Essay On Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

In the story the Green Knight comes into Arthur’s castle. (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 89). The Green Knight offers a challenge to the knights of the Round Table. (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 89). Sir Gawain gets up and takes the challenge. (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 89) In the code of Chivalry you must always accept a challenge from an equal, which the Green Knight is, and you must do it. (Alchin). He does this because he is a knight, and not only that, he is a knight at the Round Table. So by the Green Knight challenging them to accept, he is basically demanding they fulfil their duties as knights (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 89). So, as knights, they must fulfil the code of chivalry which states, “To never refuse a challenge from an equal.” (Alchin) Courage is an important trait that a knight must have. When the Green Knight came to the castle, and he propose the offer that he did, it took courage to do it.(Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 89) When a man becomes a knight, he must be able to ride into battle. That takes courage. Sir Gawain has courage, because he jumped up from his seat and he took the challenge (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 89). The story states that, “Camelot is a sober place the following November when Sir Gawain arms and prays and sets out on his perhaps fatal
mission.” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 89). To go out and seek the person who wants to swing an ax at your head takes courage which is what knights must have.
The Green Knight’s wife gave Gawain a green belt to protect him from harm. (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 89 ) When he came to follow up on the challenge, Sir Gawain was being deceitful (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 92-215). He was being deceitful by not letting the Green Knight know about his protective belt. (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 92-215). He came with the impression that I’m who I say I am. When the Green Knight swung over and over at Gawain, he cut his neck at the last swing (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 153-154). The Knight’s code of chivalry states that you should avoid using deceit among other things (Alchin). At the end he admitted that he was a coward when he was called out by the Green Knight.
This all matters because this directly translates back to the Middle Age’s.
This was their culture. Knights during this time followed guidelines on how they should conduct themselves. They had to be truthful, they had to avoid taking monetary rewards, they should never refuse a challenge from an equal, and there are others as well.(Alchin) Sir Gawain and the Green Knights were excellent knights. The exemplified chivalry and the code of honor. Their actions directly reflected the culture at the time. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table had to follow the codes of their profession. It’s like any job you take today. You must follow the rules and
guidelines.
During the Middle Ages, knights followed guidelines. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight both followed aspects of the code, and their actions proved that they did. Their actions reflected the culture at that time as well.