Detail of the Green Knight from MS. Cotton Nero A. x, fol.90v. (pencil foliation 94v) © British Library Board.
Yeah: you're seeing that correctly. That's a man holding his own severed head while he rides a green horse. Medieval romances are just the best. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is so weird and so much fun to teach!
I like to assign the Norton Critical Edition of the poem, which uses Marie Borroff's translation and includes some canonical but accessible critical essays. I reference this edition in the following blog post, including some of the essays in the back.
For more advanced students, it's fine to split the poem up into three days: Fitts I-II, Fitt III, and Fitt IV. For younger or less advanced students, I would spend one day per Fitt.
There are at least three definitions that you will want to go over before diving into the poem. Either these terms refer to concepts that will be foreign to students, or they are middle English words that have "false friends" in modern English:
I like to assign the Norton Critical Edition of the poem, which uses Marie Borroff's translation and includes some canonical but accessible critical essays. I reference this edition in the following blog post, including some of the essays in the back.
For more advanced students, it's fine to split the poem up into three days: Fitts I-II, Fitt III, and Fitt IV. For younger or less advanced students, I would spend one day per Fitt.
There are at least three definitions that you will want to go over before diving into the poem. Either these terms refer to concepts that will be foreign to students, or they are middle English words that have "false friends" in modern English:
- Trouth (many alternate spellings): a word to describe the interrelated concepts of loyalty, fidelity, honesty, integrity, the keeping of promises and oaths, and justness and innocence. Related to our modern English words truth and troth, it goes far beyond simply "telling the whole story without any lies."
- Gentilesse: a word to describe both the kindness and goodness that everyday people can practice and also the state of being part of the landed nobility or the "gentils". Its meaning was contested during the time of the writing of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (see the Wife of Bath's Tale in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales), but we cannot quite divorce gentleness from gentility in this time period. I have learned from my medievalist friend, Kristen Aldebol, that asking students to think about what it means to call someone a "gentleman" is a good way to get them thinking about how class is still attached to the concept in our modern use of the word "gentle."
- Translatio imperii: (Latin for "transfer of rule") originating in the Middle Ages, translatio imperii is a concept for describing history as a linear succession of transfers of an empire. In England, this is manifested in Galfridian historiography (i.e., English history that takes its cues from Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae), which argues that Brutus of Troy (son of Aeneas) is the "founder" of Britain. The empire thus transfers from Troy to Britain.
Even great detail of the Green Knight from MS. Cotton Nero A. x, fol.90v. (pencil foliation 94v) © British Library Board.
I have found that the key into this poem is to focus intensely on imagery. Various symbols are weaved together through this poem, almost like an intricate tapestry, and getting students to read for imagery instead of for plot is a hugely important gain in terms of making the poem engaging and building towards strong student writing in response to the poem.
I ask students to sign up for a motif to trace. Obviously some of these motifs are more exciting and engaging than others, but students really like taking ownership of their own special motif:
Motifs:
I ask students to sign up for a motif to trace. Obviously some of these motifs are more exciting and engaging than others, but students really like taking ownership of their own special motif:
Motifs:
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Agreements, covenants, and bargains:
Bible stories: Birds: Blood and the color red: Cold, winter, and the dark: Colors, especially green, white, and gold: Cutting tools and cutting: Embroidery, weaving, and silk: Fairyland, things of fairies and “fay”: Fear and/or guilt: Feasts, music, food and meals: Gems and jewelry: |
Heads (of animals and of people):
Knots: Places of prayer: Religious holy days and yearly seasons: Saints, masses, and matins: Sexual behavior or temptation counts: Shields and armor: Spousal and family relationships: The Trojans: Wild places and animals (not birds): Women and discussions about women: Youth and old age: |
I do something similar when I teach Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, but in that text the interwoven motifs work to obscure meaning (suggesting that there is no transcendent truth we can access beyond the text) and in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, they arguably create meaning (perhaps suggesting that there is a truth hidden underneath the veil of the text). Whereas the overall effect in Gawain is to make a verbal tapestry, Lot 49 seems more like the textual equivalent of a Jackson Pollock painting. I would love to one day teach these two together, but it would be a tall order to organize that syllabus!
In the blog post below, I will share my reading questions for each Fitt or part of the poem.
In the blog post below, I will share my reading questions for each Fitt or part of the poem.
Detail of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere from MS. Cotton Nero A. x, fol.90v. (pencil foliation 94v) © British Library Board. Click on the image above to see the Bodleian Library's digital exhibition of the Cotton Nero manuscript, the sole surviving manuscript of the poem.
Fitt I
What is the significance of the translatio in the opening lines of the poem? Why might the poet choose to remind the audience of the connection between Arthur, Brutus, and the Trojan refugee Aeneas at the beginning of the narrative?
Arthur is said to be the "most courteous of all" British Kings (ll. 26). What are the characteristics of his court? His knights? His Queen?
As you read, pay attention to descriptive and narrative details. Why are they included? What do they signify? For example, the narrator describes the knights and ladies at Arthur’s feast as “fair folk in their first age” (54). What does that mean? Why does he characterize them in this way? How does the Green Knight reinterpret the “first age” of the courtiers?
Notice the descriptive details the narrator mentions regarding the Green Knight. What kind of character is he?
Pay attention to the introduction of the knight Gawain. How does he distinguish himself in the opening scenes? How is he different from the other knights? Does he fulfill a chivalric duty that the other knights neglect? What is his relationship to the ideal of "courtesy"?
Does the Green Knight play by the rules of courtesy? Does he seem like a negative or a positive figure in this section of the poem?
Arthur is said to be the "most courteous of all" British Kings (ll. 26). What are the characteristics of his court? His knights? His Queen?
As you read, pay attention to descriptive and narrative details. Why are they included? What do they signify? For example, the narrator describes the knights and ladies at Arthur’s feast as “fair folk in their first age” (54). What does that mean? Why does he characterize them in this way? How does the Green Knight reinterpret the “first age” of the courtiers?
Notice the descriptive details the narrator mentions regarding the Green Knight. What kind of character is he?
Pay attention to the introduction of the knight Gawain. How does he distinguish himself in the opening scenes? How is he different from the other knights? Does he fulfill a chivalric duty that the other knights neglect? What is his relationship to the ideal of "courtesy"?
Does the Green Knight play by the rules of courtesy? Does he seem like a negative or a positive figure in this section of the poem?
Detail of Sir Gawain from MS. Cotton Nero A. x, fol.90v. (pencil foliation 94v) © British Library Board.
Fitt II
Why do you think the poet spends so much time describing the changing seasons at the beginning of part II? In a poem about steadfastness, why would the poet be interested in describing change? How might the changing seasons give insight into Gawain’s mental life?
What is the significance of the Pentangle? Why is it described in such detail (ll. 619-665)? What does it symbolize when taken as a whole? What is the significance of the series of five fives associated with the pentangle? Taken collectively, what might they represent? Can the pentangle be seen as a symbol of the chivalric virtues? The pentangle as a whole is called a "token of truth" (see ll. 619-626), the very virtue that is put to the test by the Green Knight. Recall that the Middle English term "trouthe" means more than the modern English word "truth." What promises are made by Gawain in this section of the poem?
The following passage is from Gawain’s vision of the castle in the wilderness: “No sooner had Gawain signed himself thrice: “Than he was ware, in the wood, of a wondrous dwelling, / With a moat, on a mound, bright amid boughs / Of many a tree great of girth that grew by the water– / A castle as comely as a knight could own, / On grounds fair and green, in a goodly park” (763-768). What is important about this vision of the Lord’s Castle, popping up out of thin air after Gawain prays to God and Mary that he won’t freeze to death? What about the manifestation of the castle should make Gawain suspicious? Why doesn’t he seem to notice anything symbolic about it? What do you think the poet intends the reader / audience to know about the Lord’s castle? Remember that one of the symbolic elements of the pentangle is the 5 senses. Are Gawain’s senses failing him? Is this castle like a mirage or a dream? What evidence do you have?
Gawain is stalwart and strong out in the wilderness, but once he gets inside the castle he has all his armor taken off of him, the wine goes to his head, and he spends an awful amount of time lying in bed. Is he merely recovering from fatigue or does the poet suggest that he is losing strength because of the castle? On the pentangle, one of the five points represents Gawain’s five fingers. What do hands symbolize? Is Gawain’s possible loss of physical strength related to the five fingers symbolized by the pentangle? How so?
Notice when Gawain prays to Jesus and Mary, calling on them for help, guidance, or aid. In what part in the narrative does he seem connected to Jesus and Mary? At what point in the narrative does he seem preoccupied with other things? How does this develop the symbolism of the pentangle?
Characterize the Lord of the castle in lines ll. 842-849 and in ll. 1079-11-25. What other character in the poem does he resemble in his physical stature and/or age and in his proclivity for seemingly harmless games? Why might that be important?
Gawain is stalwart and strong out in the wilderness, but once he gets inside the castle he has all his armor taken off of him, the wine goes to his head, and he spends an awful amount of time lying in bed. Is he merely recovering from fatigue or does the poet suggest that he is losing strength because of the castle? On the pentangle, one of the five points represents Gawain’s five fingers. What do hands symbolize? Is Gawain’s possible loss of physical strength related to the five fingers symbolized by the pentangle? How so?
Notice when Gawain prays to Jesus and Mary, calling on them for help, guidance, or aid. In what part in the narrative does he seem connected to Jesus and Mary? At what point in the narrative does he seem preoccupied with other things? How does this develop the symbolism of the pentangle?
Characterize the Lord of the castle in lines ll. 842-849 and in ll. 1079-11-25. What other character in the poem does he resemble in his physical stature and/or age and in his proclivity for seemingly harmless games? Why might that be important?
Fitt III
This part of the poem is set up as a complex intertwining of sports/games. The escalating seduction scenes mirror the hunts of each day and both work together to offer insight into the state of Gawain’s soul. Each of the three days begins and ends with the violent, fast-paced action of the chase, and embedded at the center of each day is the courtly, bawdy bedroom scene.
Day 1: What does the Host hunt? How does he hunt it? What does the Lady do to Gawain? Is she the hunter or the hunted? How is Gawain similar to the animal hunted in the larger context of the poem?
Day 1: What does the Host hunt? How does he hunt it? What does the Lady do to Gawain? Is she the hunter or the hunted? How is Gawain similar to the animal hunted in the larger context of the poem?
'Deer Hunt' (detail), woven wool tapestry, Netherlands, possibly Arras, 1440-50. Museum no. T.205-1957 (click on the image for more info on this tapestry)
British Library, Harley MS 4751, Folio 14v (click the above image for a discussion of the stag's symbolic meaning in medieval bestiaries)
Day 2: What does the Host hunt? How does he hunt it? What does the Lady do to Gawain? How does she escalate the seduction just as the hunt scene escalates the danger of the hunt? How is the animal killed and what happens to its body after the Host kills it? How is Gawain like the animal hunted in the larger context of the poem?
Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, KA 16, Folio 45v (click the above image for a discussion of the boar's symbolic meaning in medieval bestiaries)
Gaston Phoebus, Book of the Hunt. Bibliotheque nationale de France (BNF, FR 616, fol. 116). France: Paris, 15th century. (Click on the link above for a wonderful blog post about hunting in medieval literature)
Day 3: What does the Host hunt? How does he hunt it? What are symbolic characteristics of the animal that the Host hunts? What does the Lady do to Gawain? How is she behaving like the animal that the Host hunts? How does Gawain behave like the animal that the Host hunts?
A fox plays dead in order to lure birds within its reach; meanwhile, other foxes look on from their burrow. Bodleian Library, MS. Ashmole 1511, Folio 23r (click the above image for a discussion of the fox's symbolic meaning in medieval bestiaries)
One of the things I have done that's been really interesting and helpful in class is to survey the class to ask which hunt they thought was the most difficult and why. I admitted to them that the boar hunt, to my mind, seems more exciting than the fox hunt and that I found the final hunt to be rather anticlimactic (although what's happening with Sir Gawain is obviously more climactic).
Our class' "super scientific" chart. The numbers on the Y axis are pretty subjective, based on student input and discussion. For example, there is some physical danger in the deer hunt (hunters could be trampled), but it is minor in comparison to the danger of the boar hunt.
We developed the above chart--tracing the intensity of various qualities of the hunts over time--to highlight what is being tested of Lord Bertilak in each hunt. On some level, Gawain is being tested in his own way on all of these levels: his social commitment, his physical strength, and his intelligence. The fact that he "falls" on the day that Lord Bertilak faces the fox seems to indicate that Gawain has failed because of an error of judgment, a corruption of his reason: it is the chink in his armor. It was also kind of fun to do this because the hunts work as a Rorschach test: each reader can find something intimidating in the three hunts because the poem elicits a fear of failing across multiple modes. I think that this activity ended up helping students to identify with Gawain!
Read ll. 1851-1858, wherein Gawain accepts the Lady’s offer of the magical Green Girdle. This is the crucial moment of the poem that is sometimes compared to the temptation of Adam by Eve. On what levels does Gawain fail and/or “fall” here? If we think about the poem as a Christian allegory, what does his action (accepting the green girdle) represent? What does it say about him as a human being and as a knight? How harshly do you think we should or are meant to judge him?
Read ll. 1851-1858, wherein Gawain accepts the Lady’s offer of the magical Green Girdle. This is the crucial moment of the poem that is sometimes compared to the temptation of Adam by Eve. On what levels does Gawain fail and/or “fall” here? If we think about the poem as a Christian allegory, what does his action (accepting the green girdle) represent? What does it say about him as a human being and as a knight? How harshly do you think we should or are meant to judge him?
Detail of Lady Bertilak sneaking into Sir Gawain's bed from MS. Cotton Nero A. x, fol. 125r (pencil foliation 129r) © British Library Board.
Compare and contrast the knot of the pentangle with the knot of the girdle.
What is the poet’s attitude toward "courtly love”? Which characters represent that tradition? In traditional "courtly love," a knight performs feats of valor for a lady he loves who is generally not his wife. He aspires to win her love by proving his worthiness, chivalric merit, etc. through "love service"--doing her will and trying to help her and be worthy of her regardless of her treatment of him. Does Gawain serve a lady in the poem? If so, whom does he serve? Is there a more "traditional" depiction of the courtly lady? What is the poet's (and Gawain's) attitude toward Lady Bertilak? What does that imply about "courtly love"?
What is the poet’s attitude toward "courtly love”? Which characters represent that tradition? In traditional "courtly love," a knight performs feats of valor for a lady he loves who is generally not his wife. He aspires to win her love by proving his worthiness, chivalric merit, etc. through "love service"--doing her will and trying to help her and be worthy of her regardless of her treatment of him. Does Gawain serve a lady in the poem? If so, whom does he serve? Is there a more "traditional" depiction of the courtly lady? What is the poet's (and Gawain's) attitude toward Lady Bertilak? What does that imply about "courtly love"?
Fitt IV
What is the significance of that the Green Chapel is a mound instead of a man-made building? What are things that we associate with mounds?
Gawain is accused for a second time in the poem of being an imposter (ll. 2269-2273). Compare the Green Knight’s accusation that Gawain is an imposter to Lady Bertilak’s similar claim (ll. 1293-95). What does it matter than Gawain (the real man) is continuously being compared to his reputation (a social idea of himself)? Does this comparison have an impact on the poem… (the poet presents the ideal of a chivalrous knight, but then maybe undercuts it by making Gawain seem less like a romance hero—greater in degree to his fellow men—and more like a comic hero—equal in degree to both his fellow men and his environment.) What is the effect? See the Davenport essay, pp. 141-142.
How is Gawain’s reaction to the Green Knight at the Green Chapel like a confession? Is it a better confession than the one he gives to the priest in Part III? Why or why not? Make sure you go over the sacrament of confession with the class.
Close read ll. 2374-2384. What sins does Gawain confess? On pp. 149-150 of our text, scholar Ralph Hanna III argues that the sins Gawain identifies don’t make sense in the context of the poem. (See the past paragraph on p. 149 and the first paragraph on p. 150). In other words, the narrator takes pains to undermine Gawain’s analysis of his own sins. Do you agree with Gawain that these are his chief sins?
Close read ll. 2374-2384. What sins does Gawain confess? Some of these sins are really the same (i.e., greed and coveting are basically the same thing). Group the sins into categories. With these categories in mind, go back to three temptation scenes with Lady Bertilak. Does she only tempt Gawain with lust, or does she tempt to sin along the lines he mentions. How much should we seriously consider his argument than women are behind all of men’s sins?
In an essay in the back of our critical edition—“Unlocking What’s Locked: Gawain’s Green Girdle”—literary scholar Ralph Hanna III argues that there are at least 4 contradictory ways that the characters within the text define the symbolic significance of the green girdle. How does Lady Bertilak construct the meaning of the girdle (1851-1854)? How does Gawain construct the meaning of the girdle (2439-2438)? How does the Green Knight construct the meaning of the girdle (2395-2399)? How does the Arthurian court construct the meaning of the girdle (2513-2518)?
Gawain is accused for a second time in the poem of being an imposter (ll. 2269-2273). Compare the Green Knight’s accusation that Gawain is an imposter to Lady Bertilak’s similar claim (ll. 1293-95). What does it matter than Gawain (the real man) is continuously being compared to his reputation (a social idea of himself)? Does this comparison have an impact on the poem… (the poet presents the ideal of a chivalrous knight, but then maybe undercuts it by making Gawain seem less like a romance hero—greater in degree to his fellow men—and more like a comic hero—equal in degree to both his fellow men and his environment.) What is the effect? See the Davenport essay, pp. 141-142.
How is Gawain’s reaction to the Green Knight at the Green Chapel like a confession? Is it a better confession than the one he gives to the priest in Part III? Why or why not? Make sure you go over the sacrament of confession with the class.
Close read ll. 2374-2384. What sins does Gawain confess? On pp. 149-150 of our text, scholar Ralph Hanna III argues that the sins Gawain identifies don’t make sense in the context of the poem. (See the past paragraph on p. 149 and the first paragraph on p. 150). In other words, the narrator takes pains to undermine Gawain’s analysis of his own sins. Do you agree with Gawain that these are his chief sins?
Close read ll. 2374-2384. What sins does Gawain confess? Some of these sins are really the same (i.e., greed and coveting are basically the same thing). Group the sins into categories. With these categories in mind, go back to three temptation scenes with Lady Bertilak. Does she only tempt Gawain with lust, or does she tempt to sin along the lines he mentions. How much should we seriously consider his argument than women are behind all of men’s sins?
In an essay in the back of our critical edition—“Unlocking What’s Locked: Gawain’s Green Girdle”—literary scholar Ralph Hanna III argues that there are at least 4 contradictory ways that the characters within the text define the symbolic significance of the green girdle. How does Lady Bertilak construct the meaning of the girdle (1851-1854)? How does Gawain construct the meaning of the girdle (2439-2438)? How does the Green Knight construct the meaning of the girdle (2395-2399)? How does the Arthurian court construct the meaning of the girdle (2513-2518)?
Detail of Lady Bertilak's face from MS. Cotton Nero A. x, fol. 125r (pencil foliation 129r) © British Library Board.
Who are the women in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? Most critics agree that there are four: Guenevere, Mary, Lady Bertilak, and Morgan le Fay. To what extent do they play similar roles? How do they differ? What is the function of each? What can you conclude (if anything) about the depiction of women in the poem? Is it essentially positive, negative, neutral, mixed? Are they idealized, realistically portrayed, caricatures, ciphers? Are they marginal or central to the main conflict of the poem?
At the end of the poem, the Green Knight declares that Gawain is the best of all Arthurian knights; this opinion is shared by the Arthurian court but not by Gawain. Why does he think so? Why does Gawain disagree? Does the court’s failure to understand the significance of Gawain’s experience change our opinion of the people at the court? Is Gawain a savior figure for the Arthurian court?
Why might the poet choose to remind the audience of the connection between Arthur, Brutus, and the Trojan refugee Aeneas at the end of the narrative? In the light of these translatio reference here and at the beginning of the poem, what do you make of the French motto “Honi Soit Qui Mal Pense” found at the end of the poem? The some translates this line, “Shame be to the man who has evil in his heart”; an equally plausible rendering is “shame on whoever thinks ill [of him/it].” How can this motto be connected to the themes of the poem as a whole or to the translatio references which frame the narrative itself?
At the end of the poem, the Green Knight declares that Gawain is the best of all Arthurian knights; this opinion is shared by the Arthurian court but not by Gawain. Why does he think so? Why does Gawain disagree? Does the court’s failure to understand the significance of Gawain’s experience change our opinion of the people at the court? Is Gawain a savior figure for the Arthurian court?
Why might the poet choose to remind the audience of the connection between Arthur, Brutus, and the Trojan refugee Aeneas at the end of the narrative? In the light of these translatio reference here and at the beginning of the poem, what do you make of the French motto “Honi Soit Qui Mal Pense” found at the end of the poem? The some translates this line, “Shame be to the man who has evil in his heart”; an equally plausible rendering is “shame on whoever thinks ill [of him/it].” How can this motto be connected to the themes of the poem as a whole or to the translatio references which frame the narrative itself?
Last line of the poem from MS. Cotton Nero A. x, fol. 124v (pencil foliation 128v) © British Library Board.
I like to close our discussion of the book by reading students the following passage, a quote from Jack Slezer in his essay in the MLA’s volume Approaches to Teaching Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:
Gawain confronts and learns to accept his own mortality; he learned that he too is a part of the natural world—mutable, subject to time, imperfect, green. Sure this is a Christian poem; but it’s also supremely human. His “sins” (“cowardice and covetousness”) are not just against God but against his own humanity. By taking the girdle (the magic delusion that we don’t have to face limits) Gawain shows that he covets life over death, he refuses to acknowledge his own humanity.
This is a really great passage to consider for the closing discussion. Students often have a lot of sympathy for Gawain, and they see his decision to take the magical girdle as smart instead of sinful. Although they may disagree with the idea that magical self-preservation is selfish, this idea helps them to conceptualize why it is possible to understand Gawain's decision as a failure that requires forgiveness.
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