The supposed “castle” of the Green knight was actually the Green Chapel in which the Knight tested Gawain’s life through faithfulness. The Green Knight believes that King Arthur’s men are all puny cowards, so Gawain requests that he takes on the challenge. Gawain accepts the Green Knight’s challenge, “To the Green Chapel come, I charge you, to take such a dint as you have dealt … That your neck should have a knock on New Year’s morn” (221-223). The Green Chapel is the place where Sir Gawain will meet his fate. The chapel represents the honesty of Sir Gawain.
His hair and beard are long and his presence demands of the attention of everyone in the room. He enters the feast of King Arthur on a large and strong steed with a quest to test the court for their loyalty and integrity. He is confident and lays out an offer for the challenge expecting King Arthur to take him up on it. The game is that the challenger gets a chance to hit the green knight, but in a year and a day, he must go to the Knights chapel and then the Knight will test him and if he fails the test, the green knight will hit him. The green knight has no fear and he even lowers his neck to make it easier for Gawain.
Gawain to some readers, if they have the idea of commitment in their mind already, may see Gawain as a committed man. I could even give in a little bit to that, but if you break down his commitment to find the reasoning behind it, you see loyalty. Loyalty to his king, loyalty to his own oath he has sworn to his knighthood. Up until the end where the Green Knight is chopping at his neck. This is a very pure profession of his loyalty.
In his trials, Gawain faces a moral battle throughout the text. “True to the chivalric code, Gawain has not betrayed the lord; however, he feels guilty about keeping the green scarf” (Sir Gawain 83), this statement points out the moral trials and battles that Gawain faced, instead of the physical ones Beowulf did. In the outcomes, Beowulf kills his monster, however Gawain chops his monster’s head off but doesn’t kill him, “The knight did not falter or fall, but at once he sprang up on his strong legs and jumped into the crowd and snatched up his head by the hair and held it high for all to see” (81). Gawain isn’t able to kill his monster but later, destroys his monster with his morals. The monster being his pride and selfishness.
Thus, one can infer that the knights perceive themselves as earthly manifestations of God himself. With this perception comes the weighty responsibility of ensuring that the spirit of Christianity remains strong. This responsibility, along with the desire to conform to the chivalric code, is the driving force in Gawain’s life. Gawain’s actions with the Green Knight distinguish him from his fellow knights, in that he is the only one brave enough to confront the giant. Faced with the specter of battle with the Green Knight, Gawain rises above all to defend the honor of his good
A mysterious knight shows up at the king’s castle and calls himself the Green Knight. The Green Knight then challenges one to play the “beheading game” which means to strike him with his axe if one will take a return blow in a year and a day. Sir Gawain then proceeded to accept the challenge for King Arthur when nobody else in the castle would. He took the King’s role in the game to protect him from the Green
This trait is shown heavily throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Gawain in the beginning of the story accepts the task of playing the Green Knight’s game because in all of the land, he is the strongest knight. It can also be inferred that Gawain accepted this challenge because one of the biggest factors in obeying the chivalric code was to show loyalty to the king. When the time comes for him to go on his search for the Green Knight his true character starts to show. He feels scared and sick to his stomach but that doesn’t stop him from going.
He does by not refusing, to back out of the Green Knight’s terms where Gawain is putting his own life in harms way. The Green Knight comes into Arthur’s court while they are celebrating New Year’s and challenges them to try and strike him with his own axe, Arthur who is confused steps forward but Gawain stops him, and accepts the challenge for himself. One blow of the axe, Gawain cuts of the knights head, but he is tricked for the Green Knight is a supernatural being so the Green Knight doesn’t die, instead he tells Gawain to seek him out in a year to do the same thing, but this time Gawain would receive the hit instead. This leaves Gawain feeling uneasy and fearful, but through perseverance and his personal integrity he is able to conquer his fears in his quest for the Green
Even though the epic poem had a devastating ending, it would not have been the same without the characters displaying their loyal sides. Years prior to the battle between Grendel and Beowulf, Hrothgar had paid money to the Wulfings who were in a feud with Beowulf's father. The King of the Danes was not capable of battling out with Grendel. Since Beowulf feels loyalty towards
According to the poem, a great leader is one who thinks rationally, keeps his country at peace, takes care of his people, believes in God, has Divine kingship, and has good morals. This great leader is exemplified by none other than our epic protagonist and namesake of the poem: Beowulf himself. Beowulf is granted kingship of Geatland as a reward for defeating Grendel and his mother in two separate battles. Grendel was an evil demon who was terrorizing