In the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain must go on a quest to find the Green Knight from whom he accepted a challenge a year earlier. Because Gawain lives the chivalric code, he must keep his promise to the Green Knight and let him get one swing of the axe one year and a day after he swung the axe on him. Before leaving for this quest, Gawain was given amazing armor and a descriptive shield. This shield was more than just a shield; it had a much greater meaning like many other items and actions throughout the poem. The shield is the most important symbol in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, as it reaffirms the importance of both the chivalric code and Christianity to the people of the Middle Ages.
Sir Gawain was given the shield to protect him physically, but it also helped him mentally. This shield helped him mentally because of what it was made and what had been painted on the front and back of it. As said in the poem, “The shield they shewed him then, of flaming glues so red, / There the Pentangle shines, in pure gold burnished” (Weston, .vi.1-2). The front of the shield has the pentangle painted on it to represent the life a knightly man should try to live. Michelle Sauer said, “Dubbed the 'endless knot' in Celtic cultures, the pentangle symbolizes perpetual loyalty.” Although the pentangle is an endless knot, it does not represent absolute perfection. Obviously, no one but God is absolutely perfect; that is why the pentangle does not represent absolute perfection. However, the pentangle does represent perfection on a level achievable by humans. It is said that, “... nobility is the perfection of each thing in accordance with the peculiarity of its nature. Here we need to recognize that the pentang...
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Weston, Jessie L. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Cambridge, 1999. PDF. E-book.
8[8] Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Trans. Marie Borroff. Norton Anthology of British Literature Vol. 1, New York: WW Norton, 1993.
But in the end he conceals the green girdle that the Bertilak’s wife gives him from him, revealing that despite Gawain’s bravery, he values his own life more than his trustworthiness. When he finally reencounters the Green Knight, he realizes the problematic nature of courtly chivalric ideals. During this, Gawain confesses his fault, of hiding the girdle, to the Green Knight and pleads to be forgiven. Afterwards, he chooses to wear the girdle as a symbol of his mistake. He cannot accept his sin and free himself of it the same way the Green Knight had and he continues to do penance by wearing the girdle for the remainder of his life.
Anonymous. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Norton Anthology of English Literature Sixth Edition. Volume 1. Ed. M.H.Abrams. New York: W.W.Norton and Company, Inc., 1993.
Barron, W.R.J., trans. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.. New York: Manchester University Press, 1974.
Sir Gawain is presented as a noble knight who is the epitome of chivalry; he is loyal, honest and above all, courteous. He is the perfect knight; he is so recognised by the various characters in the story and, for all his modesty, implicitly in his view of himself. To the others his greatest qualities are his knightly courtesy and his success in battle. To Gawain these are important, but he seems to set an even higher value on his courage and integrity, the two central pillars of his manhood.
In the final scenes of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain’s encounter with Sir Bertilak allows Gawain to perceive his own flaws, manifested in his acceptance of the Green Girdle. The court’s reaction to his personal guilt highlights the disconnect between him and the other knights of the Round Table. Gawain’s behavior throughout the poem has been most noteworthy; his understanding of his sin, one that many of us would dismiss since it was propelled by his love of life, enhances his stature as a paragon of chivalry.
Though often extensive detail may be condemned as mere flowery language, in understanding Sir Gawain and the Green Knight one must make special emphasis on it. In color and imagery itself, the unknown author paints the very fibers of this work, allowing Sir Gawain to discern the nuances of ritualistic chivalry and truth. His quest after the Green Knight is as simple as ones quest toward himself. Through acute awareness of the physical world he encounters Gawain comes to an understanding of the world beyond chivalry, a connection to G-d, the source of truth. He learns, chivalry, like a machine, will always function properly, but in order to derive meaning from its product he must allow nature to affect him.
No matter where we go in the world, we will always be surrounded and tempted by sin. These temptations test our character and morality, and they prove that our human nature inherently causes us to fall to the sins that encompass us. Even though the world is a dark and immoral place to live, we all value our lives and are prepared to do almost anything to protect ourselves from harm’s way. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the green girdle serves as symbol that highlights Gawain’s incessant love for life that tempts him to stray from his knightly code of chivalry.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Sixth Edition, Volume One. General Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 1993.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Trans. Brian Stone. The Middle Ages, Volume 1A. Eds. Christopher Baswell and Anne Howland Schotter. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Fourth ed. Gen.eds David Damrosch, and Kevin J. H. Dettmar. New York: Pearson-Longman, 2010. 222-77. Print.
In the anonymous poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the character of Sir Gawain is portrayed as the imperfect hero. His flaws create interest and intrigue. Such qualities of imperfection cannot be found in the symbol of the pentangle, which he displays on his shield. This contrast between character and symbol is exposed a number of times throughout the poem allowing human qualities to emerge from Gawain’s knightly portrayal. The expectations the pentangle presents proves too much for Gawain as he falls victim to black magic, strays from God, is seduced by an adulterous woman, and ultimately breaks the chivalric code by lying to the Green Knight.
Sir Gawain shows his bravery the first moment he has the chance to, when the Green Knight enters King Arthur's Court. The Green Knight taunts with 'Anyone with the nerve to try it, take this ax, here. Hurry, I'm waiting! Take it and keep it, my gift forever, And give me a well-aimed stroke, and agree to accept another in payment, when my turn arrives.'; (I, 292) Sir Gawain took this burden and took the ax from the king who was prepared to do this deed. Gawain knows full well that he would receive a blow in return and would have to find the Green Knight in order to receive his blow. He accepts these terms and gives the Green Knight his blow with no haste. Time passes and it eventually is time for Sir Gawain to start to look for his fate and find the Green Knight and his chapel. Starting his crusade, Gawain was given a feast and many thought he would never return again, as some of the knights would comment, 'Better to have been more prudent, to have made him a duke before this could happen. He seemed a brilliant leader, and could have been.'; (II, 677) Gaw...
The first symbol in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that I will discuss is Sir Gawain’s knightly shield. On Gawain’s shield is a pentangle, the five points on this pentangle represent the five virtues of the perfect knight; piety, friendship, generosity, chastity and courtesy. Each of the five virtues is tested on Gawain throughout the poem creating an emphasised importance on the shield’s representation and meaning. “Now alle þese fyue syþez, for soþe, were fetled on þis knyȝt, And vchone halched in oþer, þat non ende hade, And fyched vpon fyue poyntez, þat fayld neuer” (SGGK, 656-8). This quote tells of the pentangle’s design, how each line of the pentangles composition is endlessly linked to one another, suggesting that each virtue depends on th...
Sir Gawain's shield is a symbol with multiple meanings, offering both moral and physical protection. Through the display of the Pentangle and the Virgin Mary on his shield, Sir Gawain shows his belief in God and his trust in him. Each point on the Pentangle shows his virtues of free-giving, friendliness, chastity, chivalry, and piety. But also shows his five senses, five fingers, the five wounds of Christ, and the Five Joys. The Pentangle also shows that there is no beginning and no end. By the time Gawain thought it was over and he was going to die, it was...
The pentangle symbolizes the five virtues of knights consisting of, generosity, friendship, courtesy, chastity, and piety. All of which Gawain is striving to adhere to due to his knightly obligation to the code of chivalry. Gawain alleges that all virtues are seamlessly interconnected in the man as in the geometric figure on the shield. Together with the amour, the shield seems to complete the visi...