Julia Keplinger explores the imperative function that the Green Knight had in King Arthur's court in the fantastical tale, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Julia Keplinger
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a story written in the fourteenth century, which follows one knight’s journey through the Wirral forest to receive the decapitating blow he first gave to a giant green knight. The epic incorporates religious elements and well-known characters to tell a story about courage, fealty, and courtly relations.
The author of Sir Gawain—known only as the Gawain Poet—deftly uses the society and culture around him to create a fictional world that grapples with changing religious systems and contending idols as his story does. One character in particular, the Green Knight, navigates the Pagan and Christian worlds in unprecedented ways. Ultimately, he acts as a medium through which Pagan elements test the Christian values held by the court of King Arthur.
Sir Gawain is just one of many versions of an older tale from tenth-century Ireland called Fled Bricrend. In this original version, a bored Lord Bricrui pits three knights against each other to compete for the Champion’s Portion at his lavish feast. The iconic challenge from Fled Bricrend which appears in all subsequent versions of the story is the beheading game. The game has only three stipulations: a knight must behead whoever poses the challenge, the knight must agree to have his own head severed by the one he first beheaded, and the knight will be killed if he reneges. The challenge is inherently illogical, but is meant to test the courage and integrity of the knight that agrees to it. The unknown Gawain poet uses religious facets to tailor a centuries—old story to his audience in the West Midlands of England. Ideas from Christianity, the Pagan world, and the other variations of Fled Bricrend influenced the Gawain Poet’s story—from the timeline and setting to the instigator and penance.
Each version of the “beheading game” story is a slight variation of Fled Bricrend, enhancing particular aspects and altering details to fit the time and culture of the society it was written in. Both the Story of Carados and Lancelot in the Waste Land from twelfth-century France forgo magic altogether, instead leaning heavily on Christian elements. The knights Carados and Lancelot are able to avoid the reciprocated decapitation due to filial relations and piety, respectively. The Girl with the Mule from thirteenth-century France involves Pagan influences subtly while referencing Christian figures and holidays directly. The knight Gawain travels through the Wirral forest to be offered the beheading challenge by a giant, which he survives due to his courage. The Story of Hunbaut—also from thirteenth-century France—directly implicates Paganism with the beheading game. The knight Gawain is aware of the sorcery used to extend the life of the dwarf who proposed the challenge and is able to terminate the trick game for good.
It is important to recognize the religious elements in these “beheading game” stories. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight introduces a unique interaction between Paganism and Christianity. Understanding how religion impacted the societies in which these stories were written helps explain the nuances of each version. Paganism—often referred to as the “old way”—describes polytheistic religions that predate Christianity. Pagan religions often entail magic or sorcery, which is regarded as evil or demonic according to Christian principles. Christianity is a monotheistic religion based largely on the teachings of the figure Jesus Christ. It came into existence around the mid-first century in modern-day Israel, quickly spreading to continental Europe before reaching what is today the UK and Ireland. It overtook Paganism as the prominent religious system of the region. Christianity’s presence in Europe significantly impacted medieval literature thematically.
Sir Gawain is hailed as “a poem of religious synthesis”, in which Pagan thematic elements are employed to test the Christian values of King Arthur’s court (Tracy 31). The Green Knight in particular is a complex character who plays both Pagan and Christian roles throughout the poem, becoming a “bogeyman in a world obsessed with religions and social order” (Martin 17). In concocting a character with such duality, the Gawain Poet creates an epic poem that constructs an intriguing dynamic between two vastly different religious systems that fascinates readers six centuries after its publication.
One Pagan element that is fully represented in the Green Knight’s physical form is the “wild man” of Celtic lore. The “wild man” is traditionally “covered in shaggy hair… frequently wears a wreath of leaves around his head, and wields a club, usually a branch” (Martin 17). The “wild man” is typically from the wilderness, a place that is deeply embedded in the Green Knight’s identity. His remarkable green skin and the holly cluster he carries are both symbolic of a “vegetation or Nature god” (Gentile 9). The beheading game eventually brings Sir Gawain to the Wirral Forest, a place that had been fraught with territorial wars between Pagan and Christian societies for centuries. Near the northern tip of present-day England, the Wirral Forest is a harsh environment hosting dense vegetation and jagged landscapes. In medieval literature, it was a land of monsters and was considered one of the most daunting settings. The Green Knight with his likeness to the “wild man” comes from one of the most frightening places known to King Arthur’s court.
The Green Knight also fittingly bears resemblance to the previous instigators of the beheading game. He shares the non-human qualities of the giants and churls from The Girl with the Mule and the Story of Hunbaut, as well as the very handsome knights from the Story of Carados and Lancelot in the Waste Land. In fact, the blazon-style description of the Green Knight in Sir Gawain seems to be almost a blending of these two descriptions: That he was half a giant on earth, I believe;
Yet mainly and most of all a man he seemed,
And the handsomest of horsemen, though huge, at that…
A comely cloak on top, accomplished with lining…
That was caught at the calf, with clinking spurs beneath
Of bright gold on bases of embroidered silk, (Sir Gawain 26)
This description is a nod to the previous beheading game stories and establishes the Pagan roots of the Green Knight as we first meet him. The unique greenness of his skin contributes to the nuance of the poem and introduces some ambiguity to the reader. The Green Knight holds the holly cluster in one hand, connecting him to the Pagan Wild Man, and he embodies the Wirral Forest of England. Yet, he holds an ax in his other hand, which is used near the end of the poem for absolving Gawain for his sin of being tempted by sorcery. The Green Knight’s ability to deliver penance and free Sir Gawain of his sins is the signifier of his role as priest. The holly juxtaposed against the ax is an indicator that the Green Knight has more than one dimension and plays more than one role in Sir Gawain. Furthermore, his abnormal pigmentation aids his shapeshifting by blending him in with the “hideous oratory, all overgrown, and well graced for the gallant garbed in green” (Sir Gawain 103), hiding him from Gawain while he sharpens the ax. With the ax sharpened, the Green Knight reveals himself to Gawain outside of the Green Chapel.
The Green Knight is a dynamic character “whose fierce wild qualities are balanced with those associated with civilization and highly wrought beauty” (Gentile 17). His undeniable “glittering green” serves to highlight his monstrous side. Yet, it is this fluidity of identity that allows the Green Knight to take on the role of priest once Gawain arrives at the Chapel in the Wirral Forest, having accepted a magical talisman that would allow him to survive the decapitation. Out of understandable cowardice, Gawain turns to enchantments that fault his courtesy and piety. The multifaceted persona of the Green Knight creates a hybrid being, capable of navigating the space between Paganism and Christianity.
Another prominent Pagan element in Sir Gawain is the sorceress Morgan le Fay, a Celtic goddess whose earliest appearance in literature was around 1150 CE (Dalecky 12). Though her brother Arthur is the renowned king of a Christian court, Morgan herself is an entirely Pagan figure. She is an immortal enchantress, sometimes referred to as a witch. In most medieval Christian literature she represents an evil force conspiring against her mortal brother, Arthur, as in Sir Gawain. The Gawain poet depicts her as a hag who uses her magic maliciously to “goad” her brother’s wife Queen Guinevere “to death” (Sir Gawain 112). Morgan le Fay uses “the magical arts of Merlin” (Sir Gawain 112) to send a knight to the court of Arthur in a physical form reminiscent of both those who propose the beheading game in preceding stories and the wild man of Celtic mythology.
Although she is unsuccessful in killing the queen, Morgan’s shapeshifting pawn challenges the fundamental nature of the Arthurian court. Should the court reject the beheading challenge, they are cowardly and ineffectual. Should a knight of the court accept the hopeless bargain, the court is brave and willing to sacrifice one man for the honor of the court. This parallels how Jesus was sacrificed for the world’s sins, thereby passing the test put forth by Pagan figures. It is important to note that the test Morgan presents with the beheading game is only possible through her witchcraft. This detail strongly relates her to Terror of Fled Bricrend, the original wizard to propose the beheading game. Additionally, she not only practiced witchcraft, but she also shares Terror’s ability to “shift his form into what shape he pleased” (Henderson 96). Only, she shifts the form of others. Moreover, Morgan uses the beheading game as a challenge to Arthur’s court just as Terror uses the beheading game to challenge the three heroes. With these traits, Morgan le Fay closely aligns with Terror of Fled Bricrend. The Gawain poet cleverly demonstrates that the Green Knight and Morgan le Fay together make up “this story’s rendition of Terror, the shapeshifting wizard” (Gentile 6). In separating this original initiator into two characters, the Gawain Poet creates space for the Green Knight’s duality as both a Christian and Pagan figure.
The beheading game itself in this story is a Pagan element delivered through the Green Knight that the Gawain poet uses to challenge Christian values in Arthur’s court. As the Green Knight proposes the beheading challenge to the court, the test of Christian virtues—as represented by the five-pointed star called a Pentangle—begins. In response to the seemingly illogical challenge, Sir Gawain brandishes a shield imprinted with the Pentangle, a symbol of “every virtue displaying/ so his heart did not fail” (Sir Gawain 45). Each point of this symbol represents one of five virtues: liberality, lovingkindness, continence, courtesy, and piety. As used in Sir Gawain, these virtues can be defined as generosity, compassion, chastity, due courtly reverence, and devotion to God, respectively.
In the previous versions, the beheading game has been a test of loyalty and worthiness. For Sir Gawain, engaging in the beheading game is a test of two of the five Christian values represented by the Pentangle: liberality and lovingkindness. In all versions, the challenge is also a test of knightly courage. King Arthur himself acknowledges the foolishness of the challenge, but tells the Green Knight “as you firmly seek folly, find it you shall” (Sir Gawain 33). The brave knight Sir Gawain, out of liberality and lovingkindness for the King, does not hesitate to take on the Green Knight’s challenge. Sir Gawain recognizes the threat to Camelot’s reputation, and he reveres the court to such a great extent that he decides he will be the knight sacrificed. Gawain’s lack of hesitation is also a testament to his unwavering courage, but it is not until he is offered an enchanted girdle that he ever intends to default on his side of the bargain.
Therefore, Sir Gawain is the knight whose Christian values are strong enough to enter into the beheading game of that “phantom from Fairyland” (Sir Gawain 30). Usually, in the versions more infused with Christian elements and imagery, Sir Lancelot is the valiant knight to accept the challenge. However, he would not be as wise a choice for this epic because—despite the ultimate Christian leaning of the story—Sir Lancelot has an affair with Queen Guinevere in previous tales of the Arthurian court. It would have been difficult for the Gawain Poet to demonstrate and justify Sir Lancelot’s loving kindness for King Arthur. Sir Gawain is a clean slate; a perfect candidate to engage with a novel and multifaceted character like the Green Knight.
The beheading game leads Sir Gawain to the Wirral forest, the Green Chapel specifically—a historically complicated setting in which the Green Knight assumes his role as priest. In addition to courage, the Christian virtue of courteousness is represented when Gawain arrives honorably to make good on his word. However, Gawain is unaware that another test awaits him on his journey to the Green Chapel. It is at this point of the story that it becomes clear the Green Knight’s usual human form is that of Lord Bertilak. Morgan le Fay used magic to shapeshift Lord Bertilak into the Green Knight, but when Gawain stops at a castle just outside the Wirral Forest to rest, the lord in his human form greets him as his host. Spending time in Lord Bertilak’s castle creates the opportunity for the lord’s wife to test Sir Gawain’s continence, one of the five Christian values represented in the Pentangle. Still, even this test is put into action by the Green Knight in the form of a lord because he has instructed his wife to seduce Gawain to prove Gawain’s lack of all five of the Christian virtues. The temptation theme appears in all versions following Fled Bricrend—just as the Beheading Game—but the Gawain poet frames his story in such a way that the temptation is nuanced to imply something new. As Christianity embedded itself deeper into present-day England, new parts of the Bible reached the area.
The Old Testament, which includes the Ten Commandments, was translated just two centuries before the Gawain poet wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. This is significant because previous versions of the story used the temptation theme as a means of distracting the knight and derailing his brave journey. However, in Sir Gawain, seduction is not a distraction, it is a vice. Gawain is not being lured away from his destination, he is being tempted to commit the sin of adultery—something that was not a sin in Midland England two centuries prior to this story. In this way, the Green Knight uses his wife to test the Christian virtue of continence. This is a novel perspective that allows Sir Gawain to further prove himself as a worthy Christian knight.
Sir Gawain does succeed in resisting Lord Bertilak’s wife’s temptation and is regarded as “the most perfect paladin ever to pace the earth” (Sir Gawain 109). However, after failed attempts at seduction, the Lady offers an enchanted green girdle which “as long as he laps closely about him,/ No hero under heaven can hack him to pieces” (Sir Gawain 90). Gawain’s courage and courtesy falter and he accepts the chance to survive decapitation.
As Gawain ventures into the Wirral Forest and finds the Green Chapel, the Green Knight is blending into the forest as though one with it. The Green Knight is transforming into his priest role, even though he once again bears resemblance to the Wild Man when he approaches Sir Gawain. Thus far, Gawain has passed the tests put forth by Pagan figures, demonstrating lovingkindness, liberality, courtesy, and continence. Only the virtue of courage—which is both a Pagan and Christian virtue—is compromised by his acceptance of a magical talisman that will allow him to cheat his bargain. However, Gawain’s successes are far from for naught; they save his life.
Inside the Green Chapel, the Green Knight feigns two strikes at Gawain’s neck, and only grazes his skin with a third strike. The nick at Gawain’s neck is punishment for his decision to cheat using magic, but ultimately this action is forgiven without further consequence because it is “for love of [his] own life” (Sir Gawain 109). The Green Knight makes his role as priest known, assuring Gawain he has “plainly done penance at the point of my axe. / You are absolved of your sin” (Sir Gawain 110). The outcome is reminiscent of the knight Cuchulainn’s own fate in Fled Bricren. In appreciation for this knight’s honesty and loyalty, the wizard Terror does not behead the hero, instead declaring him deserving of the Champion’s Portion. Both Gawain and Cuchulainn behave with admirable courage and gain the respect of their adversaries, affording them their lives. However, Gawain’s survival is more of a salvation because not only does the penance take place in a church, but he upheld all five of the Christian values and only faltered in courage to avoid certain death.
Piety is the final Christian virtue to be challenged by the Green Knight during his role as confessor and priest. Even after Gawain is absolved by the Green Knight, assured that he repented appropriately, he does not let go of “the fault and faintheartedness of the perverse flesh” (Sir Gawain 112). He condemns himself openly in the Green Chapel for succumbing to the Pagan element of magic, failing to demonstrate piety and courage. Paradoxically, by remaining ashamed of himself and confessing to the priest-like figure that the Green Knight has become, Gawain does demonstrate the final Christian value and secures his championship— similar to how Cuchulainn must continuously redeem his victories. Furthermore, Gawain is fully absolved of his sins repeatedly but still returns to King Arthur’s court to publicly lament his lack of courage and devotion to Christian morals. In doing this, Sir Gawain demonstrates a deep reverence for Christianity, King Arthur, and Camelot.
Pagan elements such as Morgan le Fay and her magic, the Green Knight as the wild man, and the beheading game all contribute to testing Sir Gawain’s Christian virtues. Morgan le Fay’s indirect yet essential role in the story is something the Gawain poet pioneered—no other version had a parallel character. Her indirectness may represent how Paganism resided in the background, testing Christianity and presenting challenges as Christianity established itself in the Midlands of England.
The fluid identity epitomized by the Green Knight through Morgan le Fay and her sorcery makes him an ideal medium through which Pagan elements test the Christian values of Arthur’s court. Though the Green Knight was implicated with the Pagan elements testing the Christian virtues of Sir Gawain, he himself never practiced magic—a trait both Terror and Morgan le Fay lacked. This poised him to step into a Christian role of authority with a level of legitimacy. He was not a sorcerer or wizard pretending to be a holy man. Rather, he was a pawn for Morgan and then a just priest, capable of passing judgment and absolving Gawain of his sin.
The Gawain poet uniquely used the beheading game to create a story in which two vastly different religious systems intermingled in much the same way they did in fourteenth-century England. Sir Gawain’s journey resembles the voyages of previous heroes in beheading game stories, but how this story can be analyzed involves significantly more nuance than other versions. The Green Knight is the most unique character, possessing an unparalleled duality. His duality enabled him to be the means by which Pagan elements tested Christian virtues in King Arthur’s court.
References
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