The Chivalric Code In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

During the medieval period when chivalry was at its peak knights were expected to not only to go into battle, but also show politeness and gratitude for their king. While many knights were raised with this mindset some, of course, had to be taught. During this time period the Arthurian Legends were quite popular in the royal courts and were used as teaching instruments. Sir Gawain in particular showed the most examples of chivalry toward his king than any other knight. He not only respected his king, but also sacrificed his life for King Arthur. Sir Gawain entertained the courts, taught knights how to act, and showed faults with the chivalrous code.

One use of Sir Gawain was to entertain the courts during the medieval time period. Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the writers of the Arthurian Legends “He was a prominent writer of this time period. His stories were meant to be read aloud to entertain the courts as this was part of his job.”( The Chivalric Code in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ). Sir Gawain could be compatible with anyone in court, because of
In the realm of Camelot the Chivalrous code was broken down into four main structures, “The Arthurian legend revolves around the Code of Chivalry, which was adhered to by the Knights of the Round Table - Honour, Honesty, Valour and Loyalty”,(Alchin, Knights code of chivalry). These were the four basic rules the knights had to follow, some examples of these are in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”. In the story Sir Gawain takes King Arthurs place and accepts the Green Knight’s challenge, this is an example of loyalty. The second example is valour, the challenge that the green knight set was that whoever cut off his head would have to come to his castle so he could cut off their head. Though Sir Gawain did show these extraordinary acts of chivalry he also showed how the code had some minor