In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain meets an immortal being referred to as the Green Knight. From the moment the Green Knight storms into King Arthur’s court, Sir Gawain is not only thrown into a journey that will define him as a knight, but he is exposed to several important lessons, all taught by the Green Knight. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Green Knight teaches Gawain lessons in respect and accomplishment, deadly humility, and the virtue of understanding a challenge before accepting it.
The first lesson GreenKnight taught Gawain is one of respect and achievement. At the time the duel with GreenKnight is first proposed, Sir Gawain is one of the lesser knights in King Arthur’s court, as he has not had a chance to prove himself to him. Considering GreenKnight’s challenge, he accepts, acknowledging: “I am the weakest, I know, and the least wise, / and the least attached to my life, if anyone wants the truth, / but as you are my uncle whom I live with.” to praise /…I have asked you this first, and I beseech you to grant it” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 354-356, 359). Saying this, it is evident that Gawain understands that strength and wisdom are gained through chivalric tasks (such as a duel with the Green Knight) and respect and honor are accorded to a knight if they praise the court and the name of the knight. King Arthur. This same kind of honor can be seen in the ritual of Gawain’s departure a year after he accepted the challenge. His armor is more a work of art than a tool of war, with, “The smallest of its strap clasps gleamed with gold”, (591) and his departure is such that, “it comes to the King and his companions, he solemnly bids lords and ladies farewell, and they kiss him and walk with him and commend him to Christ” (594-596). The task that Gawain accepted has been noted throughout the community, and all honor him at his departure.
Perhaps no individual action more clearly reflects the honor bestowed on a knight for taking part in a great task than the way the court reacted to Gawain’s return. As Gawain tells his story of the Knight and informs the court of the green belt he wore, “Every knight of the brotherhood must have a baldric, / A bright green sash bowed about him / Worn for the good of the knight, as he did” (2516-2518). By accomplishing the great task of fighting the GreenKnight and returning alive, Sir Gawain has earned the respect and praise of King Arthur’s court. Honor and historical immortality are not given to knights, they are earned. Gawain could not have learned or accomplished this without GreenKnight.
The second lesson the Green Knight taught Gawain is one of deadly humility. During his journey to the Green Chapel, Sir Gawain rests for several days in the castle of a lord who tells Gawain, “Let’s make a deal, / Whatever I take in the forest will be yours, / And in return you will.” . give me all you can acquire” (1105-1107). Sir Gawain remains faithful to this agreement for the first two days. However, on the third day of his stay in the castle, the lady of the castle presents Sir Gawain with her belt, saying: “For if a man hath this green belt tied about him, / While it is tied about his waist / there is no knight under heaven that can bring him down” (1851-1853).Sir Gawain takes the belt and, with his doppelganger with the Green Knight first and foremost in mind, he does not offer it as a gift to the lord of the castle.
Upon arrival at the Green Chapel, the Knight delivers three blows to Sir Gawain’s neck. With the first two hits, he stops just short of hitting Sir Gawain, sparing him for each of the two days he fulfilled his pact in the castle. However, on the third blow, the Knight bites Sir Gawain’s neck with the ax and says, “He failed at number three / For which he got the cut. / Because the braided belt he wears belongs to me” (2356- 2358). However, the Knight goes on to proclaim: “I am convinced now/ That you must be the most perfect knight that ever walked the earth” (2362-2363). The Green Knight realizes that being chivalrous does not require being suicidal. Sir Gawain has a deadly instinct to want to stay alive. Although Sir Gawain is ashamed of his actions, his human flaw in dueling the Green Knight gives him the humility necessary to truly be one of the greatest and noblest nights of all time.
The final, and perhaps the most obvious and “real-life” lesson the Green Knight taught Gawain is to understand the challenge ahead before you dive in headfirst. When the Green Knight entered King Arthur’s court, his appearance was peculiar, to say the least. Not only did he stand at an enormous height, but “he wore neither helmet nor chain, / No breastplate, no bronzes on his arms, / He had neither spear nor shield to thrust and strike” (203-205). If his appearance alone wasn’t strange enough, the nature of his proposal was very different from that of a normal dual. Instead of extending the challenge of a typical fight on the floor of the court, the Green Knight says, “I’ll take a hit from him.” [the challenger] on this floor, undeterred./ Then you must grant me the right to give him one in return/ without resisting” (294-296). The nature of the Green Knight’s appearance and proposal should have prompted Gawain to ponder some questions about the challenger and challenger before he so eagerly accepted the task If Sir Gawain had asked the proper questions before committing himself to combat with the Green Knight, he might not have found himself in the awkward situation of having to take a hit from a immortal knight.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Green Knight illustrates to Gawain the importance of respect and achievement through action. Through his encounters, he teaches Gawain the existence (and necessity) of mortal humility. By accepting the Green Knight’s challenge without asking any of the necessary questions, Sir Gawain learns the lesson of understanding. These three lessons, while painful and morally crushing at the time of his teaching, will go a long way toward making Gawain a better, stronger, and more chivalrous knight. Through the Green Knight acting as the antagonist to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the lessons he teaches Gawain make the experience much more positive than negative. Gawain’s experience with the Green Knight helps shape him. Who knows what Gawain would have been if he refused to stand up.
