them ProfessorDavis)
would urge us to identify Aeneas with 'pe tulk pat be trammes of tresoun per
wro3t' (3). The language of the poet, it has to be confessed, does admit of this
possibility, for 'Hit watz. .' (5) may either refer backwards to 'pe tulk' (3) or
forwards to 'Ennias Pe athel' (5). Moreover there is a medieval tradition, descending from Guido de Columnis and well known to English writers,as ProfessorDavis
notes, which associates Aeneas with the act of betrayal of Troy. Professor Davis
assures us that athelrefers only to nobility of birth and that 'the legend of Aeneas'
treachery did not embarrass writers in English who wished to trace the descent of
the Britons from him, through Brutus' (p. 70). These assurances,however, leave all
the important questions unanswered. What possible reason can the Gawainpoet
have for drawing our attention to the treachery of Aeneas at the beginning of his
poem? It is surely possible for a great poet (such as the Gawainpoet) to be disturbed
by the treachery of Aeneas even if a host of lesser writers are not. When the subject
of his poem is trawfe itself, the issue has to be properly faced; either there is a
significance in the treachery of Aeneas or Aeneas is not a traitor at all.
The fact is that it is not sufficient for the interpretation of a poem to state the
existence of a tradition when more than one tradition is available to a poet. It is
necessary to know the particular tradition within which a single poem has been
written, since a poem is a unique artefact for which generalities will not in the end
suffice.' If a poem cannot be explained by the presuppositions of one tradition, we
must not allow the poem itself to be deformed for the sake of the tradition; we are
compelled rather to deny the relevance of the tradition to the poem.
No one who is familiar with Virgil (a Dante, for example) would accept the
notion of a treacherous Aeneas. The issue of infidelity is at the moral centre of
TroilusandCriseyde,but it is Antenor and not Aeneas who is associated by Chaucer
with the betrayal of Troy. Indeed the irony of Criseyde's exchange for Antenor
depends upon the reputation of Antenor for treachery:
This folk desirennow deliveraunce
Of Antenor,that broughthem to meschaunce.
For he was aftertraitourto the town
Of Troye; alias, they quyttehym out to rathe!
(iv.202)
It is the tradition of Antenor's treachery that makes sense of the opening stanza of
Sir Gawain,and the one we must therefore assume the poet himself to have had in
mind.
1 A clear understanding of this critical principle is vital if we are to appreciate the poet's conception
of Gawain himself; Chretien's Gauvain, for example, moves in a different moral world from that of
Malory's Gawain.
GERALD MORGAN
78I
The assumption that the nobility of Aeneas is merely a matter of birth is, moreover, highly questionable in a late fourteenth-century literary context. The fourth
tractate of the Conviviohas been in part written to refute so absurd (inconveniente)
an error as that which would relate nobility to birth (see iv.xiv.6 ff.), for 'E gentilezza dovunqu'e vertute' (Canzone,iii.ioI). This doctrine is congenial to at least
one great English poet of the late fourteenth century:
Vyce may wel be heir to old richesse;
But ther may no man, as men may wel see,
Bequethe his heir his vertuous noblesse.
(Gentilesse,15)
It seems, therefore, that for the Gawainpoet Aeneas has a moral significance comparable to that which he possesses for Dante; that is why indeed his nobility is
invoked at the beginning of the poem.
In the third stanza the poet introduces us directly to the nobility of Camelot:
De most kyd kny3tez vnder Krystes seluen,
And be louelokkest ladies pat euer lif haden,
And he ke comlokest kyng bat be court haldes.
(5I)
Here indeed we see behaviour that is proper to a court: jousting, singing, and
dancing (41-49). We may well be reminded of Chaucer's description of the Squire
in the GeneralPrologue:
He koude songes make and wel endite,
Juste and eek daunce, . . .
(A 95)
The company at Camelot is in joyous mood, for it is celebrating the birth of Christ,
but the merriment is never unseemly; the revelry is splendid but also fitting (40).
HIere too we shall find valour as well as courtesy; the poet indeed tells us that:
Hit were now gret nye to neuen
So hardy a here on hille.
(58)
This combination of fame, courtesy, and courage is made up of classic chivalric
values. All three are brought together by Chretien in his initial presentation of
Erec (Erec et Enide, 81-93) and illustrated by him in the adventure of the sparrowhawk. Chaucer includes them in his portrait of the Knight (A 45-46). It is the wide
recognition accorded to these ideals that leads the Gawain poet to observe that 'al
watz tis fayre folk in her first age' (54). Here again, however, is a linguistic ambiguity, the resolution of which is crucial to our understanding of the poem. The
ambiguity can perhaps best be illustrated by the definitions supplied by the OED
for prime, sb.1:
The 'springtime' of human life; the time of early manhood or womanhood, from
II.8.
about 21 to 28 years of age.
Of human life: The period or state of greatest perfection or vigour, before strength
III.9.
begins to decay.
Professor Davis thinks that it is the first of these two senses that the Gawain poet
has in mind (p. 74). But the description that precedes the phrase 'first age' is one
in which the perfection of Camelot is fully displayed. It is surely not possible to
improve upon the courtesy that is exhibited in this description. The third stanza of
782
'Sir Gawainand the GreenKnight'
the poem indeed bears witness to the fame of the Round Table and the poet's
essential sympathies. It is the fame of Camelot which brings the Green Knight
there to put it to the test (256-64). To suppose (as some critics have done) that the
society of Camelot is in some special sense flawed is to render the moral design of
the poem as a whole incomprehensible. The poet describes to us the court in the
full vigour of its youth, that is, the period of its greatest perfection. Dante for one
would have had no difficulty in recognizing the justice of this portrait.
The pentangle passage in Sir Gawaindefines for us the moral limits within which our
imaginations are to operate. Two important conclusions at least emerge from a
reading of it. The first is that human behaviour is a matter of considerable complexity, and that man is called upon to reconcile the divergent claims that are made
upon him at the moral level. The second is that Gawain (embodying to the full
the values of Camelot) is a perfect representative of Christian chivalry.
This second conclusion can be the source of some confusion in our reading of
the poem. There is a danger of treating the pentangle symbolism with the wrong
kind of rigour, and thus of supposing that Gawain's behaviour is subjected to a
more critical scrutiny than the poet intends. It is necessary to clarify the nature of
the claim that the poet makes on behalf of his hero. Dante has shown us the truth
when he says that nobility is the perfection of each thing in accordance with the
peculiarity of its nature. Here we need to recognize that the pentangle is not by
definition a perfect unity; it possessesgreater unity than a quadrangle but less than
a circle. We do not therefore expect of Gawain perfection that is appropriate to
angelic being or to God himself.1Gawain's perfection does not require us to suppose
that he is without sin and that moral behaviour is for him inevitable. Indeed the
first supposition would be heretical and the second would offend against the very
definition of moral behaviour (that is, of activity dependent upon a free and
deliberate act of will). But that Gawain's behaviour is perfect of its kind we need
not doubt; the symbolism of the girdle does not call into question Gawain's perfection, but defines more precisely for us the limited perfection that is possible for
human beings. We can say this because the poet has defined with great care the
nature of Gawain's failing: the inordinate fear for life that leads him to accept the
girdle from the lady (I846-67). Against Gawain's failing, however, are to be set
the fruits of his nobility, and to these it is appropriate that we should now turn.
The moral subtlety of Sir Gawainis reflected in the intricacy of its design. The
disposition of hunting scenes and bedroom scenes indeed forms part of a structural
analogue to the pentangle symbolism; in this way we are constantly made aware
of the relationship between the two in the agreement of Gawain and Bertilak to
exchange winnings, and hence of the larger moral significance of the events that
take place in the bedroom. On a yet broader front the poet has dovetailed the
beheading game and the exchange of winnings, the one (as we later discover) being
made dependent on the outcome of the other. At the end of her trial of Gawain's
chastity and courtesy the lady shifts her ground and, going beyond the immediate
moral environment, successfully appeals to Gawain's fear for his own life. It is by
1 The
figure of the circle is used by Boethius in the De consolatione
philosophiaeto represent the divine
simplicity; see Book II, Prosa I2, I6o-62, 179-84, and I94-97 (in Chaucer's translation).
GERALD MORGAN
783
means of this complex interlocking structure that the poet does justice to the ideas
that he has first directly broached in the pentangle passage. How coherently he has
developed them I hope now to show by taking up the moral issues in the order
that he has presented them to us there.
From the pentangle passage (644-50) it appeared that courage was an important
element in the poet's moral design, and indeed Gawain's failure is ultimately a
failure of courage. But it would be gross to suggest that Gawain lacks courage.
His courage is displayed at the beginning of his quest for the Green Chapel in countless fights against strange knights and wild animals (715-25). In the third fitt the
poet isolates fear for life as the source of Gawain's failing, but in the first part of the
fourth fitt he goes on to consider the extent to which Gawain may be considered
guilty of cowardice. In the second arming scene he focuses upon the girdle (2030 if.),
placed cunningly in juxtaposition with the pentangle (2026-27), and stresses once
again the true motive behind its acceptance (2037-42). It is a testimony to the
sensitivity of his moral analysis and the authenticity of his portrayal of Gawain's
excellence that we should not feel it inconsistent of him at this point to refer to
Gawain as 'pe bolde mon' (2043).
Indeed it is precisely to establish how far (and how little) Gawain has compromised his reputation for valour that the poet has constructed for him a further
The aim of the guide is to exploit Gawain's
test, that of the guide (2091-2159).
in
to
him
unfaithful to his pledged word to the Green
order
make
fears
legitimate
as
one
who is concerned only for Gawain's wellThe
himself
guide presents
Knight.
being; the circumspect politeness of his address leaves us no cause to doubt
his motives (2091-96). The guide assures Gawain of the formidable size and merciless nature of his adversary; the keeping of his pledge involves the certainty of
death (2097-2 7). These are all truths that we ourselves can vouch for, and there
is no need for Gawain to misbelieve the truth of the guide's words. What a loss of
courage would mean here emerges all too clearly from the guide's promise to conceal a failure to keep the appointment (2I 8-25). His invocation of God, Christ,
and the Saints (2119-23) and his assurance of fidelity ('I schal lelly yow layne'
(2124)
play deliberately upon the moral ambiguities of the situation, for the
Virgin Mary is the source of Gawain's courage and a faithful concealment would
involve an act of infidelity. On this occasion Gawain clearly discerns the nature of
the temptation and courteously turns down the guide's offer (2127-28);
we can
appreciate the effort that the exercise of courtesy here costs Gawain ('and gruchyng
he sayde' (2126)) for the guide's suggestion is an affront to a fundamental ideal of
knighthood (2129-31). The guide's response to Gawain's clear statement of the
moral issues and the firmness of his resolve discloses at once to us his true role as
tempter, for he abandons the polite yow (2091, etc.) for the contemptuousfou
(2I40, etc.). His use of the oath 'Mary!' (2 40) has an ironic appropriateness, for
Gawain has revealed his commitment to that lady by showing his courage. It is
important to note, too, that Gawain's faith (afyaunce)is still firmly placed in God
(2136-39 and 2156-59). One consequence of the interrelationship of the virtues is
that the acceptance of the girdle has involved Gawain in the yielding to practices
that are in themselves superstitious.
Between the departure of the guide and the receipt of the blow, or rather blows
as it transpires (2160-2238),
the poet takes the opportunity to exploit to the full the
elements of suspense that lie within his story. He describes the desolation and
784
'Sir Gawainand the GreenKnight'
seeming hostility of the place in which Gawain finds himself (2 63 if.): the rough
rocks that graze the skies (2166-67); the water boiling in the stream (2172-74);
the grass-coveredmound itself (2 180-84). The devilish associations that are aroused
in the mind of the knight (2 85-96) correspond perfectly to our sense of the menace
that has been created within the atmosphere of the poem at this point. This suggestion of menace is immediately confirmed by the description of the hideous noise
of grinding (2199-2204 and 2219-20) and of the size and sharpness of the Green
Knight's axe (2222-26). It is worth noticing how the poet focuses on the fearsome
qualities of this 'felle weppen' (2222), a massive blade, four feet long, newly
sharpened on a whetstone (2223-26). There is no occasion here for the poet to
dwell on the fine craftsmanship of which it is a product (compare 214-20). There
is no comfort either for Gawain in the mood of the man who wields it; he strides
forward 'bremly brope' (2233). The poet has thus superbly concentrated his effects
and, what is more, has presented them to us from Gawain's point of view (2163,
2 I85 ff., and 2205 ff.). We are made sharply aware of the dangers that he confronts
and the fears that they inspire, and as a result we are bound not only to recognize, as
the Green Knight does (2237-38), his great fidelity, but also the courage that such
fidelity requires of him.
In the account of the blows that Gawain receives at the hand of the Green
Knight (2239-2330)
the poet reveals to us a precision in his moral analysis that we
have often been called on to acknowledge before. Gawain's physical response
indicates at one and the same time the extent and limitations of his courage. We are
led to admire the courage with which he presents himself for his death and controls
his fears (2255-58) and feel the justice of the poet's description of him as one that
'do3ty watz euer' (2264). But it is at this point that the great courage of the knight
fails him, for he flinches as the blow descends (2265-67). This failure of nerve
provokes the Green Knight to the sternest of recriminations for such an act of
cowardice (2268-79). This is the second of the judgements that the Green Knight
passes on Gawain (see 2237-38), and we may feel that it is somewhat overdone. At
any rate it is difficult to deny the force of Gawain's observation that he cannot
restore his own head in the manner of a Green Knight (2280-83). Before the
second blow is offered Gawain gives his word to receive it without flinching (228487); this pledge enables the poet to place before us once again the admirable
combination of fidelity and courage in his hero (2292-94), sustained in the
face of the severest of pressures (2288-89). The good knight offers no resistance on
the third occasion until the blow has been struck, and again in the face of the
severest provocation (2305-308).
The manner in which Gawain receives the three blows aimed at him enables us
to see his fidelity and especially his courage in their proper perspective. Gawain's
yielding to his fears in the acceptance of the girdle is mirrored by his flinching from
the first blow; on both occasions ourjudgement of him is moderated by our constant
awareness of the great courage that he displays. There is no need for us to minimize
the seriousness of Gawain's failing (the sinfulness of the human condition is not
something that the poet wishes lightly to accommodate), and ProfessorBurrow is
again right to remind us of its gravity (pp. 133-40). But at the same time we can
appreciate the excellence of Gawain; the poet intends us with the Green Knight
to admire the courage of the man (2331-35), and to see that in this life authentic
courage in its noblest manifestations coexists with the weakness of our fallen nature.
GERALD MORGAN
785
It will be evident from this discussion of Gawain's courage that the emphasis
placed upon it in the pentangle passage is in no sense misleading. We may accordingly turn to the fifth group of virtues in the confidence that each of its constitutive
elements will be duly represented in the course of Gawain's quest for the Green
Chapel.
It is not always easy to isolate Gawain's generosity, since it is so closely related to
his courtesy. Nevertheless it is very much in evidence in the bedroom scenes.
Gawain is, for example, very ready to attribute the advances of the lady to her own
generosity of spirit (I263-67). In the same way he is able characteristically to turn
aside the argument (I495-97) that he should use force to gain his ends:
'3e, be God,' quop Gawayn,'goodis your speche,
Bot Preteis vnpryuandein pede per I lende,
And vche gift pat is geuen not with goud wylle.'
(1498)
The many scenes of celebration at Bertilak's court establish the value offela3schyp
in the sense of companionability (I I 13 f., 1398 if., and I664 ff.). The companionship of Gawain and Bertilak gives rise to theforwardewhich calls for fidelity on both
sides (I I05-I2). This is a solemn and binding agreement; hence the importance of
the statement of the terms, their fulfilment (I383-97 and I635-47) and renewal
(I404-o8 and 1676-85). At the same time Gawain's fidelity to his covenant with
the Green Knight is tested. The lengthy description of hisjourney through England
(691 if.) expresses his fidelity to his pledged word to the Green Knight that he will
seek him out for the return blow (392-403). Moreover he does not neglect his
promise to the Green Knight in agreeing to the game proposed by Bertilak (i6707 ). The issue of fidelity is also at stake in the acceptance of the girdle. The lady
entreats the knight faithfully to conceal the girdle from her lord (I862-63); in
consenting to this entreaty (1863-65) Gawain compromiseshimself, for he cannot at
the same time fulfil his agreement with the lord to exchange winnings. He is guilty
of an act of infidelity to his pledged word and also by the same token an act of
covetousness in withholding that which should properly belong to another. While
we are thus aware of the moral repercussionsof this single act of consent we remain
at the same time aware of Gawain's great moral worth. This combination of moral
excellence and sinfulness is perfectly illustrated by the poet when he describes how
Gawain does in fact conceal the girdle (I874-75). The use of the adverb holdely
(i875) is especially fitting, for it brings to our attention Gawain's fidelity to his
word at the very moment of infidelity. The poet subsequently represents Gawain's
infidelity in objective terms by dressinghim in a 'bleaunt of blwe' (1928), for blue is
the colour of fidelity: that is why Criseyde bids Pandarus take a ring with a blue
stone to Troilus to assure him of her continuing faithfulness (TC, iii.885).
The virtues of chastity and courtesy can perhaps be treated together, since it is
a fundamental premise of the Gawainpoet that cortaysyeis consistent with clannes
(653). This contention is unremarkable in the courtly literature of England in the
late fourteenth century, and it is one to which the poet insistently returns. Gawain's
greeting of the two ladies at Bertilak's court, the old and the young one alike, is
impeccably courteous (970-76). The conversation between the lady and Gawain
on Christmas Day is a perfect example of what the poet has in mind in the
pentangle passage:
50
786
'Sir Gawainand the GreenKnight'
Bot 3et I wot lat Wawen and Pe wale burde
Such comfort of her compaynye ca3ten togeder
bur3 her dere dalyaunce of her derne wordez,
Wyth clene cortays carp closed fro fylbe.
(IO10)
We see, too, how disturbed Gawain is within himself when the lady, on the evening
of the second day of her temptation of him, goes beyond the bounds of propriety
(1658-63). On the third day she comes close to breaching the knight's defences:
For pat prynces of pris depresed hym so Pikke,
Nurned hym so ne3e Pe Pred, pat nede hym bihoued
Ober lach ler hir luf, ober lodly refuse.
He cared for his cortaysye, lest crabayn he were,
And more for his meschef 3if he schulde make synne,
And be traytor to pat tolke pat pat telde a3t.
(1770)
Professor Burrow insists (p. Ioo) that the poet was not 'so preoccupied with chastity
that he could use the word "sin", without further ado, to mean "sexual sin" or sin
in the Sunday papers' sense' (as though the virtue of chastity can be discredited by
sensational modern journalism). It is unusual for Professor Burrow himself to take
so one-sided a view of the poem. He is right to stress the importance of fidelity
here, but wrong to diminish by comparison that of chastity. These lines indeed
provide yet another excellent illustration of the pentangle symbolism, for they show
how an act of unchastity immediately involves an act of infidelity.
Finally we come to the virtue of piety. The Gawain poet would have been
dismayed to find that it was possible for the piety of his hero to have been
called into doubt. The evidence in the text for Gawain's piety is indeed quite
unambiguous. His piety is shown in his anxious care for his devotions on Christmas
Eve (748-62). The festival of Christmas is scrupulously observed at Bertilak's court
On the
(930-40), both with a fitting gravity (soberly,940) and joyously (995-1000).
mornings of the first two temptations by the lady, Gawain gets up and goes to
and I558). On the third morning he goes to confession:
Mass (I309-II
Pere he schrof hym schyrly and schewed his mysdedez,
Of be more and le mynne, and merci besechez,
And of absolucioun he on Pe segge calles;
And he asoyled hym surely and sette hym so clene
As domezday schulde haf ben di3t on Pe morn.
(1880)
Some very fundamental and orthodox theology is involved here, for a formal
acknowledgement of one's sins and absolution of them are certainly necessary in
the Middle Ages for those in expectation of death (subsequently justification
becomes possible by faith alone). The supposition that Gawain's confession is
invalid ('pretty hollow by any standards - and not least by those of the medieval
church', as Professor Burrow tells us (p. o06)), makes no sense of the poem's moral
design, and indeed is difficult to reconcile with any conception of nobility whatsoever. The ultimate cause of the error is the habit of viewing behaviour in
psychological rather than in moral terms. The theological objections that Professor
Burrow raises against Gawain's confession can be answered but need not be
GERALD
MORGAN
787
answered here, for they are simply irrelevant to the poem itself. The point is
that Gawain's confession is the most lucid illustration of his piety that the poet has
given us; here indeed is the 'pite Pat passez alle poyntez'.
The fourth fitt embodies a number of different judgements of Gawain's behaviour:
those of the Green Knight, of Gawain himself, and of Camelot. It would be true
to say, I think, that these judgements are not so much conflicting as presented from
different points of view. We have already seen, indeed, that the Green Knight
himself makes two formal judgements of Gawain during the repayment of blows;
he accuses Gawain of a wretched and uncharacteristic cowardice after the first
(2268 if.), and looks with an unfeigned admiration on his valour after the third
(2331 if.). We should not wish to argue, however, that there is a moral contradiction here, for both responses are attuned to their respective situations. We shall be
unlikely wholly to discount either, although it is important that we should see the
one in its proper relation to the other.
I should like to argue, on the other hand, that the final judgement of the Green
Knight (2336-68) is especially authoritative, and is one that the poem as a whole
sustains. There are a number of factors which make this conclusion persuasive. The
first is, of course, the judgement itself. Here we can see that the Green Knight does
not withhold judgement but moderates it, and does so in accordance with our
experience of the moral issues in the poem as they have been presented to us. Thus
he recognizes Gawain's supreme moral excellence (2363-65), but recognizes also
that his behaviour is not wholly free from blame (2366). This sense of Gawain's
excellence fits perfectly the expectations that the pentangle passage has aroused,
although we must insist once again that the pentangle passage does not encourage
false assumptions of an absolute perfection at the human level (note the use of the
comparative form of expression at 654-55). It is true that when Gawain leaves
Bertilak's castle for the Green Chapel he wears the girdle next to the pentangle
(2025-36), but we can hardly suppose as a result that the pentangle has been shown
to be unfitting as a symbol. What the juxtaposition of the pentangle and girdle
involves (and what we perhaps see more clearly than we did before) is that the
sense of man's spiritual and moral excellence includes for the poet also the recognition of his sinfulness. The pentangle continues to symbolize Gawain's excellence,
and the justice of this symbolism is fully borne out by the Green Knight's words:
'On be fautlest freke pat euer on fote 3ede' (2363). The congruity of the Green
Knight's judgement with the poet's moral analysis is thus evident throughout;
nowhere is this more noticeable than in the recognition of Gawain's motive in
accepting the girdle (compare, for example, 2037-42 and 2367-78); fear for life
has led to an act of infidelity (2366).
It is the knowledge that the Green Knight displays in this recognition-scene (as
Professor Burrow fittingly describes it) that makes a marked contribution to our
sense of his authoritativeness, for it is not only Gawain who is enlightened but also
the auditors of the poem. For the first time we are made aware of the fact that the
outcome at the Green Chapel turns upon Gawain's success or failure in the exchange
The interweaving of the two agreements not only
of winnings agreement (2345-6I).
matches the poet's understanding of the complexity of moral behaviour but also
enables him to express his judgement of the hero in objective terms. Thus the first
two feints repay Gawain's exemplary fidelity on the first two days of temptation by
788
'Sir Gawainand the GreenKnight'
the lady (2345-55) and the slight knock (tappe,2357) his partial failure on the third.
Since it is the Green Knight himself through whom this objective judgement is
conveyed, it is impossible for us not to accord to his words a special respect.
The knowledge which the Green Knight possesses contrasts very markedly
with Gawain's ignorance, and here we refer not only to the fact of the Green
Knight's contrivances (2360-62), his identity and motives (2444-62), but also to
Gawain's lack of moral awareness until the issues have been fully disclosed to him.
Gawain and the Green Knight are thus fittingly represented as standing in the
relationship of penitent and confessor (2385-94). In the Green Knight's judgement
we have seen how an act of cowardice (an inordinate love of life) leads to an act of
infidelity (2366-68), but also how that view is tempered by the acknowledgement of
Gawain's excellence. Gawain takes a much less sympathetic view of his own case,
but his moral analysis is not formally to be faulted. He stressesmore fully than the
Green Knight chooses to do the moral repercussionsof his act of cowardice: it leads
not only to infidelity (2381-83) but also to covetousness (2374 and 2380-81);
that is, to the wrongful withholding of the girdle. This awareness of the interrelationship of the virtues is, as we have seen, a central concern of the poet. The
difference between the Green Knight's judgement and that of Gawain lies not so
much, however, in the stress that each gives to the interrelatedness of virtues, but
to the difference in their points of view. The Green Knight as judge looks with
benign (but not negligent) tolerance on Gawain's exertions (2331-35), but
Gawain himself is filled with shame (2369-72). Although we may recognize the
objective validity of the Green Knight's response we may also feel that Gawain's
shame is appropriate to the sense of his own sinfulness.1 Thus while the Green
Knight sees the love of life as an extenuating element in Gawain's infidelity (2368),
Gawain himself sees cowardice as the source of covetousnessand infidelity (2379 ff.).
The revulsion that Gawain feels is everywhere apparent in his response to the
Green Knight (2374 f.), but we should not mistake the difference of tone as
evidence of a shift in the moral situation. The Green Knight's words should not be
taken to imply a dismissive attitude towards Gawain's fault.
The judgement of the court in its turn must be placed in contextual perspective,
and is intended neither to supersede nor to belittle either of the earlierjudgements.
It is proper that the court should rejoice in the safe return of its noblest knight
(2489-93), and we may recall here the initial identification of Gawain with that
court (109 if.). By accepting the girdle as a badge (2513-22) the court once again
insists upon the identification, and this is surely not a cause for shame. Gawain's
fault serves not so much to qualify knightly renown as to define it; hence the
girdle can be taken as a fitting symbol of 'Pe renoun of Pe Rounde Table' (2519).
1 The assumption that true contrition should be
accompanied by the bitterness of shame is strikingly
illustrated by Langland, Piers Plowman,B xx. 278-82:
For persones and parishprestes bat shulde be peple shryue,
Ben curatoures called to knowe and to hele,
Alle lat ben her parisshiens penaunce to enioigne,
And shulden be ashamed in her shrifte; ac shame maketh hem wende,
And fleen to be freres ...
See also B xx. 302-2I and 352-77.
GERALD MORGAN
789
APPENDIX: JUSTICE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND TRUTH1
a full understanding of Christian thought concerning justice
I. Justice and Righteousness:
requires a recognition of the following propositions and concepts:
(i) Christian moral doctrine is characterized by the integration of love and justice.
Love is, however, more fundamental than justice.
(ii) Divine justice is a primary cause of action, human justice a secondary or dependent cause. The interrelationshipof the supernatural and natural ordersis indeed
a persistent theme of St Thomas. Thus, in discussing whether the goodness of an
act of will depends upon the Eternal Law he observes:
Dicendumquod in omnibuscausisordinatiseffectusplus dependeta causaprima
quam a causasecunda,quia causasecundanon agit nisi in virtuteprimaecausae.
Quod autem ratio humana sit regula voluntatishumanae, ex qua ejus bonitas
mensuretur,habet ex lege aeterna,quae est ratio divina. (ST Ia 2ae I9.4 corp.)
(iii) Human virtues are defined by St Thomas as good operative habits, that is, they
are ordered to act and not to being (ST Ia 2ae 55.1-3). It is common, therefore,
for virtues to be defined by the activities that correspond to them; this is the case
in the standard definition of justice as 'perpetua et constans voluntas jus suum
unicuique tribuendi' (see ST 2a 2ae 58. ). A strict terminology requires the
maintenance of the distinction between habit and resultant activity. It is indeed
the distinction between justice and righteousness:
Ad secundumdicendumquod neque etiamjustitia est essentialiterrectitudo,sed
causalitertantum:est enim habitussecundumquem aliquisrecte operaturet vult.
(ST 2a 2ae 58.1 ad 2)
(iv) Although justice properly refers to a right order in man's actions it is also used
analogically in reference to inner rectitude; that is, the condition of being just:
Alio modo diciturjustitia, prout importatrectitudinemquamdamordinisin ipsa
interioridispositionehominis,prout scilicet supremumhominissubditurDeo, et
inferioresvires animae subduntur supremae, scilicet rationi; et hanc etiam
dictam.(ST ia 2ae I113.1corp.)
dispositionem vocat Philosophus, justitiam metaphorice
(v) Interior justice applies to being before it applies to doing. Nevertheless the state
of justice presupposes the activity that is consonant with it, that is, the keeping
of the Commandments.
(vi) Human justice in the redemptive order of grace is incomplete and imperfect.
Man cannot in this world escape the consequences of original sin.
In the light of these observations we are able to assign the following meanings
to justice:
i. Quality of Justice: (a) divine (b) human
2. Condition of Justice: (a) divine (b) human (= OED s.v. truth,4)
3. Behaviour in accordance with Justice (= OED s.v. truth,9 b)
Strictly speaking we can distinguish between justice (I) and righteousness (2 and 3).
In practice, however, justice and righteousness are often used synonymously. This is
no doubt because of the tendency to define a habit in terms of its related activity;
hence for St Anselmjustitia est rectitudo (see ST 2a 2ae 58. I).
The most explicit statement of Christianjustice in medieval literature is to be found
in the exposition of Truth by Holy Church in Piers Plowman(B i). Here are all the
elements that have already been enumerated: justice is identified first of all with God
the Creator (B i. 14-16), for God is the source and end of all created being; justice is
the state of inner rectitude in man (B i. 129): justice issues in good works (B i. 13,
85-9I); justice witnesses to love (B i. 146 ff.) and love is more fundamental than
justice (B i. 157 if.).
1 See the articles on these subjects in the New CatholicEncyclopaedia(New York, 1967), vmII.
68-77
and xiv. 334-35. The related article on virtue (xiv. 704-09) is especially excellent.
790
II.
'Sir Gawainand the GreenKnight'
Justice andFidelity:
(i) Justice in the OT is neither vindictive nor distributive justice but rather salvific
justice; that is, God is faithful to his freely made promises of salvation and
deliverance. Hence such terms as justice, salvation, fidelity, and truth are easily
interchanged; so in Deuteronomy 32. 4:
Dei perfectasunt opera,
Et omnesviae eius iudicia:
Deus fidelis,et absqueulla iniquitate,
Iustuset rectus.l
(ii) As the justice of God means God's fidelity to his convenantal promises, so the
justice of man means originally man's fidelity to his side of the mutual commitment; that is, the faithful observance of the Commandments.
(iii) The concept of fidelity is inherent in the notion of conformity or order that is
of the very essence of justice, for 'justitia de sui ratione importet quamdam
rectitudinem ordinis' (ST Ia 2ae 113.I corp.).
The connexion between justice and fidelity is also well illustrated in the exposition
of Holy Church in Piers Plowman.The failure to do good works is seen to be a failure
in the loyalty that is owed to the order established by justice; hence it can be said of
the avarice of 'curatours':
And bat is no treutheof Pe trinitebut treccheryeof helle,
And lernyngto lewde men be latterfor to dele
(B i. 196)
What is striking for the reader of Sir Gawainis the manner in which Langland has
extended this idea to the order of chivalry:
For Dauid in his dayes dubbedkni3tes,
And did hem swereon here swerdeto seruetrewtheeuere,
in pe ordre.
And whosopassedbat poynte was apostata
(B i. 102)
The fall of the angels is represented in this context not in terms of pride (compare
B xv. 50-5I) but of disobedience:
Luciferwib legiouneslernedit [that is, treuthe]in heuene,
But for he brakebuxumnessehis blissegan he tyne,
And fel fro pat felawshipin a fendesliknes,
Into a depe derkehelle to dwelle Perefor eure
(B i. IiI)
III.
Truth
(i) The essential meaning of truth in the OT is 'fidelity'. The Hebrew word 'eimetis
derived from the verb 'aman = 'to nurse or rear, to be faithful or trustworthy'.
Truth is God's faithfulness to the covenant he has made with his chosen people
(see Exodus, 34. 6, Deuteronomy, 7. 9, and Psalms 30(31). 6).
(ii) The original meaning of OE triewp/treowpis 'fidelity', and this is a sense that the
noun continues to bear throughout the medieval period. During the course of
the fourteenth century (on the evidence of the citations provided by the OED)
the related sense of 'righteousness'or 'justice' is developed. It is indeed in terms
of righteousness that Holy Church explains Treutheto the dreamer in Passus I
of PiersPlowman.
Dante's discussion of nobilitadefocuses upon the natural qualities of man
(Convivio,Iv. xix.5), whereas the Gawainpoet's account of trawpeincludes the
specifically theological virtue of faith (642-43). This religious dimension is
certainly suggested by Langland's use of the word; indeed in the late fourteenth
is the native word that most fully expresses the perfection of
century trawpbe
Christian chivalry.
GERALD MORGAN
TRINITY COLLEGE,DUBLIN
1 Referenceis to the Bibliasacraiuxtavulgatam
fourthedition (Madrid, I965).
clementinam,