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Summary English literature, Sir Gawain and the green knight
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A summary of the story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight for English literature. Explained with context. Written in English, for VWO.
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(late 14th century)Chivalry and honour
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an example of a medieval romance, an adventure story about a heroic quest.
Older heroic tales in Britain, such as Beowulf, presented an epic hero who endured quests and fought monsters to
save his people. In the late 14th century when Sir Gawain was written, the audience for literature was a new upper
class, or leisure class, which was accustomed to wealth. These readers wanted stories of courtly love and ideals, not
stories solely of survival. Morals and virtue were still important to these readers, however. The new kind of hero
fought to defend his ideals as much as his life, while the quest and the magical elements sustained the story's
excitement.
The story has a French Arthurian theme, partly indicated by a part of it taking place at King Arthur’s court. The idea
of a “stranger coming to a feast'' is also found in ancient Irish tales. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is also proof of
chivalry: the medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code.
A summary of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:
During a New Year’s Eve feast at King Arthur’s court, a strange figure, referred to only as the Green
Knight, pays the court an unexpected visit. He challenges the group’s leader or any other brave
representative to a game. The Green Knight says that he will allow whomever accepts the challenge to
strike him with his own axe, on the condition that the challenger find him in exactly one year to receive a
blow in return.
Stunned, Arthur hesitates to respond, but when the Green Knight mocks Arthur’s silence, the king steps
forward to take the challenge. As soon as Arthur grips the Green Knight’s axe, Sir Gawain leaps up and
asks to take the challenge himself. He takes hold of the axe and, in one deadly blow, cuts off the knight’s
head. To the amazement of the court, the now-headless Green Knight picks up his severed head. Before
riding away, the head reiterates the terms of the pact, reminding the young Gawain to seek him in a year
and a day at the Green Chapel. After the Green Knight leaves, the company goes back to its festival, but
Gawain is uneasy.
Time passes, and autumn arrives. On the Day of All Saints, Gawain prepares to leave and find the Green
Knight. He puts on his best armour, mounts his horse and starts off toward the Chapel. Gawain encounters
all sorts of beasts, suffers from hunger and cold, and grows more desperate as the days pass. On Christmas
Day, he prays to find a place to hear Mass, then looks up to see a castle shimmering in the distance. The
lord of the castle welcomes Gawain warmly, introducing him to his lady and to the old woman who sits
beside her. For sport, the host strikes a deal with Gawain: the host will go out hunting with his men every
day, and when he returns in the evening, he will exchange his winnings for anything Gawain has managed
to acquire by staying behind at the castle. Gawain happily agrees to the pact, and goes to bed.
The first day, the lord hunts a herd of does, while Gawain sleeps late in his bedchambers. On the morning
of the first day, the lord’s wife sneaks into Gawain’s chambers and attempts to seduce him. Gawain puts
her off, but before she leaves she steals one kiss from him. That evening, when the host gives Gawain the
venison he has captured, Gawain kisses him, since he has won one kiss from the lady. The second day, the
lord hunts a wild boar. The lady again enters Gawain’s chambers, and this time she kisses Gawain twice.
That evening Gawain gives the host the two kisses in exchange for the boar’s head.
The third day, the lord hunts a fox, and the lady kisses Gawain three times. She also asks him for a love
token, such as a ring or a glove. Gawain refuses to give her anything and refuses to take anything from her,
until the lady mentions her girdle. The green silk girdle she wears around her waist is no ordinary piece of
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