Religion In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

Many religious elements are presented in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Le Morte d’Arthur, and the “General Prologue” of The Canterbury Tales. Religion was an important aspect of the lives of people living in England during the Middle Ages, and is a prevalent element in these stories.

The “General Prologue” is about the journey of a group of Christian pilgrims to the shrine of St. Thomas Beckett to “seek the blissful martyr” (Chaucer ln 17). Chaucer writes, “Then people long to go on pilgrimages and palmers long to seek the stranger strands of far off saints, hallowed in sundry lands.” (ln 14). The people of this time took religion and the Church very seriously. The “General Prologue” states “some nine and twenty in a company” (Chaucer

ln 24), or twenty nine, people from all walks of life went on this pilgrimage. They all wanted to be pardoned for their sins and to strengthen their relationship with God.
The parson is one of the most holy and respected people in the “General Prologue”. Chaucer gives him extremely high praise, saying that the Parson lived what he taught, preached the Gospel to his parishioners, and was “rich in holy thought and work” despite being materially poor (ln 488-537). Chaucer’s high praise for this character shows us his appreciation of the parson’s spirituality and morality, and how he valued goodness as a quality in people.
Le Morte d’Arthur is a story about King Arthur’s final battle against Sir Mordred, which resulted in their deaths.

However, when Arthur dies, it can be inferred that although he was physically killed, he is not gone for good. In the final paragraph, Mallory writes, “Yet some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but was taken by the will of our Lord Jesus into another place. And men say that he shall come again and shall win the Holy Cross.” (p 196). From this statement, we can infer that Mallory is trying to say is that Arthur is not truly dead, and he will come again someday to save England, just as Christ rose from the dead to save and bring us to salvation. The grave of King Arthur also presents us with Christian imagery. On his tombstone, it is written, “Here lies Arthur, the once and future king.” (Mallory p 196). This serves as Christian imagery because the only other person to die and continue to reign as king was Christ, to whom Arthur is being compared. (Flood Notes English

11H)
The story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight also presents religious elements.

The wife of the Green Knight, unbeknownst to Gawain, was instructed to tempt Gawain into committing unchivalrous actions, such as convincing him to take her belt for protection. She tells him “No hero under heaven can hack him into pieces, for he cannot be killed by any cunning on earth.” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (ln 279-280). This is similar to the snake tempting Eve in the garden, except power and protection is being given instead of knowledge. When Gawain begs for forgiveness, the Green Knight forgives him for his actions. He says, “In my view you have made amends for your misdemeanor; you have confessed your faults fully with fair acknowledgement, and plainly done penance at the point of my axe. You are absolved of sin and stainless now.” (Gawain ln 526-529). The Green Knight, originally viewed as an arrogant, pretentious, and possibly antagonistic figure, was shown to “save” Gawain and can be compared to Jesus. Gawain’s beheading and survival serves as a parallel to Jesus’ death and resurrection. (Flood

Notes)
Religious elements played a dominant role in many of the Middle English works we have studied so far this year. Both Gawain and the Green Knight and Le Morte d’Arthur use Christian imagery to deepen the meaning of the story, and the “General Prologue” of The Canterbury Tales helps us understand the importance of the church to the people living at this time.