Sir Gawain: Colors of Choice
In the legend, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the knight Sir Gawain plays a game with "The Green Knight." But this isn't your "usual" kind of game - Sir Gawain must cut off the head of the Green Knight with the knight's axe, and then, a year later, get his own head similarly cut off. But... Why green of all colors for this mysterious knight? With a modern perspective, Sally Walton points out that green represents five things that are qualities the Green Knight has - "Youth, Growth, Balance, Recovery, and Optimistm (Walton 86)."
To directly quote myself on the board of discussion that my Humanities 302 class had concerning this piece of work:
| Youth: Arthur displays childish behavior in the very beginning [of the story] by refusing to eat. The Green Knight arrives in the dinner hall, and asks "of the court a Christmas game (283)," Thus, he is young at heart – after all, it can easily be assumed that if you were a big, brave, strong knight in the Middle Ages, you would rather be running around, looking for a fight [instead of wandering into people's halls looking for a game], correct? |
| Growth: Here, this is one trait that I am unable to see the Green Knight display. Sir Gawain does grow and change with his personality, growing darker and gloomier as his "fateful" day approaches. His second encounter with the Green Knight teaches him to be more honorable, thus he grows mentally in the chivalric sense. |
| Balance: "As to strike a blow fearlessly and take one in return (287)," decrees the Green Knight. The balance here, is an equal exchange of blows – no more, no less. While the Green Knight does attempt to strike at Sir Gawain three times, he was stopped twice by Sir Gawain's flinching... Which was a clear violation of the rules, as he did not take a fearless blow in return. [He compromises and restores balance by giving Sir Gawain a nasty scar on the back of his neck, however.] |
| Recovery: Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that the Green Knight picks up his own head after it gets cut off, and informs Sir Gawain that he needs to hold out his end of the game, and then rides off. This brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Walk it off." Of course, a year later, the Green Knight's head is right back on its rightful place on his body... Talk about recovery! |
| Finally, Optimism. Again, after the Green Knight retrieved his head, he [reminds] Sir Gawain [about] his promise. I honestly don't know about you guys, but if my head was cut off, I'd be too busy trying to put it back on. But, no! Not the Green Knight! He just picks up his head and says, in this abridged version: "Okay Sir Gawain! I'll see you in a year where I get to cut your head off! Hup, hup, cheerio and all that – see you in a year!" |
But, what about green in the cultural context of that time and age? Green in the Middle Ages had pagan connections - it represented nature. The Green Knight was linked to nature in several ways. First, he is like a plant - if a leaf is broken off of a plant's limb, it grows back... The Green Knight loses his head, and is able to replace it easily. Not only that, there is no mention of blood at all - it's like the injury of a plant, as plants don't bleed (with the exception of pine trees and their sap). Furthermore, the Green Knight with his unusual strength and vitality also has his home out in the wilderness, closer to nature. In this sense, the Green Knight can be considered the physical manifestation of Nature (Delahoyde).
Whereas the Green Knight has a close connection to Nature, Sir Gawain has just about the opposite. The text only makes two color references - gold and red. Gold decorates Sir Gawain's armor, and Sir Gawain is presented with a "...shield of shining gules,/With the pentangle painted on it in pure gold. (Sir Gawain: lines 629-620)"
The color, or tincture gold (or Or, to use the jargon) represents wealth and generosity. Personally, I do not see Sir Gawain exhibiting either of these traits - wealth merely comes from the fact that King Arthur is his uncle, and generosity... As to that, Sir Gawain is anything but generous. When Sir Gawain was searching for the Green Knight, the Green Knight tricks him into staying in his hall for three days. Each day, Sir Gawain would receive something from the Green Knight's wife, while the Green Knight went out hunting. At the end of the day, they would exchange what they had got. In exchange for what he had hunted, Sir Gawain gave him what he received from the Green Knight's wife which were, for the first two days, kisses. However, on the third day Sir Gawain received a green belt that the Green Knight's wife told him would protect him from the Green Knight. Sir Gawain does not hand this over, and instead keeps it for himself (Sir Gawain 107).
Sir Gawain's shield, on the other hand, is a gift to him from King Arthur. It is a "...shield of shining gules,/With the pentangle painted on it in pure gold. (Sir Gawain: lines 629-620)" Basically, a red shield with a gold star on it - look to the right of this paragraph to see an example of what it might have looked like. The reason for the pentangle is explained in lines 625 to 635 of James Winny's translated version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight:
| It is a symbol that Soloman designed long ago |
| As an emblem of fidelity, and justly so; |
| For it is a figure consisting of five points, |
| Where each line overlaps and locks into another, |
| And the whole design is continuous, and in England is called |
| Everywhere, I am told, the endless knot. |
| Therefore it suits this knight and his shining arms, |
| For always faithful in five ways, and five times in each case, |
| Gawain was reputed as virtuous, like refined gold, |
| Devoid of all vice, and with all courtly virtues adorned. |