Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
excerpts from Fit II (Boroff translation):
Vocabulary
alliterative revival, alliterative
verse, archetype, bob-and-wheel, fit, folkloric motifs,
leitmotif, medieval romance, temptation motif.
Character Identifications:
Sir Gawain, Arthur, Gwenevere, The Green Knight (Sir Bercilak),
Gringolet, The Host (Sir Bercilak in disguise), The Host's
Wife, Morgan LeFey.
Reading Questions:
- After Gawain's game, the poet describes the passing
of winter games. He then describes the coming of spring
and Lent and Easter in a single stanza, and then he describes
the ripening of crops and the coming of summer in one
stanza. The poet then describes All-Hallow's Eve
(Halloween), All Saint's Day, and the season of fall in
a few lines. What is the poet suggesting by rapidly moving
through time in this manner when it comes to Gawain's
situation?
- How does the court react to Sir Gawain's decision to
leave?
- What is Gawain's response to those who say it is a shame
for him "to bear such a bitter blow"?
- What religious undertaking does Gawain participate in
before mounting his horse and riding away?
- What is the name of Gawain's horse he rides?
- What color is Sir Gawain's armor when he sets out from
Camelot? How does this color contrast or compare with
the Green Knight's coloration? What emblem or design appears
on the front of Gawain's shield? Whose picture appears
on the inside of Gawain's shield?
- Why is the number five important or significant, according
to the narrator?
Sample Identification Passages: (TBA)