Gawain

Close reading:

1-490

Fit 1: Foundation myths: Troy→Rome, Tuscany, Lombardy, Britain.

31 if ye wyl lysten þis laye bot on littel quile

I schal telle hit as tit as I in toun herde

with tonge

as hit is stad and stoken

in stori stif and stronge

with leel letteres loken

in londe so has ben longe

>> see “rum ram ruf” in Chaucer p. 341 l. 43

1-490

37 “the inspiring story I intend to spin”

Arthur “who as I heard”

91 it was his his pledge

he þurȝ nobelay had nomen he wolde neuer ete

107 and still he stands there just being himself

þus þer stondes in stale þe stif kyng hisseluen

talkkande bifore þe hyȝe table of trifles ful hende

1-490

150 and overal enker grene – green, gold, red blood

205 green holly

254 won’t you step down from the saddle

liȝt luflych adoun and lenge I þe praye

and quat so þy wylle is we schal wyt after

258 because you claims are so loudly chorused

bot for þe los of þe lede is lyft vp so hyȝe

and þy burȝ and þy burnes best ar holden

thou – thee – ye - you

1-490

304 his red eyes rolling

429 blood on the green

1-490

346 without causing offense to my queen

385 note how the bob and wheel often summarize the following stanza

1-490

456 so come or be called a coward hereafter

Bricriu’s Feast: the beheading game is simply a test of bravery, as the story seems to be so far here.

Fit ii: The procession of the seasons.

Gawayn sets off for the North on All Soul’s Day (1 October)

566 His attire as a knight

640 the pentangle (pentagram)

pentacle is tha ammulet or pendant

(Lat pentaculum ‘little five’ or Fr. pentacol ‘pend à col’

740-1240

740 dreary upland countryside

772 as it sparkled and shone within shimmering oaks

as hit schemered and schon þurȝ þe schyre okeȝ

740-1240

740 dreary upland countryside

772 as it sparkled and shone within shimmering oaks

as hit schemered and schon þurȝ þe schyre okeȝ

811 Good morning, said Gawayn !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gode sir quoþ gawan woldez þou go myn ernde

to þe heȝ lorde of þis hous herber to craue

Ȝe Peter quoþ þe porter and purely I trowe

þat ȝe be wyȝe welcum to won quyle yow lykez

740-1240

841 Then firmly, likr good friends

arm into arm they fell.

ayþer oþer in armez con felde (=falda í örmum)

740-1240

842 Gawaym gazed on the lord

Gawayn glyȝt on þe gome þat godly hym gretand þuȝt hit a bolde burne þat þe burȝ aȝteWikipedia, “Homoerotic interpretations”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Gawain_and_the_Green_Knight#Homoerotic_Interpretations

Don’t forget the hermeneutic turn! Are we talking about the poem or about our (modern, uninformed) reading of the poem?

740-1240

945 More glorious than Guinivere, or so Gawain thought

and wener þen wenore as þe wyȝe þoȝt

965 the Loathly Lady

740-1240

The lord Bertilac invites G to stay until New Year’s Day, when he will show him the way to the Green Chapel, which is very close.

1079 Then Gawain was giddy with gladness...

1083The lord squeeezed Gawain’s arm ....

Þenne watz gawan ful glad and gomenly he laȝednow I þonk yow þryuandely þurȝ alle oþer þyngenow acheued is my chaunce .....Þenne sesed hym þe syre and set hym bysydelet þe ladiez be fette to lyke hem þe better

740-1240

The lord Bertilac invited G to stay until New Year’s Day, when he will show him the way to the Green Chapel, which is very close.

1105 They make a pact: the Lord will hunt for 3 days, and Gawain rest at home; at the end of each day they will exchange hwatevery they have gained.

740-1240

1237 You’re free to have my all,

Do with me as you will.

I’ll comne just as you call

and swear to serve you well

All of me, darling take all of me

Ȝe ar welcum to my corsyowre awen won to waleme behouez of fyne forceyour seruaunt be and schale

1601-1667

(The story so far.....

Three hunts: a stag, a boar and a fox

Three trials for Gawain: one kiss, two kisses, three kisses (and a magic girdle)

1601-1667 The slaying and partitioning of the boar; the return and the payments according to the pact

792-1893 – the third enticement by the lady

The magic girdle. Gawain at last succumbs.

1863 She “went on to beg him not to whisper a word of this gift to her husband”

..and bisoȝt hym for hir sake disceuer hit neuerbot to lelly layne for hir lorde.- i.e. to “loyally hide it from her lord”

The wily fox is the victim of the third hunt

1934 “I shall first fulfill our formal agreement”

I schal fylle vpon fyrst oure forwardez nouþe

þat we spedly han spoken þer spared watz no drynk

þen acoles he knyȝt and kysses hym þryes

as sauerly and sadly as he hem sette couþe

bi kryst quoþ þat oþer knyȝt ȝe cach much sele

in cheuisaunce of þis chaffer* ȝif ȝe hade goud chepez

Ȝe of þe chepe no charg quoþ chefly þat oþer

as is pertly payed þe chepez þat I aȝte

*chaffer ceapfaru, kaupför, trade.

2047-2406

Gawain says farewell to the people of the castle and the servant guides him to the Green Chapel through desolate landscape.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lud's_Church

2047-2406

A terrible noise: the Green Knight is sharpening his axe.

The Green Knight gives him 3 blows with the axe

First blow: Gawain flinches

Second blow: Gawain doesn’t flinch

Third blow: the axe nicks blood

2047-2406

2335 “In his heart he admires him”in hert hit hym lykez “in his heart he is pleased”

2047-2406

2379 “Dread of the death-blow and cowardly doubtsmeant I gave in to greed”• Gawain takes the beheading game at face value, a

question of valour or cowardness.• For the Green Knight, the contest was to test

Gawain’s chivalry and morality, not his braveness. For care of þy knokke cowardyse me taȝtto acorde me with couetyse my kynde to forsakeþat is larges and lewte þat longez to knyȝtez.Now am I fawty and falce and ferde haf ben euer.

2421 “if only

we could love our ladies without believing their lies”

hit were a wynne hugeto luf hom wel and leue hem not a leude þat couþe

2505-2530

final stanza: Gawain is received back at Camelot, and he shows them the green belt of his disgrace. All the knights adopt the green sash.

The last line before the bob reiterates the beginning of the poem.

Cf. Pearl