The medieval romance, SGGK is written in long stanzas and short, metered and rhymed, couplets, called “bob” and “wheel,” at the end of each verse. The alliteration, free from rhyme and rhythm, in the long stanzas is obviously influenced by Old English, while the “bob” and “wheel” signifies a Middle English influence.
Each blow, or, more precisely, the two feints and nick, that the Green Knight gives to Gawain parallel Gawain’s stay in the castle and the agreement he had with his host. The agreement, or the pledge of troth, was that Gawain would return what he received that day to the host at the end of the day and vice versa. Gawain does this successfully for the first two days, thus the two feints. The third day, Gawain receives a green satchel from the host’s wife and promises her that he will not tell the host; therefore this second promise interferes with his first and Gawain receives a nick from the Green Knight. But Gawain is only human and therefore is not killed.
SGGK has been described as a quest romance. As typical of a medieval romance, it has external dangers: the Green Knight and winter. However, the real dangers are internal, or inside. So at the beginning of SGGK, we are in the court of King Arthur and everyone feels safe, until the interruption of the Green Knight. Gawain sets out a year later an encounters dangers in the wilderness, but none so life-threatening as the ones inside the castle.
“Inside” also represents Gawain’s psychological and moral position. He gives his troth to his host and keeps it for two days. On the third day, fearing for his life, he accepts a green sash and pledges his word to the host’s wife that contradicts his first pledge of troth. Later, Gawain successfully completes the external quest and learns that just saying you will do you duty (honor your troth) will not suffice.
One mythical element that appears in SGGK is the two aspects of the earth mother. She is symbolized by the old woman, Morgan Le Fay, meaning the tomb and death. She is also symbolized by a young woman as resurrection and the womb. Another mythical element is the Green Knight himself. He is green, symbolizing nature in all of it aspects: beauty, destruction, mystery, etc.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a Middle Age quest romance that, most certainly, meets the medieval criteria of teaching and delighting. This is a remarkable work because of its vivid, detailed descriptions that combine beautiful images and amusing situations with informative how-to-dos, as well as the typical medieval morals and lessons.
Throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight there are rich, full, detailed descriptions of nature, feasts, and preparing the day’s catch for cooking. In the illustrations of nature we see much beauty and learn that that beauty can be quite deadly:
Now with serpents he wars, now with savage wolves,
Now with wild men of the woods, that watched from the rocks,
Both with bulls and with bears, and with boars besides,
And giants that came gibbering from the jagged steeps.
Subsequently, we learn that Sir Gawain bore himself bravely and trusted in God, and that is why he made it through. From God we get the church and the feeling of safety in mass, or community. When Gawain is by himself in the bitterness of nature in winter, he longs for the communal safety and contentedness he knew in King Arthur’s court, and will know in the castle.
In the castle there are orgies of descriptive gaiety, good will, and general gluttony. Gawain feels, once again, warmth and safety in the company of people. He then pledges his troth with his host for the last three days he will spend at the castle: each agreeing to award the other with their days’ prizes. The reader is entertained with fierce and detailed accounts of the host’s hunt, the dalliance between Gawain and the host’s wife, the exchange of the day’s earnings between Gawain and the host, and almost too detailed descriptions of the preparation of the killed animals and the three great feasts. Comedy plays an important roll in delighting the reader: from the host’s wife holding Gawain captive, naked in his bed, to the host bringing a decapitated boar’s head to Gawain who is convinced he will lose his own head on the morrow. These scenes of wit, charm, and detail keep the reader’s attention while the story attempts to pass along its lesson.
Through the suspense at the end of the story, i.e. the two feints and the blow, Gawain learns a valuable lesson about being a medieval human and knight. Your troth should never be given lightly, and one’s actions represent the true measure of someone’s worth, not his words. Thus, through the wonderful descriptions of the events in this quest romance, we can be delightfully instructed.
