Sir Gawain and The Green Knight Essay

Gawain does not give in to it and accepts her kisses only. The next day she tries to give him an expensive ring but he does not take it. She offers him a sash that keeps all things from harming him. He accepts but keeps it from Lord Bertilak’s at the end of the day but gives him the kisses by doing this he failed this

Many years ago, knights were expected to form a certain type of relationship with their king, this relationship was otherwise known as fealty. Fealty is a knight’s sworn loyalty to their king (in other words a loyal relationship should be formed between the two). The use of this relationship is shown in the poem called “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” ( the author is unknown). This poem has a classic quest type of formula, with a knight receiving a challenge and then going out on a journey to pursue that challenge, leading to a return home to report the results of his quest. This story begins at Christmas time when a knight (who is completely green) rides into King Arthur 's hall. The Green Knight proposes a game to those who are around him which is that “Any knight brave enough to strike off the Green Knight 's head may do so, but that man must accept a return stroke in approximately one year’s time”. Gawain accepts the challenge because he will not allow King Arthur to accept this. Gawain manages to then cut off the Green Knight 's head. The knight then picks up his severed head and leaves, telling Gawain to look for the Green Chapel when it is time for Gawain to fulfill the other half of the challenge that he has accepted. Near the end of the chosen year, Gawain sets out in search of the Green Chapel because he must complete the given challenge. On his journey in search of the Green knight, he finds a castle in the wilderness. The

Sacrifice is a quality that many people choose to ignore. But Sir Gawain magnified this virtue to its extent, even to the brink of death. When the Green Knight challenged the knights of King Arthur for a game, and King Arthur volunteered, it was Sir Gawain who stepped in. Gawain takes on the Green Knight game and goes for the blow. Gawain chops off the Green Knight’s head, but in shocking disbelief, the Green Knight picks up his head and gives a speech. The Green Knight then instructs Gawain to get his way to the Green Chapel to receive his blow in return. Lines (347-350) states, “For I find it

With the power of the green girdle by his side and his mind set forth on his destiny, Gawain heads out with the guide to find the Green Knight. About half way through the ride the guide asks Gawain whether he would decide to slide out of his scenario with the Green Knight. As they reach the border of the forest, the guide promises not to tell anyone if Gawain decides to give up the quest. Gawain refuses, determined to

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, after Gawain ventures “into a forest fastness, fearsome and wild” (Norton, 311), he prays that he will be able to find “harborage” on Christmas Eve (Norton, 312). It is the middle of winter, and Gawain has been traveling in search of the Green Knight whose head he has cut off. After he prays and signs himself three times, Gawain finds a magical castle in the midst of a winter forest. He rides to the castle and is granted permission to enter by the lord. Gawain is attended to in a fashion befitting kings, and he meets the lord who tells his identity to all in the court. There are many significant implications and foreshadowings which occur during Gawain’s

There is heavy celebration and feasting among all of the court for fifteen days until New Year’s Day. King Arthur proposes a game and refuses to eat his dinner until he has heard a wonderful story. Everyone sits in quiet at Arthur’s request, and suddenly they hear something coming from the door. The Green Knight burst through the door glowing, decorated with gold speckles and wielding a glowing green axe while mounted on his Green Horse. The Green Knight has very handsome features including long hair and a long beard. The Green figure shocked the guest and the court leaving their jaws locked open at the sight of this Green Knight. The Green Knight proposes his offer reassuring Arthur that he is not there to fight, as he has no armor on, but rather test Arthur’s court that he has heard so many great things about. He offers the court a particular challenge against his life, saying that whomever strikes him must let the Green Knight repay the same blow he suffered to the challenger. With such a odd challenge at the courts midst, Arthur and his guest are still shocked at this figure and hesitate to reply. The Green Knight begins to question the courts reputation and Arthur will not take this disrespect. King Arthur steps up and grabs the Green Knight’s Axe, prepares to take a blow, but is stopped by his nephew Sir

Sir Gawain finally moves on from the castle and goes to the Green chapel, which happens to be a mound. He gets there, and is admittedly scared, but ready to die. The Green knight goes to strike Sir Gawain with his axe, but does not. The Green knight notices Sir Gawain flinches and begins to mock him. Sir Gawain proceeds to tell the Green knight that he will not be able to pick up his head like the Green knight did. The Green Knight goes to strike Sir Gawain a second time and Sir Gawain does not flinch this time. Sir Gawain is ready to die now after the first flinch. The Green knight then went to strike Sir Gawain a third time and he began to get frustrated, the Green knight began to talk with Sir

The next day during the hunt, they came across a wild boar. It was a struggle, with each time they shot it with an arrow; it did not pierce its hide. That struggle represents the same struggle Gawain had in the bedroom. The second time the lady came to his room, the fair

The Green Knight agrees if Gawain will come to wherever he thinks the Green Knight will be. Of course, Gawain has no clue where he would find him, so the Green Knight says that he will tell him if Gawain can hit him square on the neck. Then Sir Gawain strikes him directly on his neck, and the Green Knights head rolls off. The Green Knight proceeds to pick up his head and leave, while bleeding terribly from the neck as if he were unharmed. Before he leaves, he tells Sir Gawain to come to the Green Chapel when they agreed. So then a year passes before Gawain comes across his second trial. It occurs while Gawain stays in the castle of a hospitable lord before he is to meet again with the Green Knight. During his stay, the lord and Sir Gawain agree to "exchange what each has won during the day" (Ponsor 128). For three days the lord brings back what he has hunted, and Gawain gives him the kisses he has received from the lady of the castle. However, he also received a magical green scarf from the lady on the third day, but fails to exchange it for it is a token of good luck. When Sir Gawain finally meets with the Green Knight, he prepares to be struck with a scythe, but the Green Knight ends up only giving him a minor scratch on the neck. This is because the knight was testing his honor, and he scratched him because he did not maintain his honor on that third day. He was supposed to hand over

In the final part Gawain becomes brave and valuable. Gawain shows that he is brave because when the green knight pretends to swing twice and does not harm Gawain becomes aggravated. On the final strike Gawain stands up for himself and says “Have done with your hacking-harry me no more!” (Borroff l. 415). As shown, Gawain takes action and control over the situation and will not let the green knight taunt him any longer. Finally by the end of the section, Gawain is becomes a valuable knight. Sir Gawain is later finds out that Lord Bertilak was actually the green knight and Gawain was put through a test. Gawain had to prove that he was a honorable and noble knight by passing the three tiered test of the gift exchange. Gawain passes the first two days of the test and is recognized for his honesty, but fails to give the lord the girdle he was given. Gawain becomes astonished and ashamed of himself leading him to say “Now am I faulty and false, that fearful was ever Of disloyalty and lies, bad luck to them both! And greed.” (Borroff l. 473-474). Although Gawain did not successfully pass the test, the green knight, or in better terms Lord Bertilak, explains to him that it was humane for him to keep the girdle because he wanted to survive. In conclusion, Gawain learns that he is “polished as a pearl” (Borroff l. 83) because he kept his promise to the green knight and completed the

The opposition between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight began when the knight entered the kings hall on New Years Eve. He challenged anyone present to strike him with an axe, providing that he could do the same one-year later. Gawain, not wanting the King to partake in such a game, takes up the challenge and cuts off the Green Knight’s

As Sir Gawain presses on in his search for the Green Chapel, he faces numerous physical challenges. Yet he overcomes them all to the point that "to tell but the tenth part would tax my wits" (1719) as he has countless battles with serpents, wolves, and the like. The true challenges come after he arrives at Bercilak's castle. There, he is tempted three times by Lady Bercilak's advances--yet he does not give in to her advances, nor spurn her completely in an uncourtly manner. Further, he does not accept her gift of the ring which she offers as a remembrance. However, when she offers her green girdle, proclaiming its properties of protection:

In the poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," Gawain is a guest at Hautdesert Castle. During his stay at the castle, three separate hunts take place. These hunts also parallel temptations aimed at Gawain by the wife of the Lord of Hautdesert Castle. In each hunt scene, a characteristic of the prey of that hunt is personified in Gawain's defense against the advances of the Lord's wife.

Part Three of the tale is the peak of Gawain’s obstacles in the form of the Lady Bercilak. He is repeatedly tested in a psychological game of chivalry against courtesy. To Gawain, the Lady Bercilak is even “Lovelier than Guenevere” (line 945), his own queen, so it is no doubt that the challenge imparted upon him by her attempts at seduction is a great one indeed. In addition, Gawain also must compete in Lord Bercilak’s game of trading each day’s winnings for the winnings of the other

In the beginning of the work, the knights of the round table and King Arthur are celebrating the New Years. This, going by the Hero’s Quest archetype, is represented as the common day world or the threatened community. This celebration is then interrupted by an unsettling presence; the Green Knight. It is at this point the uninvited guest calls for a challenge, “If anyone from this hall holds himself so hardy, so bold both of brain and blood, as to dare strike me one stroke for another, I will give him as a gift this ax, which is heavy enough, in sooth, to handle as he may list, and I will abide the first blow, unarmed as I sit.”,which is interpreted as the call to adventure (Weston #). The mentor figure, in which King Arthur fits into, accepts the challenge, only to be interrupted by Sir Gawain, Arthur’s nephew; the story’s hero. Gawain accepts the challenge and cuts the Knight’s head off. However, he picks it back up and tells him he will see him next year. It is at this point that the Green Knight can be seen as the Herald and the Creature of Nightmare for Gawain at the same time, since he now has an entire year of anticipation for his beheading by the Knight. However, it isn’t until the near