A Knights Tale
A medieval romance is a tale of high adventure that can be a religious crusade, a conquest for the knight's lord, or the rescue of a captive lady. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a knight takes on a dangerous challenge with another knight to prove his nobility. The poem was written by Sir Thomas Malory in Morte dArthur. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a poem that takes the form of a medieval romance by taking mystery and suspense from bizarre elements, idealizing chivalry, and repetition of the number three.
The medieval romance of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has mysterious and suspenseful traits that derive from the queerness of the story. The Green Knight proposed a challenge for one noble knight to exchange blows with his ax to prove his courage. The Green Knight began to mock the knights unwillingness to engage as it says when the court kept its council (Sir Gawain line 83). Sir Gawain, King Arthurs cousin who is most loyal and noble of knights, rose to accept the challenge and swiftly swung at the Green Knights neck. When Sir Gawains blade struck, the head was hewn off and fell to the floor (198). Yet, to everyones surprise, the Green Knight picked up his own head by his hair as if nothing happened and mounted his horse. The Green Knight then told Sir Gawain to meet him in one years time at the Green Chapel to repay his debt. Both the knights long silence and the Green Knight being unaffected by his beheading, demonstrates how the story uses mystery and the bizarre to add suspense to the plot.
The suspenseful circumstances in the poem increase as Sir Gawain keeps his word to find the Green Knights Chapel a year later. Sir Gawain stops at a castle on Christmas Eve and is greeted by the lord of the castle and his lady. The lord knows where the Green Chapel is located and promises to provide him with a guide to lead him there on New Years Day (169). The two men then vow to exchange anything they receive during the next three days. Sir Gawain keeps his promise only two days, failing to exchange with the lord what he received on the third day. As the guide leads him to the Green Knights Chapel, he is determined to acknowledge his fate. The Green Knight emerges carrying a great green axe. He welcomes Sir Gawain warmly, and then tells him he will repay him for his own beheading a year ago. The Green Knight lifts the axe high and drops it, but seeing Gawain flinch, stops his blade, mocking Gawain and his reputation. Gawain tells him he will not flinch again, and the Green Knight lifts the axe a second time. Gawain doesnt flinch as the axe comes down, and the Green Knight holds his blade again. Gawain angrily tells the knight to hurry up and strike, and the knight lifts his axe one last time. He brings it down hard, but only leaves a small cut on his neck. Gawain leaps away, draws his sword and challenges the Green Knight to a fight. The Green Knight refuses to fight and explains that he is the Lord of the castle Gawain stayed at. He paused the first two times to repay the first two days, when Gawain gave him the kisses he had received from the lady. The cut from the third blow was punishment for Gawains behavior on the third day, when he failed to tell the truth about the green girdle she gave him. The events at the castle and the Green Chapel helped portray suspense in the poem.
A key trait to a medieval romance is that the hero idealizes chivalry, which is shown in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Gawains dedication to both sticking to his knights code and honoring his word. Gawain follows his code by accepting the Green Knights challenge so his king will not have to. His willingness to honor his king is evident when, he rose up readily, and reached him with speed (140). His devotion to the code is again displayed as he rides to the Green Chapel fully aware of his fate. He believes that it would be dishonorable not to fulfill his pledge [] (Sir Gawain 169). One way he is honoring his word is when he follows through with his promise to exchange what he receives with the lord. He also honors his word by standing ready to be beheaded as the Green Knight swung his axe. It is these characteristics that define Gawain and his never ending chivalry.
Another main aspect of a medieval romance is the repetition of the number three. The first of the triple pattern is seen when Sir Gawain stays at the lords castle for three days. It is here that the usage of three is again revealed as the lady gives Gawain three gifts during his stay. While Gawain is at the Green Chapel, the Green Knight swings at Gawains neck three times, yet another key example. Each of these swings had a reason behind it. The first two were to represent the gifts he gave to the lord, and the third, where the Green Knight cut Gawains neck, represents the girdle Gawain kept to himself. The Green Knight explains that A second feint, sir, I assigned for the morning / You kissed my comely wifeeach kiss you restored / For both of these behooved but two feigned blows by right (441-443) The many uses of the number three in this poem mark it as a classic medieval romance.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight inspires courage and heroism with Gawains traits of sticking to the knights code and honoring his word. The poem also demonstrates how knights conducted themselves. By taking mystery and suspense from strange characteristics, idealizing chivalry, and using the repetition of the number three, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is branded as a medieval romance.
Works Cited
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Trans. Marie Borroff . Prentice Hall Literature: The British Tradition. Boston Massachusetts: Penguin, 2007. 162-175. Print.
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