Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Critique of Medieval State of Knighthood and Chivalry
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FACULTY OF ARTS
Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight and the
Critique of Medieval
State of Knighthood
and Chivalry
Master's thesis
NIKOLETA NEMEČKAYOVÁ
Supervisor: prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A.
Department of English and American Studies
English Language and Literature
Brno 2021SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT AND THE CRITIQUE OF MEDIEVAL STATE OF
KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY
Bibliographic record
Author: Nikoleta Nemečkayová
Faculty of Arts
Masaryk University
English and American Studies
Title of Thesis: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Critique of Medieval
State of Knighthood and Chivalry
Degree Program: English Language and Literature
Field of Study: English Language and Literature
Supervisor: prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A.
Year: 2021
Number of Pages: 80
Keywords: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Knighthood, Chivalry, Middle
Ages, Arthurian Legend
2SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT AND THE CRITIQUE OF MEDIEVAL STATE OF
KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY
Abstract
The main objective of this thesis is to examine whether Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight, one of the most widely discussed medieval poems commonly known for its
praise and celebration of courtly life, hides behind the admiration of the refinement of
King Arthur and his court a critique of the knightly class and the chivalric code guiding
its conduct. In order to achieve this objective, the thesis employs a three-stage analysis.
At the first stage, an analysis of the other works of the Gawain-poet is carried out to
determine whether he was inclined to engage in any form of criticism of the flaws and
weaknesses of society or its individual members. At the second stage, the thesis ex-
plores the historical and social context of the era in which the poet lived and looks for
contemporary accounts dealing with the medieval state of knighthood in order to dis-
cern whether there had been any traces of criticism of the knightly class and the chiv-
alric code in the poet's society, what was the potential critique aimed at, and whether
there were any voices calling for a reform. And at the third and final stage, the poem
itself is closely inspected for any signs of criticism of the knightly class and the chivalric
code.
3SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT AND THE CRITIQUE OF MEDIEVAL STATE OF
KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY
Declaration
I hereby declare that this thesis with title Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the
Critique of Medieval State of Knighthood and Chivalry I submit for assessment is
entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save to the ex-
tent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my thesis.
Brno May 16, 2021 .......................................
Nikoleta Nemečkayová
5SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT AND THE CRITIQUE OF MEDIEVAL STATE OF
KNIGHTHOOD AND CHIVALRY
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor, prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A., for the pa-
tient guidance, encouragement, and advice she has provided throughout the compila-
tion of this thesis. I have been extremely lucky to have a supervisor who cared so much
about my work, and who responded to my questions and queries so promptly.
Šablona DP 3.2.2-ARTS-dipl-obor-english (2021-04-29) © 2014, 2016, 2018–2021 Masarykova univerzita 7TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
Glossary 11
1 Introduction 12
1.1 Main Objectives of the Thesis ....................................................................................... 12
1.2 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 13
2 The Gawain-Poet and His Works 16
2.1. The Cotton Nero Manuscript, its Poems, and their Author ............................... 16
2.2. The Works of the Gawain Poet as Social Critiques............................................... 18
2.2.1. Pearl ............................................................................................................................. 19
2.2.2. Patience ...................................................................................................................... 20
2.2.3. Cleanness.................................................................................................................... 22
2.3. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ................................................................................ 25
3 Knighthood in the Times of the Gawain-Poet 29
3.1. Clerical Treatises on Knightly Behavior ................................................................... 30
3.2. Royal Chronicles and Legal Documents Related to Knights ............................. 35
3.3. Biographies of Famous Knights and Chivalric Manuals ..................................... 36
3.4. Epic Poems........................................................................................................................... 40
3.5. Romances ............................................................................................................................. 44
4 The Agents of Criticism of the Contemporary State of Knighthood in SGGK
47
4.1. The Green Knight .............................................................................................................. 47
4.2. King Arthur and His Court ............................................................................................. 56
4.3. Sir Gawain ............................................................................................................................ 61
5 Conclusion 71
Bibliography 75
Resumé 81
9GLOSSARY
Glossary
SGGK – Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
111 Introduction
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is commonly perceived as a nostalgic romance cel-
ebrating courtly life with all its refinement and splendor. Opening with a grand hall
decorated with fine tapestries full of knights and ladies in elegant clothes enjoying fes-
tivities with dancing and courteous conversation, the poem truly evokes the poet's ad-
oration of the knightly living. The knights of the Round Table with the famous King
Arthur as their leader are described as the most courageous and noble knights in the
land, their renown being known in every corner of the realm, and their feats glorified
in many romances. This idyllic image thus far complies with other medieval romances
in its idealized rendition of characters and events.
With the intrusion of the Green Knight, however, also enters the reality. The image
of supposedly flawless knights, bravest and most loyal in the country, is in a matter of
minutes shattered, and we suddenly witness the true nature of the knights of the
Round Table. The renowned knights immortalized by numerous tales are suddenly
very aware of their mortality and struck with fear and overcome by cowardice at the
sight of the Green Knight. No one thus answers his challenge at first. All remain in si-
lence and exchange terrified glances with one another. The poet's description of the
grand hall is suddenly starkly different. He does no longer speak of bravery but instead
of the utter horror in the faces of these flowers of chivalry. In this moment, we become
aware of the reason for the tale of Aeneas and Brutus and the fall of the great kingdoms
of Troy and Rome, with which the poem opens. The same as these two fabled kingdoms,
Camelot hides behind the façade of perfection fractures in the character of its knights,
which as we know from other romances, will in the future cause the downfall of the
Round Table and King Arthur, which is, as this thesis argues, one of the main messages
of the poem, a warning that nothing is as it looks like at first sight, that this romance is
not unlike many of its contemporaries a romanticized account of the adventures of no-
ble knights but instead a critique of the medieval state of knighthood and chivalry.
1.1 Main Objectives of the Thesis
Thus, the main objective of this thesis is to examine whether Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight, one of the most widely discussed medieval poems commonly known for
its praise and celebration of courtly life, hides behind the admiration of the splendor
and refinement of King Arthur and his court a critique of the knightly class and the
chivalric code guiding its conduct. This focus of the thesis was chosen not only because
it remains to this day an insufficiently explored aspect of the poem but also due to the
fact that the decline of knighthood and chivalry and the need for their reform were
12widely discussed topics in the times of the Gawain-poet and many of his famous con-
temporaries, like Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, and William Langland, as well as a
number of clerics and royal dignitaries addressed them in their works. The topics, in
fact, resonated even in chivalric manuals and biographies of famous knights, like that
of Geoffrey de Charny and William Marshal. The other works of the Gawain-poet are,
moreover, all centered around a critique of the flaws and weaknesses of individuals
and societies; so, the poet is clearly inclined to speak in a critical voice about various
issues in his works. Hence, the main research question of the thesis is whether the
Gawain-poet voices in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight any criticism of the medieval
state of knighthood and chivalry. In addition, the thesis also aims to examine the means
and devices through which the poet expresses any potential criticism of these two sub-
jects in the poem and whether there are any similarities between the criticism of
knighthood and chivalry articulated by the Gawain-poet and his contemporaries.
In order to find the answers to these questions, the thesis employs a three-stage
analysis. At the first stage, an analysis of the other works of the Gawain-poet is carried
out to determine whether he was inclined to engage in any form of criticism of the
flaws and weaknesses of society or its individual members. This stage is described in
chapter 2 of the thesis. At the second stage, the thesis explores the historical and social
context of the era in which the poet lived and looks for contemporary accounts dealing
with the medieval state of knighthood in order to discern whether there had been any
traces of criticism of the knightly class and the chivalric code in the poet's society, what
was the potential critique aimed at, and whether there were any voices calling for a
reform of knighthood. This is discussed in chapter 3. And at the third stage, the poem
itself is closely inspected for any signs of criticism of the knightly class and the chivalric
code. This is the focus of chapter 4. The thesis can be framed as interdisciplinary re-
search, combining elements from the field of literature, as it is based on literary analy-
sis of the poem itself, and sociology, as knighthood and chivalry and inherently social
and artificially created phenomena. This framework will be explained in more detail in
the following subchapter dealing with the methodology of the thesis.
1.2 Methodology
While the institution of knighthood and the chivalric code guiding it are both
inherently social phenomena that have developed out of the social structures of medi-
eval Europe, the thesis opts for an interdisciplinary approach combining elements
from the fields of both literature and sociology. This approach, known as the sociolog-
ical approach to literature or sociological criticism, is founded on a literary analysis
that focuses on "understanding literature in its larger social context" (Maryl, 204). It
13essentially "codifies the literary strategies employed to represent social constructs
through a sociological methodology" (Maulani, 11). Sociological criticism thus analyzes
both how the social functions in literature and how literature works in society.
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the thesis' analysis, it is essential to dis-
cuss the nature and scope of both sociology and literature and their interconnection.
Sociology is generally defined as the scientific study of society, specifically human so-
ciety (Rao, 17). It tries to "determine the relationship between different elements of
social life and discover the fundamental conditions of social stability and social change"
(Handler, 16). Hence, it analyzes the influences of "economic, political, cultural, artistic,
aesthetic, geographical, scientific and other forces and factors on man and his life and
throws more light on the various social problems like poverty, education, social class,
religion, and others" (Kauffman, 21). All definitions of the field emphasize that it is the
scientific study of man and his society, social actions and interactions, social institu-
tions and processes, and the structure and system of society.
The same as sociology, literature is too pre-eminently concerned with man's so-
cial world, adaptation to it, and his desire to change it. It depicts life and life is a social
reality. In fact, "man and his society is the material out of which literature is con-
structed" (Handler, 20). So, literature is regarded as "the expression or representation
of human life through the medium of social creation viz. language" (Wellek, 94). In the
words of W. H. Hudson, "literature is a vital record of what men have seen in life, what
they have experienced of it, what they have thought and felt about those aspects of it
which have the most immediate and enduring interest for all of us. It is thus fundamen-
tally an expression of life through the medium of language" (Hudson, 10). In short, lit-
erature grows out of life, reacts upon life, and is fed by life.
Although analyses of literary works from a sociological perspective appear at
various stages of human history, from Plato and Aristotle to Matthew Arnold, H. A.
Taine, Lucien Goldman, Leo Lowenthal, Robert Escarpit, Alan Swingwood, Diana Lau-
renson, and John Hall, sociological criticism has not been established as a distinct form
of literary criticism until 20th century. Kenneth Burke first outlined the specification
and significance of this form of critique in his article "Literature as Equipment for Liv-
ing". Sociological criticism shows influences from New Criticism; however, it "adds a
sociological element as found with critical theory (Frankfurt School), and considers art
as a manifestation of society, one that contains metaphors and references directly ap-
plicable to the existing society at the time of its creation" (Lukács, 132). According to
Burke, works of art, including literature, are "systematic reflections of society and so-
cietal behavior" that allow the reader to "better understand, and gain a sort of control
over societal happenings through the work of art" (Adams, 942). He believes that "art
is inevitably full of references and commentaries on the society in which it was
14created" (Lukács, 139). Sociological critics are then to "look at exactly how such refer-
ences and commentaries function within the work of art" (Adams, 945).
The overall focus is then on sociological issues in society, particularly with re-
spect to power relations, social classes, and structures prevalent at the time of the cre-
ation of the given work. It often refers to "a mode of criticism that locates the reasons
for such conditions in a society considered to be in a flawed social structure" (O'Brian,
54). Its objective is often also on "practical solutions offered in the works by way of
specific measures either for consensual reform or powerful revolution" (O'Brian, 56).
The focus of this approach is thus very similar to the one of this thesis which is directed
at the medieval social class of knights, the social institution of knighthood as an inher-
ent part of the feudal society, and the socially constructed chivalric code aimed at reg-
ulating the conduct of this knightly class. The thesis argues that by the time of the
Gawain-poet, this class has experienced a profound change which is reflected in the
various contemporary works of medieval clerics, royal dignitaries, poets, and knights
themselves that are discussed in a separate chapter. Clerical treatises, royal docu-
ments, epic poems, chivalric manuals, and biographies of famous knights all spoke
about the decay of the knightly class and the decline of the institution and the chivalric
code as its guide. In line with the focus of the sociological criticism on not only the flaws
of social structures and constructs but also on practical solutions for their solving, the
thesis directs its attention also to reform ideas voiced by the authors of medieval cri-
tiques of knighthood, including the Gawain-poet.
As this approach combines both elements from sociological and literary analysis,
the research which preceded the writing of the thesis concerned both inquiries into
the history of knighthood and chivalry, its roots, its development, and most im-
portantly, its state in the times of the Gawain-poet and a literary analysis of the poet's
works and their comparison to works of his contemporaries concerned with the same
topic. The thesis thus worked with primary source, being the poem Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight, as well as secondary sources, including other works of the Gawain-poet,
works of his contemporaries dealing with knighthood, and scholarly books, studies,
and articles from the fields of literature, sociology, history, and political science related
to the topic of medieval knighthood and chivalry.
152 The Gawain-Poet and His Works
2.1. The Cotton Nero Manuscript, its Poems, and their Author
All of the Gawain-poet’s works have survived throughout the ages in a single
manuscript labeled as the Cotton Nero A. x. which is currently stored at the British Mu-
seum. The manuscript contains four poems that are by many scholars considered one
of the finest works of the late Middle Ages: Pearl, Cleanness (or Purity), Patience, and
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (SGGK). None of these titles, in fact, accompanies the
poems in the manuscript; they have been, nonetheless, in common use “since they
were first printed by Sir Frederick Madden and Richard Morris in the 19th century”
(Spearing, 3). Although the manuscript dates to the late 14th century, the poems them-
selves would have been composed somewhat earlier, most likely between 1360 and
1390. They are thus contemporaneous with the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, William
Langland, and John Gower (Andrew and Waldron, 9).
The majority of scholars accept the theory that the poems were written by a
single author who remains until this day anonymous and commonly referred to as the
“Gawain-poet” or alternatively the “Pearl-poet”. This theory of common authorship
was originally based on two facts – that the poems survived together in the same man-
uscript and were written in the same verse and dialect. The latter indicates that the
poet came originally from the North-West Midlands, perhaps from the area of Cheshire
or Staffordshire (Savage, 211). Over the years, the theory has been elaborated and now
includes the arguments that all of the poems are linked by:
An unusual skill in the shaping of narratives, a profound familiarity with the
Bible and Christian doctrine, a willingness to retell or reflect on scriptural sto-
ries with remarkable freedom and invention, a sympathetic interest in the
struggles of human beings to deal with the divine and the mysterious, and a
wryly engaging sense of humor. (Andrew and Waldron, 10)
There is a broad scholarly agreement that, based on the content and language
of his works, the Gawain-poet was familiar with the “chivalric tradition and courtly
matter and well-acquainted with both life at court and with tales of Arthurian chivalry
from Britain and France” (Foster, 403). Some scholars, like Henry Savage and Laura
Hibbard Loomis, even argue that the poet was a member of some English court. In his
book The Gawain-Poet, Savage, concludes that “the manuscript’s descriptions of cloth-
ing, armor, and castles, and its dialect suggests that the author might have been a serv-
ant in a baronial household such as that of John of Gaunt or Enguerrand de Coucy”
16(Savage, 11). It could have been this background that had equipped him with the inti-
mate knowledge of the courtly life and the legends associated with it.
Since the 1980s, the critical understanding of the Gawain-úoet and his identity
has, however, undergone a notable reassessment. The poems of the Cotton Nero A. x.
manuscript were previously seen by the majority of academia as a work of some pro-
vincial author writing from the obscurity of England’s backwater. But, in 1983, the his-
torian Michael J. Bennett came with a groundbreaking study in which he argues that
“the localized milieu of the poet’s native region could not have provided him with a
suitable audience for cosmopolitan texts such as SGGK and Pearl” (Bennett, 276). The
Gawain-poet thus may have come from the North-West Midlands, but, as Bennett sug-
gests, it was not the place from where he created his poems. With his study, Bennett
elaborates not only on the previous research of Savage and Loomis mentioned earlier,
but also on the book The Court of Richard II by George Mathew. Based on the arguments
and evidence provided in Mathew’s book, Bennet proposes that the Gawain-poet could
have been actually a member of the court of Richard II and the Cotton Nero A. x. man-
uscript “was probably a copy of a de luxe manuscript that originated at the royal court”
(Bennett, 278). This hypothesis was most recently further developed by Alfred Thomas
who agrees with both Mathew and Bennett and argues that the works of the Gawain-
poet are a “sophisticated creation of a cosmopolitan courtier-poet working for a Lon-
don-based audience of Cheshire retainers attached to the glamorous court of Richard
II” (Thomas, 85).
Yet, there is still some opposition against this hypothesis which draws mainly
on “the anachronistic binary that implicitly equates a London-based author like Chau-
cer with ‘nation’ and a provincial poet like the Gawain-Poet with ‘region’” (Thomas,
86). The Gawain-Poet although regional by origin (and dialect), was, however, far from
regional in his tastes reading, and temperament. Moreover, as remarked by Thomas
“the nation/region binary fails to take into account the mobile and itinerant nature of
the international court [of Richard II and his wife Anne of Bohemia] that provides con-
text for the poem’s composition and performance” (Thomas, 86). Richard’s aspirations
to become an emperor of England entailed that the court must have been temporarily
based in cities such as Chester, York, Lichfield, and Dublin, usually with an impressive
entourage of nobles and bishops (Saul, 334).
According to historical records, the Ricardian court, in fact, traveled as far afield
as Ireland. There are hints that the Gawain-poet, who probably belonged to the entou-
rage of Sir John Stanley - king’s lieutenant in Ireland in the 1380s, visited Ireland with
his lord. Here, he may have heard some oral version of the beheading game that fea-
tures so prominently in fit 1 of the poem that has an analogue in the Irish tale the
Bricriu’s Feast (Brewer, 245). Thus, as concluded by Thomas:
17Given the peripatetic nature of the international court, there was no simple dis-
tinction to be drawn in the later Middle Ages between national and regional cul-
tures … Just as the court moved between the capital (the seat of the govern-
ment) and the regions, so did literature for which it was intended to oscillate
between the imagined, fanciful world of courtly romance and the precise typog-
raphy of geographical space which is mirrored in Gawain’s journey from the
splendor of the legendary Camelot through the wilderness of Wirral that existed
not only in tales but also in real life. (Thomas, 86)
2.2. The Works of the Gawain Poet as Social Critiques
Despite the considerable differences in their subject matter, there are several
parallels between the poems of the Cotton Nero A. x manuscript. One of them is the
focus on the flaws of individuals and the ills of human society. In this aspect, the poems
resemble the contemporaneous works of Chaucer, Langland, or Gower that, too, com-
ment on human weaknesses. All authors, including the Gawain-poet, thus offer their
audience a social commentary of sort. In the case of the works of the Gawain-poet, this
commentary is shaped through the testing of central characters, be it an individual or
community, which is followed by a judgment. The judgment is in all poems made by
some divine or supernatural being: the Pearl-Maiden in Pearl, God in Patience and
Cleanness, and the Green Knight in SGGK. All of them speak from a position of authority
and all come up to an almost identical conclusion that humanity is fundamentally and
inherently imperfect and prone to failure.
The main reason behind the failure of all protagonists is the lack of loyalty to-
wards either the divine Lord (Pearl, Patience, and Cleanness) or earthly lord (Cleanness
and SGGK). Hence, the Dreamer in Pearl refuses to part with his Pearl and entrust her
to God and doubts God’s words and intentions. Jonah in Patience rebels against God’s
command to go to Nineveh. And in Cleanness, we see multiple disloyalties. The first is
one of the barons against their lord when they do not come to his feast. The second
appears in the tale of the Flood in which people betray God and his vision by their im-
moral conduct. Similarly, the third comes in the tale about Sodom and Gomorrah in
which the people of these two cities break Christian and moral codes. Additionally, in
the same tale, Lot’s wife proves disloyal to request of her husband to avoid putting salt
in the broth and to the instructions of the angels that insist on Lot’s family not looking
back at the burning cities. The last disloyalty in Cleanness is again towards God and is
committed by Belshazzar and his guests who worship other gods, accompany them-
selves by courtesans and during the feast indulge in excessive drinking which culmi-
nates in the defilement of holy relics. Lastly, in SGGK, it is Sir Gawain who is disloyal to
the lord at whose castle he has been staying. The disloyalty, in this case, takes the form
18of Gawain’s concealing of the green girdle that should have been handed over to his
host as a part of their wager.
So, in each poem, we can see an individual or individuals who lack in loyalty for
which they are judged. This conclusion is in all works presented as a result of a trial of
their protagonists and the reader can observe every step that has led these central fig-
ures to their failure by which the stories gain a didactic aspect – they teach their audi-
ence a moral lesson. Due to this nature, some scholars compare the poems to homilies,
sermons, or exempla in which the poet provides his audience with a moral compass
(Andrew, Moorman, Stone, Waldron). Thus, the Gawain-poet should be perceived not
only as an ardent admirer of splendor and refinement of courtly life depicted in his
most well-known work Sir Gawain and the Green Knight but also as a critical voice con-
cerned with the human nature prone to moral failings because the same as his contem-
poraries, he, too, engages in a social commentary to remind his audience of their falli-
bility and importance of loyalty to moral and Christian code.
2.2.1. Pearl
In Pearl, it is the main protagonist, the Dreamer, who is subjected to a test of
loyalty to both his Lord and the Christian code. He is to be judged by and against the
Pearl-Maiden who has been given such a name due to her perfection – the same as a
rare pearl, she is “without a spot” (Andrew and Waldron, 1). The Pearl-Maiden and the
Dreamer meet in the dream of the latter who sees in the maiden his dead daughter. He
thinks that she has been restored to him from the realm of the dead. Right from the
beginning of the poem, we can see that the Dreamer is very possessive about his Pearl.
This reflects on how he speaks of her. The Dreamer keeps calling her: “the spotless
pearl of mine” (1), “my own spotless pearl” (1), “my precious pearl” (2), and “my pearl”
(2, 6, 7, 9). He thinks that the Pearl-Maiden is “imprisoned” (2) in Heaven and wants
her returned to the earthly realm of living so he can “possess” (4) her again which,
however, entails taking her away from God.
As argued by Felicity Riddy, “the Dreamer’s ascribed vocation as a jeweler is
particularly efficacious because the way in which jewels pass through jewelers’ hands
mirrors the temporariness of the relation between parent and dead child” (Riddy, 154).
Yet, the Dreamer is not able to relinquish his Pearl, not even to his Lord which incites
Pearl-Maiden’s criticism. She says to the Dreamer that he is “no proper jeweller” (7)
which Riddy explains as an attempt by the poet to:
Emphasize the Dreamer’s inadequacy, implying that just as a proper jeweler
would recognize that possession of his jewels is only temporary, so should the
19Dreamer understand the transitory nature of earthly existence and realize that
his extreme level of grief is unwarranted. (Riddy 155)
The Dreamer is, however, unable to recognize these facts and claims that his
Pearl was “annihilated” (7) and “taken away from [him]” (7). He even calls his Lord a
“thief” (7) for which he is rebuked by the Pearl-Maiden who says:
Sir, you have spoken heedlessly, to say your pearl is entirely lost, which is en-
closed in such a beautiful coffer as in this charmingly fair garden, to stay here
for ever and rejoice, where neither loss nor sorrow ever come near. Here would
be a casket for you, indeed, if you were a noble jeweller. (8)
Through the words of the Pearl-Maiden, the poet criticizes the human propen-
sity to preoccupy themselves with earthly life. He warns the audience that this fixation
can easily lead to questioning of God’s intentions and consequent disloyalty to him.
This message is emphasized by the Pearl-Maiden near the end of the story when she
instructs the Dreamer how to behave if he is ever to cross the stream separating the
earthly and heavenly realms: “Arrogant temper and great pride, I assure you, are bit-
terly hated here. My Lord does not approve of complaining, for all who live near Him
are meek; and when you are to appear in His domain, be deeply devout in complete
humility” (9).
To further stress the moral lesson of this tale for his audience, the poet ends the
poem with the Dreamer’s return to reality which is followed by the realization of his
error. As the Dreamer concludes: “Then I woke in that fertile garden; my head was laid
upon that hill where my pearl slipped away into the earth. I stretched, and fell into
great dismay, and, sighing, said to myself: ‘Now may all be to that Prince’s satisfaction”
(27).
2.2.2. Patience
The story of Patience focuses on the Biblical tale of Jonah. In this poem, he is the
one criticized for lacking in loyalty to God who is this time the judge assessing Jonah’s
conduct. In contrast to Pearl, the poet provides us in Patience with a more explicit set
of criteria against which Jonah will be judged. These are the eight Beatitudes men-
tioned at the beginning of the tale which function similarly to the pentangle on
Gawain’s shield in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. These Beatitudes are personified
in: Dame Poverty, Dame Pity, Dame Penance the third, Dame Meekness, Dame Mercy,
Dame Purity most pleasant, and then Dame Peace and Dame Patience put in thereafter;
20(Andrew and Waldron, 71). As the poet says, “These blessings were preached us in the
promise of bliss. If we would love these ladies and liken us to them” (71).
As such, the Beatitudes create a cyclical symbol of perfection against which Jo-
nah is to be measured, and the same as the “five points” of the pentangle in SGGK, they
are intrinsically linked. Hence, when one is breached, all others are made susceptible
to future breaches. The poet comments on this fact through the clothing metaphor in
Patience. After Jonah is expelled from the whale’s stomach and his clothes are all soggy
and destroyed, the poet remarks that “he who tears a hole in his clothes, will find him-
self more deeply troubled when he attempts to sew them back together” (83). The
holes here stand for sins, so the message of this symbolic passage reminds the audience
that “one sin begets further sin” (84).
Like the Dreamer in Pearl, Jonah lacks mainly in his loyalty to God. This disloy-
alty is more open in Patience than in Pearl as Jonah directly refuses to obey the com-
mand of his Lord. In this command, God tells Jonah to travel to Nineveh to save its res-
idents from the impending divine wrath, but Jonah decides to defy God and instead
boards a ship to Tarshish. Jonah even becomes angry at his Lord for assigning him such
a task:
When that voice, which stunned [Jonah’s] spirit, had finished, he became very
angry in his mind, and he thought rebelliously: ‘If I obey His command and bring
them this message, and I am taken in Nineveh, my troubles begin: He tells me
those traitors are consummate villains; [if] I come with those tidings, they [will]
seize me immediately, confine me in a prison, put me in the stocks, torture me
in a foot-shackle, pluck out my eyes. This is a marvelous message for a man to
preach among so many enemies and cursed fiends unless my gracious God
should wish such suffering to befall me, that I should be killed in recompense
for some offense. Come what may,’ said Jonah, ‘I shall approach no nearer to it.
I will go some other way. (73)
Here we can find another parallel to SGGK as both Jonah and Sir Gawain prefer
saving their lives over loyalty to their lords (Lord as God in Patience and lord as Lord
Bertilak hosting Gawain in SGGK). Moreover, the same as not only Sir Gawain but also
the Dreamer from Pearl, Jonah realizes his transgression. This realization comes to him
when his ship to Tarnish is caught by a storm in the middle of the sea. At that moment,
Jonah recognizes that the storm is driven by God’s wrath caused by his refusal to go to
Nineveh. It is then that he becomes aware that: “All this misfortune is caused on ac-
count of [him], for [he has] offended [his] God and found guilty” (75). The moral mes-
sage of the story is again, the same as in Pearl, emphasized at the end of the poem which
21in Patience concludes with the word Amen thus faithfully resembling a homily or a ser-
mon. The concluding words of the poet read:
Do not be so angry, but go forth on your way; be resolute and patient in sorrow
and in joy … when poverty oppresses me and hardships in plenty, very meekly
with sufferance it behoves me to become reconciled; therefore penance and sor-
row prove it conclusively that patience is a noble virtue, though it may often
displease. Amen. (83)
2.2.3. Cleanness
While in the previous two poems, the author commented primarily on the trans-
gressions of individuals, the Dreamer and Jonah, in Cleanness, it is whole communities
of people who are subjected to judgment for their moral failures and disloyalty to God.
The societies under scrutiny have their antecedents in three Biblical tales: the Flood,
the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Belshazzar’s Feast. All three tell stories
of destruction reminiscent of the apocalypse, yet all three present an opportunity for
salvation for the chosen few. In these stories, the people of the Flood generation, of
Sodom and Gomorrah, and Belshazzar’s feast are judged by God. Each exemplum fo-
cuses on sinners and the consequences of their sins concerning their purity of soul and
loyalty to God. Again, the same as in Pearl and Patience it is loyalty to the moral code
and God that are tested.
In addition to three Biblical parables, the introduction of the poem is accompa-
nied by a short tale commenting on the uncleanness prevailing in many human socie-
ties. This uncleanness is described at first as relating to one’s clothes and unkempt ap-
pearance, but later the author clarifies that this is supposed to be a metaphor for the
cleanness of one’s soul. The poet warns his audience that “the Being who created all
things is exceedingly angry with the man who follows after him in filth” (29). The
theme of cleanness is in this opening tale combined with the theme of loyalty and the
lack of it that will be further developed in the following stories with Biblical anteced-
ents. It tells a story about a lord who is preparing a great feast to which he invites his
barons. These barons, however, lack in loyalty to their lord, make excuses and decline
to attend the feast. Out of disillusionment, the lord then commands his servants to in-
vite every man they meet in his realm to this feast. And truly, many people whether
“sound or lame or one-eyed, even if they are both blind and stumbling cripples” get
invited and come to the lord’s hall. The lord is pleased with only one exception. He finds
a man in ragged clothes all filthy from dirty labor. This man’s uncleanness represents,
as the poet explains, the sins of this man which resembles the metaphor of Jonah’s
soaked and ragged clothes in Patience. So, the lord reprimands the man and sends him
22to the dark “dungeon where sorrow ever dwells – grieving and weeping and gnashing
of teeth bitterly together – to teach him to be respectful” (32). As is revealed by the
poet at the end of the story, the lord is, in fact, the Lord of all being, and the dungeon
represents the dark pits of hell. The poet’s warning in this tale, although more ominous
in tone, warns before the same human flaws as Pearl and Patience – before the moral
failure and disloyalty to God.
The following tale about Flood opens with the “account of the corruption of the
earth as told at the beginning of Genesis” and ends with a “homily reflecting on the
lessons of the Flood” (Stone, 49). The Flood is portrayed as a moral cleansing of the
decaying society inhabiting the earth before God’s intervention which was motivated
by the fact that human “vileness and villainy had vanquished his patience” (33). The
poet traces this decay of humanity since the times of Adam and Eve. At the time of the
Flood generation, the moral decline reached its peak and God regretted that “He had
set and sustained people on earth” (34). He had thus made his judgment and decided
to cleanse the world of the corrupt men and let only a few pure survive. These few were
Noah and his family.
Another sinful society disloyal to God and the principles of Christianity and mo-
rality is depicted in the tale about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God ex-
plains the reason for his wrath at these cities to Abraham. He says that their inhabitants
“have learned a practice that pleases him ill, that they have discovered in their flesh,
the worst of misdeeds: each male makes his mate a man like himself, and they join
together foolishly in the manner of a female” (44). God has thus judged them for their
misdeeds and decided to “smite them severely for that filth so that men will be warned
by them, for ever and ever” (45). And he truly does so at the end of the story, but before
the conclusion, the poet makes a diversion to another tale related to Sodom and Go-
morrah which, too, has moral implications for his audience – the story about Lot and
his wife.
In this sub-tale, two angels come to the house of Lot located near the two
doomed cities. And although Lot proves to be loyal to both Christian and moral code
and protects the angels from angry townsmen that want to harm them, his wife does
not show such loyalty and despite her husband’s warning, she puts salt in the broth
served to their two angelical guests. This transgression is, nevertheless, overlooked
and it is only later when Lot’s family is granted a safe passage from the city before it is
destroyed that Lot’s wife pays for her disloyalty. Despite instructions from both the
angels and her husband, she looks back at the burning cities and turns in a stone statue
“that tastes of salt” (47). As the poet concludes, she was judged and punished “for two
misdeeds in which the fool was found unfaithful: one, she served salt before God at the
supper, and afterward, she looked behind her, though she was forbidden; for the one,
23she stands a stone, and salt for the other, and all the beasts of the field like to lick her”
(51).
The last tale of the poem, the Feast of Belshazzar, centers around the same
themes as the opening story about the grand feast of the Lord and his disloyal barons.
In the main protagonist of this last tale, king Belshazzar, we can see epitomized the fall
of men into moral decay. Belshazzar is the ruler of Babylon which he “believes the
greatest, having no equal in heaven or on earth” (58). As the poet informs us, Belshaz-
zar:
Rules his empire in pride and ostentation, in lust and in lechery and loathsome
deeds; and [he] had a wife to enjoy, a noble queen, and many mistresses, who
were nevertheless called ladies. The mind of that man was entirely [fixed] on
perverse things, on the beauty of his concubines and exquisite clothes, on trying
out new foods and foolish fashions, until it pleased the Lord of the heavens to
end it. (59)
As a display of his pride, Belshazzar decides to hold a grand feast. Hence, his
“summons spread throughout the land of Chaldea, that all the nobles on earth should
gather together and assemble on a set day at the sultan’s feast” (60). This feast stands
in a stark difference from the feast of the Lord at the beginning of Cleanness. It is, in
fact, its antithesis as Belshazzar and his guests commit many disloyalties to the Lord
and his creed:
These lords sipped these sweet liquors for a long time, and gloried in their false
gods, and entreat their grace, though they were [made] of stumps and stones,
dumb for ever – no sound ever stole forth from them, their tongues were so
fastened. The wretches still call on all the good golden gods, Baalpeor and Belial,
and Beelzebub also, praised them as highly as if heaven were theirs, but Him
who gives all good things, that God they forgot. (63)
Their offenses to God culminate in the defilement of the “holy vessels that were
formerly used in the temple in the service of the Lord” (54). Belshazzar orders his serv-
ant to bring these holy relics from his treasury so he and his guests can be served their
drinks in them. As the poet describes the scene:
That which had before been blessed by the hands of bishops and carefully
anointed with the blood of beasts, in the solemn sacrifice which had good aroma
before the Lord of heaven in His praise, is now placed, to serve Satan the black,
before the bold Belshazzar with arrogance and with pride; raised upon this altar
were noble vessels that had been cleverly fashioned with such rare skill. (61)
24Although God is greatly “disgust” (62) by such behavior he withholds his wrath
and decides to warn them. Hence, his hand appears in Belshazzar’s feasting hall and
inscribes on the wall a warning. Although written in unintelligible language, the warn-
ing is deciphered by David. Yet, Belshazzar does not heed it, for which he, after the
invasion led by Persian prince Darius, pays with his life. Moreover, it is not only him
who pays the price for disloyalty to the Lord, the lives of his sinful subjects are also
collected as a price for the moral decay of Babylonian society.
Unlike in Pearl and Patience, the poet at the end of Cleanness speaks directly to
his audience which is strongly reminiscent of sermon or homily. This ending, nonethe-
less, serves the same purpose as in the previous two poems – to warn the audience to
avoid disloyalty to the Lord and the moral code entailed by his creed. The concluding
words of the poet read:
Thus in three ways I have thoroughly shown you that uncleanness cleaves asun-
der the noble heart of that gracious Lord who dwells in heaven, provokes Him
to be angry, arouses His vengeance; and purity is His comfort, and He loves de-
cency, and those that are seemly and pure shall see His face. May He send us
such grace that we may go brightly in our apparel, so that we may serve in His
sight, where joy never ceases. Amen. (69)
Thus, as we have seen, from the subtle and almost unwitting unfaithfulness in
Pearl, through open disobedience in Patience, to grave infidelity in Cleanness, the
Gawain-poet was no stranger to criticism aimed at human weaknesses and disloyalty
to God. These three poems, religious in their themes and inspiration, provide their au-
dience with a “moral compass” as Brian Stone called it (Stone, 48) so that they can learn
from the failures of the poems’ protagonists and avoid repeating them in their own
lives. However, what about the last poem of the Cotton Nero A. x. manuscript, Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight, which is far more secular in its themes and story? Does
it despite being seemingly preoccupied with the adoration of the splendor and refine-
ment of the Arthurian court offer some criticism of this society and a moral message
for its audience? Is it an exception to the moralistic pattern of the rest of his works or
is the poet’s criticism more subtle and hidden behind the shining armor of renowned
knights of the legendary Round Table?
2.3. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, on which this thesis focuses, is one of the most
widely read and discussed Medieval chivalric romances. Since it was first published in
251839 by Sir Frederick Madden, it has attracted the attention of both academia and the
general public. Its popularity stems mainly from its “complex narrative full of exciting
fantastical elements, vivid descriptive language, compelling poetic structure, complex
and interesting characters, and a moral depth rarely credited to romance” (Nitze, 351).
The poem is written in stanzas of alliterative verse, each of which ends in a rhyming
bob and wheel (Richards and Gibbons, 136). Along with the three other poems of the
Cotton Nero A. x. manuscript, it is dated to the late 14th century when English poetry
enjoyed one of its “periods of florescence” (Burrow, 1). The poem thus belongs some-
where to the era between the reign of King Edward III (1327–1377) and that of King
Richard II (1377–1399) (Burrow, 2).
The story of SGGK combines the themes of loyalty and sacrifice rooted in old
Anglo-Saxon heroic epics with motifs drawn from Celtic folklore and mythology. How-
ever, the sources on which the poet relied the most are English and French courtly ro-
mances, like those of Chrétien de Troyes (Brewer, 243). They, for instance, provided
the inspiration for the temptation and hunting scenes, the allusions to Troy and Rome,
the seasonal passing of time, and Gawain’s armor. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as
well as the other three works ascribed to the Gawain-poet demonstrate also his famil-
iarity with contemporary devotional texts of English, French, Latin, and Italian origin,
and extensive knowledge of the Vulgate Bible which the poet, as noted by Richard
Newhauser, “preferred to adopt at its literal (rather than typological or allegorical)
level, that is, for stories by which to explore human psychology” (Newhauser, 416).
The preoccupation with human psychology and judging of individuals as well
as groups of people is, as already discussed in previous subchapters, one of the main
aspects that binds SGGK together with the other three poems of the Cottom Nero A. x.
manuscript. The main difference between these works is that while Pearl, Cleanness,
and Patience center around religious stories, SGGK is concerned predominantly with
secular matters. Religion still plays a role in the poem, there are, however, relatively
few “overt references to God, sin, salvation, or other theological subjects” (Blanch,
944). Characters are not inspired by Biblical tales but rather by Arthurian legends. Un-
like the other works of the Gawain-poet, SGGK thus belongs to the genre of courtly ro-
mance popular in the poet’s times throughout both the British Isles and the Continent.
Right from the beginning of the story, we are presented with a scene typical of
the genre of courtly romances – a lavish feast held in a great hall of a castle. This castle
is no other than the legendary Camelot and the people present are members of the
renowned court of King Arthur, including his famous knights of the Round Table. They
are all merry and enjoy the Christmas festivity. This idyllic scene is soon interrupted
by a menacing green figure who resembles both a noble knight by his lavish attire and
a terrifying faery giant by his height and unnatural color. The green intruder says that
26he is called the Green Knight and he came to Camelot to challenge the famous knights
of the Round Table. His challenge has simple rules: one of Arthur’s men deals the Green
Knight one strike with his ax, and this strike will be in a year’s time returned by the
Green Knight. After moments of dead silence, Sir Gawain, Arthur’s nephew, answers
the call and decapitates the Green Knight with one blow of the ax. To the surprise of all
present, the Green Knight, however, picks up his decapitated head and as he is prepar-
ing to ride away from the court, he reminds Gawain of his promise to suffer a blow in
return and instructs Gawain to seek him at the Green Chapel in a year’s time.
After All Saints’ Day, Gawain commences his journey which seemingly leads to
certain death. Despite the obstacles encountered during his travels, like dragons, ogres,
wild men, and the cruel winter, Gawain comes upon the castle of Sir Bertilak who re-
veals to Gawain the exact location of the Green Chapel. In fact, Gawain stays for a couple
of days at Bertilak’s castle as a guest. During his stay, he is unwittingly subjected to
three challenges which are known as the three temptations. Gawain’s conduct in these
tests is, in fact, the crucial criterion that will in the end determine whether Gawain will
lose his head at the Green Chapel or not. After reaching the Green Chapel, Gawain is
judged by the Green Knight who now reveals his true identity – he is Gawain’s host Sir
Bertilak. He concludes that although Sir Gawain managed to resist the seduction of
Lady Bertilak, he failed to resist the seduction of his earthly life. To avoid death, he
concealed from sir Bertilak the magic, life-saving Green Girdle obtained from Bertilak’s
wife which is, however, an act of disloyalty towards Gawain’s host for which Gawain
receives a nick on the neck from Green Knight’s ax to remind the knight always of this
slight failure.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is thus not a mere adoration of the lustrous
courtly life but also, similarly to other works of the Gawain-poet, a poem about testing.
In this case, about the testing of a knight and his loyalty to chivalric and moral code,
instead of purely Christian one as in Pearl, Patience, and Cleanness. The testing in SGGK,
moreover, culminates in not one but three judgments that are offered on Gawain’s
chivalric conduct by the three central actors who are all members of the knightly class
– the Green Knight, Sir Gawain, and King Arthur and his court. The first judgment made
by the Green Knight, although not blind to it, is tolerant of Gawain’s “blunder” and con-
cludes that in accepting the Green Girdle Gawain “lacked a little” (84), but still is “the
most faultless knight that e'er foot set on earth” (84). The second judgment is Gawain’s
own, which is the most critical: he accuses himself of “throwing away all his knighthood
in one weak moment” (84). And lastly, the third judgment is delivered by the court at
Camelot where Gawain arrives after meeting the Green Knight at the Green Chapel.
This judgment is diametrically different from Gawain’s as Arthur and the knights laugh
at his self-accusations and do not agree with his perception of the quest as a failure.
They even decide to wear green baldrics similar to the Green Girdle, not as a badge of
27shame as Gawain insists, but as a mark of honor. Each judge thus holds a different per-
spective not only on Gawain’s conduct but also on the seriousness of Gawain’s breach
of the knightly code.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight thus certainly complies with the overarching
theme of testing, judgment, and dis/loyalty present in other works of the Gawain-poet.
However, unlike Pearl, Patience, or Cleanness, this poem does not center around any
Biblical character but the figure of a knight, typical for the feudal Medieval society. In
contrast to Jonah, Noah, Lot, or Belshazzar, many knights were living in England in the
poet’s times and his audience could actually meet a living knight in the streets of their
towns and cities. Many scholars, moreover, argue that his audience, in fact, consisted
mainly of knights and other court members.
This raises several questions: Could the poet have aimed the moral of the story
about Sir Gawain directly at the knightly members of his audience? Could SSGK have
served as an instrument for the poet’s commentary not only on the imperfections of
humanity in general as in his other works but rather specifically on the flaws of the
knightly segment of the society he lived in? Could the poet via this poem present his
opinion on the contemporary state of knighthood? Such commentary would not be un-
common in his times as several of his contemporaries like Chaucer, Langland, and
Gower engaged in the same business and works aimed at reforming knighthood ex-
tended beyond the purview of epic poems to sermons (Wycliff’s), diaries and bibliog-
raphies of famous knights (Geoffrey de Charny), and chivalric manuals (Book of the
Ordre of Chyualry) as shall be discussed in more detail in the next chapter.
283 Knighthood in the Times of the Gawain-Poet
A knight in shining armor setting out upon a quest is one of the most iconographic
images of the Middle Ages, an image embedded in the popular consciousness as the
archetypical representation of the medieval era. This knight is in the minds of many
imagined as the paragon of chivalry with an unerring moral compass always ready to
save damsels in distress or even the entire kingdoms from the forces of evil. Such per-
ception matches the image of a knight propagated by the majority of medieval ro-
mances. In fact, the idea of a knight we have today has been influenced to a large extent
by these romances. However, as the name of the genre suggests, romances present to
their audience a romanticized version of reality. Thus, the experience of medieval so-
ciety, including the Gawain-poet and his contemporaries, with knighthood may have
been completely different than what we know from chivalric literature.
As will be illustrated in this chapter, the chivalrous knights of romances remained
mostly fantasy and the reality of medieval knighthood, as captured in the accounts of
many contemporaries, was less refined and more violent. Knights were after all warri-
ors and their profession demanded brute force rather than courteous speech. In the
words of Richard Kaeuper, “despite its glorious and elegant image in literature, its ele-
vated ideals, and its enduring link with Western ideas of gentlemanliness, knighthood
was nourished on aggressive impulses and used its shining armor and sharp-edged
weaponry in acts of showy and bloody violence” (Kaeuper, 22). Knights formed “a dis-
tinct segment of medieval society, which was composed of three classes: those who
pray (the clergy), those who fight (knights), and those who work (the peasants)”
(Duby, 51). Thus, while the ideals established by chivalric code have added the courtly
aspect to knighthood, the primary role of knights in society remained the same – to
fight. As remarked by Baldassare Castiglione in his Book of the Courtier, “the first and
true profession of the ideal courtier must still be that of arms” (Castiglione, 67). The
knight was thus still a warrior and not everyman. Hence, as noted by Maurice Keen
“violence, often bloody and horrific, was at the heart of what knights did” (Keen, 102).
Moreover, violence did not constitute only an inherent part of knightly profession.
From judicial duels, tournaments, raids on towns and villages, feuds, and tavern mur-
ders to seigneurial violence and private war, violence presented an intrinsic part of
both the professional and private life of medieval knights. However, as medieval soci-
ety moved into one of the most significant periods of growth and change in the late
medieval period, its members increasingly found “the proud, heedless violence of
knights, their praise for settling any dispute by force, for acquiring any desired goal by
force on any scale attainable, an intolerable fact of social life,” (Kaeuper, 40) because
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