Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

 

I first read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in my first year of undergrad. I was beginning an English Literature degree and it was a book in my World Literature 100 class. I cannot remember anything else from that class except the Greek classics, but Gawain stuck with me. I loved it, which surprised me as a person who read mostly experimental and genre novels. I did not expect to enjoy it, but I loved it. I had never been a huge fan of Arthurian legends and thought they might be a bit too cheesy for me. Chivalric code and romance seemed archaic and misogynistic to my 19 year old self. Arthurian legend, by reputation, is very formal and antiquated in our modern age. The early Middle Ages, which was King Arthur’s time period, are often seen as a low point in the culture in Europe. Arthurian tales, however, were extremely popular at the time and ushered in a great literary movement. Arthurian tales focus on morality, romance, chivalry, & magic. Most of them concern themselves with Arthur, Lancelot, & Guinevere, while the main character of this poem is Gawain, Arthur’s youngest nephew. The author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is unknown. They are referred to as the “Gawain Poet” or sometimes, “The Pearl Poet” in reference to another work. There is much scholarship on their identity. The research is out there if it interests you. Honestly, their identity is not very important in the large scheme of things. The work is already a classic and centuries old. I will leave it to the scholars. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written in Middle English. Any former English major who had to read The Canterbury Tales in Middle English, (I still have my Riverside Chaucer 20 years later as a badge), will tell you it takes time, effort, and a lot of reading aloud to understand Middle English. For this reason, Gawain is usually translated to Modern English. I decided to choose two translations for this post. J.R.R. Tolkien’s verse translation and Jamie Weston’s prose translation he created for easy understanding by modern readers. This poem is a simple tale, but it has stood the test of time because it possesses lessons that persist to the day. Our story begins in King Arthur’s court on New Year's Day. The King and his Knights of the Round Table are celebrating the new year when Arthur asks for a good story. Upon his request an unarmored knight enters the room, completely green with a green horse and a large axe.The unknown knight puts forth a challenge. He will offer a blow to his head from any knight providing they come to meet him in one year’s time and accept the same blow. When no knight steps forward, Arthur is ready to accept the challenge when Sir Gawain, Arthur’s youngest nephew, accepts the challenge. Gawain strikes the blow to the Green Knight neck and lopes off his head, but the knight does not die. He leans over, picks up his head, and prepares to leave. As he leaves, he purposely shows his head to Guinevere and reminds Gawain of his promise to find him in a year’s time. A year passes and Gawain sets off on his journey to meet the Green Knight. There is a great description of him suiting up his armor, extremely detailed. There are illusions to battles on his journey, though no great detail is given. On Christmas morning, he happens upon a castle where he decides to stay the night. The residents of the castle are Lord Bertilak, his lady, and an old woman who appears to be held in high esteem. They dine and when Gawain inquires about the Green Chapel he seeks, he is told by Bertilak that it is a mere 2 miles down the road and invites Gawain to stay until the New Year. Gawain, relieved at this news, accepts. The Bertilak of the castle speaks with Gawain the next day. He lets him know that he hunts all day, but he will have the company of his wife. Bertilak proposes an “exchange of winnings” at the end of each day. He will give him his hunt and he will exchange what he received that day. On day one, Gawain spends the day with the lady, who is obsequious with her compliments and is romantically aggressive. Gawain placates her advances with a single kiss. When Bertilak returns from his hunt, he presents Gawain with a deer. Gawain gives Bertilak one kiss, but does not reveal where it came from. On day two, the lady becomes more insistent on Gawain’s affection. Gawain accepts two kisses from her. When Bertilak returns, he gives Gawain a boar and Gawain kisses him twice. On day three, the lady is aggressive to the point Gawain becomes very uncomfortable. She tries to give him her gold ring, which Gawain refuses. She insists he take her green and gold girdle as it is magic and will protect him. He accepts this and three kisses. When Bertilak returns that night, he gives Gawain a fox and Gawain returns three kisses but does not give him the girdle. The next day Gawain sets out to meet his fate with the girdle around his waist. He reaches a cavern where the Green Chapel is supposed to be. Soon he spots the Green Knight and knows the two things are the same. He approaches the knight and tells him he has come to accept his fate. Gawain, being the chivalrous knight that he is, presents his neck to the knight. The Green Knight feigns the first two attempts and on his third attempt, merely nicks his neck enough to draw a small amount of blood. The Green Knight is revealed to be Bertilak assisted by the magic of Morgan le Fay, the old woman from the castle. The entire challenge was her idea. She wanted to show the knights of the round table were not so virtuous and she wanted to mess with Guinevere. Gawain, however, had shown himself to be virtuous so he did not hurt him. Gawain, hearing this, confesses he hid the girdle which was against the agreement. Bertilak laughs and says this is the reason for the small nick. At this, Gawain departs and returns home a hero. In his honor all the knights begin to wear a green and gold sash. I did enjoy my re-read of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I do not think it had quite the same impact on me as my first read through. While I did still give it four stars in Fable, the rating may be affected by reading it as prose as well as a poem. The beauty of this poem is its alliteration. It is very pretty to read. The audiobook of the Tolkien translation has a great narrator that makes the language dance, spin, and truly shine through. My love of this tale is as much about the use of the language as the story it tells. While I would agree that translating the verse to prose makes it more “readable.” It also removes a lot of the magic the verse gives us. As a lover of language, I do feel there is some joy that does not translate without the alliteration. However, if you have a reluctant reader who loves the time period, it is a great option. What do you think? Do you have a favorite translation? Any other Arthurian legends I should read? Let me know.