Comparing The Poem 'Sir Gawain And The Green Knight'

In the old English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a noble of Arthur’s court bravely volunteers to participate in a bet. The terms are set by a foreigner by the name of the Green Knight who decrees that he will allow someone to strike his neck with his own axe if in return, in a year they will reunite and Gawain will receive the same blow he dealt. The axe’s description in the text presents the kind of status and warrior like quality the Green Knight possesses’, which sets up the difficulty of the feat Gawain must perform. More broadly in the poem the axe symbolizes a challenge made on Sir Gawain’s virtues of courtesy and bravery.

Sir Gawain exhibits huge amounts of bravery in the poem. When the Green Knight confronts the knights of

Camelot, Gawain is the first to step up to replace Arthur. The axe described is “,huge and monstrous,”(28)“...it great strong handle, Which was wound with iron all the way to the end, And graven in green with graceful designs.”(29) This axe could only belong to someone who possessed the qualities of a savage (and quite fashionable) warrior, such as the Green Knight.

The poet describes the Green Knight as “Lightning-like he seemed/And swift to strike and stun. His dreadful blows, men deemed,/Once dealt,meant death was done.”(28) This language suggests the Knight has immense power and can kill someone from one blow. The fact that Gawain out of all the knights in the court stepped up and challenged this beast of a man, speaks to his courage. Another instance in which the Gawain displays bravery is in travelling to the Green Chapel to follow through with the Green Knight’s bet. As he traversed he was “Scaling many cliffs in country unknown.”(48) “,he slept in his armour Night after night among naked rocks,”(48) Armor is very uncomfortable and for Gawain to sleep outside in the cold just to fulfill the bet and potentially seal his fate is an act of heroism. A porter from a nearby castle escorts Gawain to the Green Chapel and makes statements about his grave chances to survive. The porter

says: “No man passes that place,...Without being dealt a death-blow by his dreadful hand.”(99) Gawain resilient and knightly replies: “If I quit this place,.../I should become a cowardly knight with no excuse whatever,/For I will go to the Green Chapel, to get what Fate sends,...”(100) This statement displays Gawain’s devotion to a code of honor and his determined, even-tempered demeanor in the face of this grim challenge. Finally the time comes for Gawain to face the Green knight’s axe. “...a frightful weapon, A Danish axe duly honed for dealing the blow,/ With a wad biting edge,...”(104). Gawain could have easily avoided pursuing this bet. He could stay in Camelot and refuse to seek out the Green Knight. However that would look dishonorable not only upon himself, but upon Arthur who he serves. It is a huge burden with which Gawain takes with pride as he tries to be pliant.
In the poem Gawain is also tested on the value of courtesy.

While staying in the lord’s lodging he meets the lord’s lady who expresses her love for him and makes advances on him several times. While these advances are not unwanted by Gawain, they are unacceptable because accepting them it would be uncivil and repudiate the values of courtesy and continence that he swears to live by. A woman who is described as “Most winsome in ways of all women alive,/ She seemed to Sir Gawain, excelling Guinevere.”(56) This is an extreme test of Gawain’s self-control because the Lady is seducing him, and with looks that rival one of the fairest women that Gawain had known. In keeping with another bet that he and the lord made, everything that Gawain received he had to give back to the Lord in exchange for the lord’s hunting game. Gawain follows through with his request giving the lord all kisses he received from his wife, except, for the green girdle he received. So when Gawain extended his neck, the Green Knight made two feints at him. The Green Knight reasoned “On account of the first night’s covenant we accorded;/ For you truthfully kept your trust in troth with me,/Giving me your gains as a good man should.”(108) Gawain dutifully always returned all the kisses he received. However the erroneous error of not revealing the girdle and a brief moment of timidity was what put Gawain at some fault towards the end. In the Knight’s feints Gawain flinched away from a descending axe, betraying

his value of bravery. Gawain then exclaims “‘Curses on both cowardice and covetousness!”(109) The Green Knight seeing Gawain is truly sorry for both these errors reassures him “In my view you have made amends...And plainly done penance at the point of my axe.”(110) The axe has brought out in Gawain boldness and has also exposed a vice of timidity under pressure. Gawain says “I acknowledge,knight,how ill/ I behaved, and take the blame.”(110) The Axe has caused Gawain to directly and markedly reflect on his mistakes and learn from them, all proliferated while staring in the face of a menacing axe.