Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight written by an anonymous
Anglo-Saxon poet and translated by the renowned J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The
Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is a very long but very
sophisticated medieval poem. It is divided into
four chapter-like parts; each ending at a crucial point or high note, thus
prompting the reader to carry on.
The tale begins at
banquet of King Arthur in Camelot, where all the knights are eating and
drinking merrily, when “there passed through the portals a perilous horseman”
(Stanza 7, line 7, p. 28) and at his “hue men gaped aghast/in his face and
form that showed;/ as a fay-man fell he passed/and green all over glowed”.
(Stanza 7, lines 18-21).
Thus, the reader
is introduced to the two main characters at the beginning of the story (Gawain
is mentioned earlier in stanza 6 to be sitting at Queen Guinevere’s side). In
other words, the reader does not have to wait long to be introduced to the two
characters mentioned in the title.
The poem Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight does not rhyme – as opposed to the two other
pieces in the book, namely Pearl and Sir Orfeo; however, there is
the exception of the last six lines of each stanza. The poem is highly
alliterative; most lines consist of at least three alliterating words, with
some exceptions, such as:
“Very
gay was this great man guised
all in green”, (Stanza
9, line 1, p. 30).
“Woven in with
gold wire
about the wondrous green”, (Stanza 9, line 11, p. 30).
The Green Knight
presents a challenge to the court of Camelot and Sir Gawain takes it. According
to the challenge, Gawain must, before the following New Year’s Day, seek out
the Green Knight, who announces that he is the “Knight of the Green Chapel” and
fight him.
The second part of
the poem begins with Sir Gawain announcing that it is time for him to leave
Camelot to fulfill the Green Knight’s challenge. There are several stanzas
describing Sir Gawain’s attire and how sad the people of Camelot are to see him
go. Then, he begins he quest to find the Green Knight of the Green Chapel. He
journeys to lands known and unknown, meets with trolls and ogres (but none of
these feats is described). Right before Christmas, he prays to God – and Jesus
– to send him to a place where he can attend Christmas Mass. His prayer is answered
and he arrives at a castle shortly afterwards.
Towards the end of
the second part, Sir Gawain tells the lord of the house that he is on a quest
to find the Green Knight and that he has only three days left to New Year’s Day.
The lord of the house answers that he knows where this Green Knight lives and
that Gawain has nothing to fear for the place he seeks is but two miles away.
Each part of the Sir Gawain and the Green Knight poem ends on a mysterious and suspenseful note that gives a hint of what is to
come in the following part. The second part ends with these lines: “Yet ere
to bed they came,/he the bargain did oft recall;/ he knew how to play a
game/that old governor of that hall” (Stanza 45, lines 18-21, p. 66).
The third part
begins where the lord of the house and his men prepare for a hunt. Shortly
after they leave, the lady of the house, who is often described as beautiful,
enters Sir Gawain’s room and attempts to seduce him. She tells Gawain “To my
body you will welcome be/of delight to take your fill;/for need constraineth
me/ to serve you, and I will.” (Stanza 49, lines 18-21). His response to
her is rather awkward as he speaks of honour and being an unworthy knight. To me, it sounds like a strange response to a woman
attempting to seduce a man. Moreover, it does not sound like a polite decline.
The whole of the
third part is about the games Sir Gawain and the lord of the castle play during
Gawain’s three remaining days. They agree that each would give the other what
each has won during the day. The stanzas constantly shift between the hunts and
what goes on in the castle between Gawain and the lady of house. On the second
day, the lady of the castle visits Sir Gawain in his bed and attempts to seduce
him once more.
“Here
single I come and sit,/a pupil for your play;/come teach me of your
wit,/ while my lord is far away”
(Stanza 60, lines 24-28, p. 82). I am not sure how what the manner of a knight
would be to this kind of approach; nonetheless, I find Sir Gawain’s preliminary
response rather awkward. “In good faith” said Gawain “may God reward you!/
Great delight I gain, and am glad beyond measure…”, (Stanza 61, lines
1&2, p. 82). The poet is clearly criticising the lack of chastity and
desire, however, the knight’s response or possibly the level of the language appears
to be too high a level, making it look and sound rather strange, and which
results in the whole situation sounding rather funny.
Twice the lord of
the castle gives Sir Gawain the outcome of the hunt, and twice Sir Gawain
returns them with kisses, which were his daily winnings from the lady of the
castle. On the third day, however, the lady of the house goes to Sir Gawain’s
room (again) and when all attempts to seduce him fail, she states that she is
heartbroken and asks for a token of his to remember him by. She offers him a
green belt; he refuses, but when she claims that whoever wears this belt cannot
die, Sir Gawain decides to take it for his confrontation with the Green Knight,
wherein he might be slain. On the third night, Gawain gives the lord of the
castle three kisses, as the lady had given him earlier that day, but keeps the
belt and does not mention where he got those kisses.
The fourth and
final part begins with Sir Gawain finally setting out, with a guide, to seek
out the Green Knight. He is given a chance to forsake this quest and return to
his homeland, but as an honourable knight and a believer in God, he refuses. The
guide would not go beyond a certain point for fear of the Green Knight. Thus,
Gawain must continue the journey alone.
We
finally meet the Green Knight along with an unexpected twist of events.
I
will not divulge anymore here because it would give the surprise away. However,
it is safe to say that the last few stanzas of the poem contain references to
Morgana Le Fey and others from the Arthurian tales. These final stanzas wittingly
connect the beginning and ending of the story and give a reason for the Green
Knight’s strange challenge.
The final
twist is like the leather that binds a book; it answers many questions that
come to the reader’s mind whilst reading.
For some
unknown reason, though occasionally for alliteration purposes, some of the
references to Sir Gawain are written as Sir Wawain.
The poem is
very long: 101 stanzas of not less than 20 lines each. I realised that it
should be read at a single go or at short time intervals. It is preferable to
at least make the stops at the end of each part. There are many boring parts,
especially since we meet the Green Knight in the first few pages then we do not
see him until the middle of the fourth part.
Tolkien’s
style is fairly dominant in the poem (or at least that’s how I felt); the
reader cannot tell who would have written the piece better – Tolkien or the
anonymous poet. The verse is highly alliterative making it very musical along
with the last rhyming six lines of every stanza.
Overall, I would give Tolkien a five-star rating for the
strenuous effort undertaken to produce such a piece, but as for the content
itself, I would give the original anonymous writer around 2.5 stars, for many
parts were dull (that cannot be taken against the translator who cannot
omit parts from the original work).
