Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Medieval Romance

• Romance: – Termed as any story written in one of the

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Medieval Romance

• Medieval Romances describe in a general way what the word means when applied to medieval stories. The basic material of medieval romance is knightly activity and adventure; we might best define medieval romance as a story of adventure--fictitious, frequently marvelous or supernatural--in verse or prose. Early romances in English are in verse, such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Sir Gawain and the Green

Knight

King Arthur

Morgan le Fay

Merlin

The Pentangle

• A symbol of truth, the star has five points that link and lock with each other, forming what is called the endless knot.

• Each line of the pentangle passes over one line and under one line, and joins the other two lines at its ends.

Pentagram/Pentangle

• Generally interchangeable.• In Early Christian Times (as in Sir Gawain and

the Green Knight) it represented many things including Christ’s 5 wounds (2 wrist, 2 ankle and 1 side)

• The English warrior Sir Gawain, a nephew of King Arthur, adopted the pentagram as his personal symbol and placed it on his shield. – It appeared in gold on a red background. The five

points symbolized "the five knightly virtues - generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry and piety."

The Pentangle • The pentangle symbolizes the virtues to

which Gawain aspires: – to be faultless in his five senses; – never to fail in his five fingers; to be faithful to

the five wounds that Christ received on the cross;

– to be strengthened by the five joys that the Virgin Mary had in Jesus (the Annunciation, Nativity, Resurrection, Ascension, and Assumption)

– to possess brotherly love, courtesy, piety, and chastity.

– The side of the shield facing Gawain contains an image of the Virgin Mary to make sure that Gawain never loses heart.