One of the more complex and interesting of the Arthurian legends Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th century alliterative poem, which has its origins in pagan legend and blends pre-Christian imagery with a medieval romantic chivalric plot.
The original story comes to us through one manuscript, called the Cotton Nero A.x., and three other poems, usually called the Pearl, Patience and Purity poems are attributed to the “Pearl poet” or the “Gawain poet” whose identity is open to conjecture.
The Cotton manuscript has been dated to the late 14th century making the author a contemporary of Chaucer. The three other poems are believed to be created by another poet from the same era.
J. R. R. Tolkien, in the introduction to his translation of the poem described the poet as
“a man of serious and devout mind, though not without humour; he had an interest in theology, and some knowledge of it, though an amateur knowledge perhaps, rather than a professional; he had Latin and French and was well enough read in French books, both romantic and instructive; but his home was in the West Midlands of England; so much his language shows, and his metre, and his scenery.”
Some research points to John Massey of Cheshire as the most likely candidate as the author of the Cotton manuscript. He is generally not regarded as the Pearl poet, whose identity remains a mystery.
Alongside its advanced plot and rich language, the poem's chief interest in the critical and historical worlds is in the symbolism and themes which place it in its historical context. Many of the poem’s themes and plots are full of symbols from Celtic and ancient English folklore -- the Green Knight, the beheading game, even the girdle given Gawain as a protection from the axe, have their origins in the ancient stories of the British Isles. Gawain is more often compared to older works such as the Irish tales of Cúchulainn, which features three fake blows with an axe. A beheading game also appears in the Middle Irish tale Bricriu's Feast.
This motif also appears in other Arthurian legends. In the Life of Caradoc, a continuation of Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval: The Story of the Grail Caradoc's challenger is his father in disguise, come to test his honor. Lancelot is given a beheading challenge in Perlesvaus, where a knight comes and begs him to chop off his head, or else put his own in jeopardy. Lancelot reluctantly cuts it off, under the agreement that he will come to the same place in a year to put his head in the same danger. When Lancelot arrives, the people of the town celebrate and announce that they have finally found a true knight (apparently many knights had been tested, and failed).
Characters similar to the Green Knight appear in several other works most notably in Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, where Gawain's brother Gareth fights "two brethren whych were called the Grene Knyght and the Rede Knyght."
There are also several stories in which knights struggle to stave off the advances of voluptuous women and preserve their chastity or fidelity, including Yder, the Lancelot-Grail, Hunbaut, and The Knight of the Sword. The last two involve Gawain specifically. Usually the temptress is the daughter or wife of a lord to whom the knight owes some respect, and the knight is tested in whether or not he will remain chaste in extreme circumstances. See also the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail for an hilarious send up of this story.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, accepts a challenge from a mysterious giant green warrior who enters Camelot. The "Green Knight" offers to allow anyone to strike him with his axe if he promises to receive a similar blow from him in a year and a day. Gawain accepts the challenge, and beheads the green knight. However the knights are shocked when the green visitor stands up, picks up his head, and reminds Gawain to meet him at the appointed time at “The Green Chapel.” The poem then follows Gawain's journey to meet the appointment.
Almost a year later, Sir Gawain embarks on his search for the Green Chapel and fulfill his obligation. He eventually arrives at a castle, where Gawain meets Bertilak de Hautdesert, the lord of the castle, and his beautiful wife. Gawain relates the story if the challenge and his search for the Green Chapel Bertilak informs him that the Green Chapel is not two miles away.
Bertilak promises to take Gawain to the Green Chapel in good time before his appointed time. In the meantime Bertilak proposes a bargain to Gawain – he is to go hunting and he suggests that he will give Gawain anything he catches if in return Gawain passes over anything he might gain during the day. Gawain accepts, but as soon as Bertilak has left the lady of the castle visits Gawain's bedroom in order to seduce him. However she gets nothing but a single kiss. Bertilak returns with a deer, which he agrees to share, and as agreed, Gawain responds by kissing the lord while avoiding explanation. Again the same pledge is made the next day and again the lady attempts to bed the handsome knight. Gawain again resists her advances and gives up two kisses. Bertilak returns in the evening and the two knights exchange two boars for two kisses. On the third day, Gawain is given a green silk girdle by the lady who also promises to keep him from any harm. That evening, the lord returns with a fox, Gawain gives him three kisses but keeps the girdle from him.
Gawain leaves for the Green Chapel with the lady's silk girdle. He finds the Green Knight at the chapel sharpening an axe and submits to the Green Knight’s demand to bend forward to receive the axe. The Green Knight swings to behead Gawain, but stops short twice. On the third swing the Green Knight merely nicks the back of Gawain’s neck. At that point the Green Knight then reveals himself to be Bercilak and explains that the whole affair was a game was arranged by Arthur’s nemesis Morgan le Fay. Gawain returns to Camelot, bearing the girdle as a badge of shame. King Arthur, however, decrees that all his knights should wear a green sash in recognition of Gawain's bravery.
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