Sir Gawain and the green knight

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is both a famous piece of Arthurian Legend, and a work that treats the major Christian argument of the fourteenth century, contrasting the two major opposing views:

Augustine, who suggested man could not please God on his own and could only please God with God’s help, 

vs. 

Pelagius, who suggested man could please God through man’s own efforts.

In this controversy, Gawain (and Arthur’s entire court) represents Pelagius’ view. The chivalric code is essentially a series of rules to follow in order to make the knights pleasing to God and to help them live in accordance with spiritual laws—but as we see in Arthurian legend (even without the “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” story) the ultimate failure of Arthur’s court comes because people on their own cannot perfectly obey such difficult laws—humankind is too flawed. 

The Green Knight represents Augustine’s view, that man cannot please God completely without God’s help—thus humility (acknowledgement that one is not perfect ) is essential. Though Arthur’s court may SEEM to represent this because Arthur is known for his humility—even Arthur himself cannot hold to the law perfectly.  He SHOULD execute Guenevere and Lancelot for treason according to his own laws, but in the original stories, he assigns the laziest knights to guard Guenevere so that Lancelot has an easy time rescuing her, and even his own men see through the deception.  

The Green Knight sees Gawain as spiritually clean when Gawain confesses his fault – i.e. when Gawain acknowledges he isn’t a perfect knight; however, because Gawain himself is still Pelagian at heart, Gawain never feels the peace that might come from a more Augustinian view (Augustinian view:  though man can’t please God without God’s help, God will provide the help and forgiveness when man falls short of perfection). 

We’ll start with the Arthurian legend aspects of the piece.  The piece fits the qualifications of a romance, meaning that it is set in a world in which the laws of nature are suspended (i.e. a magical world), and in which idealized heroes fight the forces of evil. The pattern of most romances is  a quest, on which the hero must search for an item of great value, and on the way, learns something about him or herself.  Gawain in on a quest to find the Green Knight, a quest on which his virtues of bravery, faithfulness, and sexual morality will be challenged.

Recall in early Arthurian legend, Arthur and his court at Camelot seem to uphold the chivalric ideal…but as time goes on, the high standards prove impossible to hold to, and serious moral cracks in the code leave Camelot in ruins – Lancelot sleeps with Guenivere, betraying Arthur, Arthur gives in to despair when  he loses his wife and best friend, etc. Consider Tennyson’s version in Idylls of the King (written much later in the 1800’s) where the early story about a young man and his love shows Gareth winning stubborn Lynette over…vs. a later tale where Pelleas trusts Gawain to speak for him to Ettarre, and Gawain sleeps with Ettarre instead, and Pelleas marches back to Camelot to call Arthur and the Round table out as phonies.  The overall suggestion seems to be that the ideals are noble, but nearly impossible to maintain….and here we come to our religious argument. Augustine’s side said man’s sinful nature cannot be overcome without the Holy Spirit/God’s help…contrasted with Pelagius who suggested man could please God by being good (much like the later deists believed). 

Our story starts optimistically. The Green Knight challenges Arthur’s court…but it is a frivolous challenge…nothing more than a party game of bravery, since no one is being held captive, and no good can really come of the game.  When the Green Knight picks up his own head, the court is horrified; all but Arthur and Gawain…who at least on the surface believe that God will protect the righteous in battle (recall from Excalibur the line “by the law of God, no knight who is false can win in combat against one who is true.”

Gawain keeps his word, and goes in search of the Green Knight the following year before Christmas—significant because Jesus was supposedly born to ransom mankind by paying for man’s sins with his own life (more in keeping with Augustine’s idea that we need God’s help to please Him).

He finds a castle, and makes a bargain with the owner…the owner will help him find the Green Knight if he’ll stay a few days and a play a game: each man gives the other what he won that day. The man’s wife comes to Gawain’s bedroom and tempts him, and he is torn between two competing ideas: as a knight, he’s supposed to be chaste(virginal until married, and then sex only with spouse); but he’s also supposed to be courteous (give no offense) so he can’t show disrespect to the woman’s advances for fear of hurting her feelings, but if he doesn’t show some refusal, he’ll go too far and disrespect his host.  We’re told she “drove him so close to the line that she left him no choice but to take the full pleasure she offered or flatly refuse her” and we’re told the danger would have been great had “Mary not watched her knight.” Gawain has made a pledge of chastity to the Virgin Mary, and her image appears on his shield. The pentacle device (the 5 pointed star) which today has become associated with devil worship, was originally a Christian symbol associated with: 

WOUNDS: Faith in the Five Wounds Christ received on the cross (one in each limb and the spear wound in the abdomen)

JOYS OF MARY: Five Joys the Virgin Mary had in Jesus. These are not listed in the poem, but are offered as background:
(1) Annunciation
(2) Nativity
(3) Resurrection
(4) Ascension
(5) Assumption

VIRTUES: And, finally, the Five Knightly Virtues (exact wording depends on translation, so several synonyms are offered)
(1) free-giving (or generosity)
(2) friendliness (or brotherhood)
(3) chastity (or sexual purity)
(4) chivalry (or courtesy)
(5) piety (or compassion)

The wife suggests Gawain resists her because he loves another, and he assures her that is not the case…her response is it’s worse to hear he’s just resisting her. She asks for a parting token, and he has none to give her, so she offers him a token too valuable for him to accept – a gold ring. Then as a second, lesser gift, she offers a belt…one with special powers – that will protect the wearer from harm.

When the husband/host returns, Gawain gives him the kisses he earned from the wife, but hides the belt…marking the failure of his vow to the lord of the castle.

Gawain goes to find the Green Knight and meet his fate, and finds the Knight underneath a small green hill (which looks suspiciously like a faerie mound…a place in Celtic mythology where faeries lived, and where they took mortals to their world, often never to return). Gawain sees it is a satanic place, and anti-Christian. Gawain hears the axe being sharpened to cut his head off, but tells himself he wont give in to fear.

The Green Knight tells Gawain he’s impressed he actually came, and prays for him: “may God be your guard.”

Gawain flinches at the Green Knight’s first pass, and the Green Knight mocks him for his fear; Gawain tells him he wont flinch again, but reminds him that unlike the Green Knight, Gawain will not be able to pick up his head and put it back on once it’s cut off. The Green Knight mocks Arthur’s court, and nicks Gawain slightly on the third pass – and then explains:

The first pass and second made no mark, because the first two nights Gawain gave the Knight (who was the host of the castle, unbeknownst to Gawain) what he had earned; the last pass he nicked him because Gawain gave him all but the sash, and Gawain only kept the sash to spare his own life, not for profit…so there’s less blame (but not NO blame). 

The Green Knight praises Gawain highly – calls him a pearl among peas…but Gawain can only think about his failure…and says “I can’t deny my guilt; my works shine none too fair!”

The Green Knight now tells Gawain “you’re confessed, clean, acknowledging sins and bearing the plain penance of my point; I consider you polished as white and perfectly clean as if you had never fallen since you were first born” and he gives Gawain the sash to keep for remembrance. The Green Knight now seems more God than faerie…for who else can forgive sins? And he calls Gawain clean, not because Gawain committed no sin, but because he acknowledge his sin in open confession (fitting Augustine’s model of Christianity rather than Pelagius’…according to Augustine, we can’t be perfect so we confess to God and he forgives; according to Pelagius we live perfect lives so we please God through our own strength and merit). 

At the end of the tale (you only have the partial story in your book) Gawain returns to Camelot, and the court is amazed at his bravery and success, even though Gawain feels like a perpetual failure for not giving the host the sash as agreed upon. Arthur chides Gawain for being too hard on himself, and we seem left with several messages:

Arthur’s court is not perfect

But Arthur’s court is pretty darn good

Yet the standard of chivalry is too hard to meet completely…so we need God’s forgiveness – go Augustine!