Critical Introduction

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an anonymous Middle English poem written in the Northwest of England in the late fourteenth century. It is set at Camelot, in the court of King Arthur and features many of the characters familiar from Arthurian literature—including Arthur and his queen, Guinevere. Arthurian romances are stories of daring adventure and chivalry (the moral codes that guide knights). They often feature dangerous monsters that exist largely to test the mettle and might of Arthur's Knights of the Round Table.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is framed by two Christmas feasts. At the first, Arthur and his knights have been celebrating and competing merrily when a strange figure enters the hall. He is massive, a “half giant,” well-formed and handsome, armed with a huge battle ax, and “entirely emerald green” in his body and clothes. He challenges the knights to a game: he and any knight bold enough will swap one blow with his ax. He offers to take the first, with the promise to give back a stroke equal to that which he has received. This seems like some sort of trick—if a knight uses the ax to cut off the Green Knight's head, he should be safe from having to receive a blow in return—and indeed it is. When Sir Gawain rises to the challenge, he gets a monstrous surprise.

This game is in fact a test of the knight's chivalry, bravery, and (surprisingly) chastity, demonstrating the conflicts between some elements of the chivalric code and Christianity. A year later, Gawain journeys to a remote section of Britain to find the Green Knight and, en route, stays in the castle of Sir Bertilak, who also challenges him to an odd game: for three days, Bertilak will go out hunting and will bring Gawain back whatever he catches, while Gawain will wait for him in the castle and will give to Bertilak whatever he catches, in turn. For two days, Bertilak catches animals, while Gawain catches kisses from Bertilak's wife. Gawain receives the animals and gives Bertilak the kisses.