Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a story about King Arthur’s nephew, Gawain. The story is about a mighty green knight who comes to the round table wanting to play a game. A brave knight will strike the green knight with an axe once after a year the green knight gets to return the strike to whomever strike him. However the Knight must find him and as we learn in the story his boast about how easy it will be to find him is a lie. After searching and combating deadly foes,…
I do think the vision of King Arthur is somewhat heroic. The masses sometimes need nothing more than morale, which is what the story of this hero provides.…
Many speculations have been made trying to determine who is the modern day King Arthur, his reincarnate self. King Arthur, if he existed, was thought to be one of the greatest leaders of all time. There have been many legends about King Arthur, including that King Arthur would come back in the future during a dark era and bring the society back to the way it was. As for Doctor Ben Carson I believe that he is the reincarnate King Arthur. King Arthur and Doctor Ben Carson have many similar traits.…
This excerpt from Malory’s Morte D’Arthur illustrates the greatness of King Arthur and the importance of following the rules of war and chivalry. King Arthur is betrayed by his close friend Lancelot, his most favored knight, and by his queen Guinevere. Upon being betrayed, Arthur is forced to follow the rules of the time, and do as he is expected.…
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a poem thought to be written in the fourteenth century. This theory is based on “the terminology used for the practice of hunting, descriptions of the layout of the typical fourteenth century English castle, and references to the routines of the servants of a castle household” (Puchner, et.al., 2012, p. 725). The use of King Arthur’s character and his Knights of the Round Table are additional indicators of the fourteenth century time frame.…
Life in the Middle Ages is depicted in the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in ways such as loyalty, uprightness, and honorary. Sir Gawain in the Green Knight demonstrates loyalty in order to show how loyalty was greatly valued in the Middle ages. Through direct characterization, it is revealed how the Green Knight is showing gratitude for Sir Gawain being true to his word. For the honor he gives him, Sir Gawain feels repent for what he did.…
During the early portion of the piece, when the Green Knight interrupts the merry celebrations of King Arthur’s court, is when it first becomes apparent that Sir Gawain was the knight…
J.R.R Tolkien once said, “There is indeed no better medium for moral teaching than the good fairy story” (73). Often when fairy stories are mentioned, people think of gallant knights fighting an evil beast. Knights such as Geoffrey Chaucer’s knight in Canterbury Tales or even the nonfictional Richard the Lion Heart are exemplify knights. Determining the definition of ideal, however, determines whether or not a knight is ideal. Ideal in its simplest form means “a standard of excellence.” Many knights, fiction and nonfiction, fit this description; however, one knight in particular lives up to the description. Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight exemplifies the ideal knight.…
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a Middle English romance that intertwines the ideas of the importance of chivalry, Christian virtues and outward appearances, present within Arthurian legends. Sir Gawain is the epitome of the noble, virtuous knight who also strives to be an obedient man of God, represented by the pentangle and image of Mary within his shield (650). But with the arrival of the Green Knight at King Arthur’s court, Gawains faith in God and his Christian morals collide with his desire to be seen as the honorable, brave knight of Arthur’s court. When Gawains desire for self-preservation overcomes his faith in God, causing him to befall, some readers…
The legend of King Arthur can be traced as far back as the fourth and fifth centuries. But the earliest tales of Arthur were almost nothing like they are today. There were no wandering minstrels, or ladies–in–waiting, or knights in shining armor taking on bold quests to defend their ladies. Instead, there were tales of giants, and magic cups, and invaders from a foreign land. In some ancient versions of the legend, Arthur is a hero whose deeds are comparable to those of Hercules. In more modern versions, he is merely a king whose knights are the real heroes of the story. The earliest tales of Arthur were spread largely by word of mouth, and very few written accounts survive. Of the ones that do, we do not have the original documents, only copies…
Arthurian legends are medieval romances that tell wondrous tales of fantasy and chivalry. The chivalric code of knights was highly revered as a way of life. This code of bravery honor and loyalty was followed by every knight and royal in the medieval ages. Sir Gawain and the Green knight is a medieval romance that demonstrates Sir Gawain’s demonstrations and lack there of chivalry through his bravery, loyalty and honor. However he follows the code of chivalry more so than breaking it.…
Throughout the novel, Arthur is the protagonist, who in the first book is known as ‘the Wart’ playing a slightly timid young boy who later becomes King of England after being tutored by his mentor Merlyn. Merlyn truly teaches Arthur many life lessons that he later better understands during his time as King. According to Chris Vogler in The Writer’s Journey, “Mentors provide heroes with motivation, inspiration, guidance, training, and gifts for the journey.” Merlyn serves as Arthur’s mentor throughout the novel, but especially at the beginning. Arthur and Merlyn’s relationship evolves throughout the novel as Arthur begins to shape into his role as king. Arthur initially wants to make war and seek glory, but Merlyn makes Arthur see, however, that such goals are costly, most often for those who have the least say in them. Merlyn constantly serves as Arthur’s guidance to always doing what is right and reminds Arthur of the lessons he learned during his childhood. As King, Arthur’s motives…
The English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a significant piece in Arthurian Literature. The story approaches Gawain’s character much differently than in Sir Thomas Malory’s well-known Le Morte d’Arthur. Unlike Malory’s version of the Arthurian legend where Sir Lancelot is known as the Round Table’s finest Knight, the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight chose, instead, to have Sir Gawain play the role of Camelot’s most noble gentleman. In staying true to the theme of chivalry and virtue, the Gawain Poet tells a captivating story of a knights struggle to uphold the chivalric code in the face of temptation and danger.…
The Holy Grail is one of the most enigmatic and coveted relics in the world. With its roots stemming from Celtic mythology, it is often described as the sacred chalice, dish or vessel that Jesus Christ drank out of during the Last Supper. One of the most prevalent themes of Western literature is the search for the Holy Grail; from Indiana Jones to Monty Python, the legend of the Grail has endured for countless centuries, most recently inspiring a best-selling novel that unleashed a wave of conspiracy theories. The quest for the Grail, which was most famously undertaken by King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table, symbolized the pursuit of union with God. Despite its significance in the Christian world, the Holy Grail is never mentioned in…
Complexity of King Arthur King Arthur is a long beloved and passed down story that originated in the 5th century and still lives on today. The first story was about Arthur being a savior to the people at the cusp of the Dark Ages and saving them from countless dangers and the newest story to my knowledge is the recent TV series Merlin, which mainly focuses on the magical side of the story and the friendship between Arthur and Merlin, as well as adding some different twists than previous famous stories about Arthur. There are many adaptations of the King Arthur fable and we still don’t know today whether he was a real human or just a story, and we never will. Actual being or not, in Sir Thomas Malory’s version of King Arthur in Le Morte d'Arthur,…