Chivalry In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

When one thinks of chivalry in the 21st century, some of the first things that come to mind are a man holding the door for a woman, men walking on the outer side of the sidewalk – closer to the street – in order to allow women to stay further away from the street and cars, and a man opening the car door for his date. However, the chivalric code of the Anglo-Norman period was fairly different from what we consider chivalry today, though the chivalric actions of our modern times certainly reflect chivalry in early England.

Miriam-Webster defines chivalry as “the system, spirit, or customs of medieval knighthood” or more simply, “the system of values (such as loyalty and honor) that knights in the Middle Ages were expected to follow” (Miriam-Webster). Knights of the Middle Ages

were to possess certain virtues that made up the chivalric code, such as fortitude, humility, and loyalty. These virtues often transferred into how knights handled themselves in romantic relationships, formally called “courtly love”. Throughout many pieces of medieval literature, readers can see how the chivalric code transferred into the writings of multiple authors. Characters of medieval literature almost always possessed these chivalric virtues, especially if the character in context was a knight.

Such is true for the anonymous author known as “the Pearl Poet’s” portrayal of the knight Sir Gawain in his Arthurian legend titled Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. According to Carolyn Larrington of the University of

Oxford, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is “deeply rooted in the European Chivalric romance tradition” and the work “asserts the primacy of a considered set of chivalric values” (Larrington). Throughout this work, Sir Gawain faces many a challenge where his knighthood is tested. Through the midst of many obstacles and contact with people that stretch his moral and sense of being, Sir Gawain stands firmly as a knight while acting supremely chivalrously and only slipping up on the chivalric virtues in a couple of minute ways.
The Arthurian legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight starts out with a Christmastime dinner among Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. As the festivities continue, a large, green-tinted, menacing knight arrives and proposes a challenge that he likes to call the “beheading game”. Initially, this green knight submits this challenge to the good King Arthur. However, Sir Gawain makes himself the intercessor for the game on King Arthur’s behalf. Sir Gawain says to Arthur, “Such a foolish affair is unfitting for a king…being first to come forward, it should fall to me” (145). Sir Gawain’s stepping in on behalf of the other knights proves how brave he truly is. Amy Carrillo says it best when she writes that though Gawain “[makes] his life seem insignificant”, he “[shows] himself brave enough to give up his life for that of his uncle, the King” (Carrillo). Sir Gawain, as a knight, is expected to show humility, yet also prove his bravery and courage: and that is exactly what he does in the process of stepping up for his uncle, who is also his King, as all of the other knights remained silent.
Similar to bravery, but not quite the same, is fortitude – a virtue that Sir Gawain repeatedly shows over the course of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. One initial way Sir Gawain displays fortitude is in the way he sticks to the challenge of the beheading game and refuses to back down. In fact, Sir Gawain himself says “…if I failed to find him and were to flee…I’d be christened a coward, and could not be excused” (180). In saying this, Sir Gawain proves that, for his sake, and the reputation of King Arthur’s knights, he must stick out the
challenge all the way to the end and refuse to back down, or according to Corey Owen, Gawain is “constrained to abide by his status and reputation, no matter how he might feel about the situation” (Owen).

Gawain’s fortitude again shines through as he faces the blade of the green knight. Though Gawain knew death was practically eminent at this point, he courageously proclaims to the supernatural being “…bring on the blade…deal me my destiny”, and then goes on to say that he will stand perfectly still and not move a bit while the knight shifts to behead (183). Gawain’s fortitude was also fairly evident over the course of his journey to find the green knight. Throughout his search of the green knight, Sir Gawain battled bad weather, the sadness of being separated from his family, and to top it off, he had no idea where to even find the green knight – but he stayed with his task and never backed down, and ultimately found the green knight in the

end.
Though Gawain displays unmatched fortitude throughout the majority of his quest, he does falter some. Most notably, however, is Gawain’s flinch in response to the initial blow the green knight was going to give. When the green knight grew frustrated with Gawain over his lack of bravery, Gawain, being the knight that he is, confesses to his lapse of courage and owns up to his mistake, saying “I flinched at first, but will not fail” (183). Here, Gawain proves that he is just like most humans – he wants to spare his life – but confirms he truly is a man of his word in the way he recognizes his mistakes and hunkers down to bare the blade once more.
Sir Gawain is also quite a loyal man. His loyalty is prevalent, again, in the way he steps up in King Arthur’s place for the beheading game. His loyalty to his ruler and fellow knights shines through his bold way of taking action. The loyalty of Sir Gawain is evidenced as well in the way he treats the host of the castle he stays in while on his journey to find the green knight. In fact, Gawain’s initial thought as he happened onto Bertilak’s castle was “I shall practice every
means in my power to repay him” in preparation to offer his request for a warm place to stay (179). His loyalty to Bertilak only continues from there. While Bertilak is gone all day hunting, which is a part of a gift exchange game he and Gawain are playing, Sir Gawain stays at the castle with Bertilak’s wife – and she is obviously a temptress. She repeatedly tries to force herself onto Sir Gawain and give him elaborate gifts. Yet Gawain refuses, proving his loyalty to his host. He does not want to be the reason for any infidelity or issues in the marriage of the man who so generously allows him to rest in his castle. A final way Gawain proves he is a loyal knight is the way he immediately seeks to make up for his shortcomings with the green knight when he asks “…tell me what it takes to clear my clouded name” (185). The way Gawain desires to make up for where he fails is quite admirable. One would hope that all people would be quick to desire to correct what they mess up, as Sir Gawain did.
Yet Sir Gawain is not always the loyal knight that readers see him as. As the beheading game finishes, and Bertilak makes himself known as the green knight, Gawain is obviously pretty surprised – after all, who he thought were two people were one in the same. The Gawain poet writes that the green knight/Bertilak says to Gawain “…it was loyalty that you lacked…you loved your own life” (185). Bertilak asserts this in reference to how Sir Gawain held onto the girdle that Bertilak’s wife gave to him rather than re-gifting it to Bertilak as part of their gift exchange game. Supposedly, said green girdle protects whoever wears it. Gawain’s refusal of exchanging the girdle proves that even knights sometimes do not trust in their abilities, and when they do doubt themselves, they are occasionally willing to sacrifice a bit of the chivalric code or a virtue to maintain their dignity, or in Sir Gawain’s case, his life. In Gawain’s situation, too, he knew there was practically no chance of him coming out of the beheading game alive; therefore, he is willing to risk his loyalty to Bertilak for even the slightest chance of saving his life. Kim
Neininger claims that “[Readers] know he remains true until his fear of death overcomes him. All this proves he is only human” (Neininger). In the end, however, Gawain seeks to clear his name, because he acknowledges that he was wrong in the way he handled the game with Bertilak, thereby reaffirming his chivalric status. He is willing to do whatever it takes to make things right in his relationship with Bertilak.
One of the most prevalent chivalric virtues that Sir Gawain displays is his humility. Over the course of his quest, Gawain is praised multiple times by numerous people about his honor, valor, and how great a knight he is. Each time, though, Gawain shuts down the praise. His selflessness is especially evident in the conversations he has with Bertilak’s wife. For example, after receiving ample amounts of praise from the temptress, Gawain proclaims, “I don’t dare to receive the respect you describe” and “Some fellows are praised for the feats they perform; I hardly deserve to receive such respect” (163). The reader later discovers that the way Bertilak’s wife tempts Sir Gawain was all a test for him, to see if his honor really was true. However, the reader may feel that Bertilak’s wife was actually genuine in the way she built Gawain up, for he certainly is a worthy knight who is very deserving of praise. Gawain’s humility also shines when he accepts the green knight’s challenge by saying to King Arthur, “I am weakest of your warriors and feeblest of wit” (145). Gawain, who is King Arthur’s nephew, was most likely not the weakest knight at the table. Just the fact that he is related to King Arthur proves that he comes from a powerful, wealthy family, and he probably has been through extensive “training” to be the knight that he has become. But Gawain, being the admirable knight that he is, claimed he was the lowest of the low and selflessly took his king’s place, making himself look like the picture of a perfect knight. He was ready, willing, able, and humble.
Gawain, though he is not an absolute perfect knight, is quite the chivalrous man. Being a “perfect knight” is practically unreachable, but Sir Gawain comes pretty close. Readers can see that the chivalric code is a huge theme throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, revealing a fairly obvious reflection of the Middle Ages – a time when knights roamed, damsels were repeatedly in distress, and belonging to the nobility was quite an honor. Being a virtuous gentleman is a commendable quality even in today’s time, confirming that chivalry is a very highly esteemed personality trait that people will look for men to possess now and throughout the generations to come.