The first part of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has one of the most memorable scenes in English literature. During a Christmas celebration, a time of a great feast, the court of King Arthur is interrupted. A stranger enters. He is described as being “the largest of men” and “half a giant.” But what is even more remarkable about this stranger than his size is his color: he is completely green. His clothes are green, his hair is green, even his face is green. In addition to that, his horse is also completely green.
Obviously, this is no ordinary human; and later the expression “elf-man” is used to describe this Green Knight. Elf, like fairy, indicates a creature of strange supernatural powers or magic. During the Middle Ages fairies were not thought of as diminutive (tiny) figures. Instead, they could be as big or bigger than humans are. But they would live separately from humans and could, like the ancient Greek gods, interfere in the lives of humans. Sometimes the fairies could be good, but at other times they could be mischievous or even deadly. They were creatures that humans could not understand.
The Green Knight’s appearance alone startles and shocks the knights of King Arthur’s court, who were known for their courage and great deeds (such as slaying dragons or giants). But the Green Knight presents a challenge to these knights that is even more startling and more shocking. The Green Knight, who is carrying a large and fearful-looking axe, tells the knights that he wants to play “a Christmas game” (Part I: line 283). The word game is used ironically here, for the challenge is not something that is fun and entertaining. Rather, it is quite deadly. The Green Knight challenges or dares any one of the knights to exchange blows with him. The knight who accepts will be able to give the first blow with the elf-man’s own sharp axe. The Green Knight promises to stand still while his challenger swings the axe at his head and attempts to cut the elf-man’s head off. But, the Green Knight adds, if he survives the blow, he gets to return the blow: he gets a chance to swing an axe at the challenger, who must remain still as well.
The bravery of King Arthur’s knights becomes questionable, and the Green Knight laughs at the court when no one speaks up to accept his challenge. Arthur’s knights are too stunned. They are speechless that such a challenge could be made. Arthur becomes embarrassed that none of his knights accept, and so Arthur himself accepts the challenge. This is, after all, a matter of pride for Arthur. He cannot allow anyone, even if he is an elf or fairy, to question the courage of his knights and his court.
Sir Gawain, who is a young knight and who still needs to commit brave deeds as befitting one in King Arthur’s court, feels that such an act is beneath the dignity of his king. That is, his king should not accept such a foolish challenge. So, Gawain asks King Arthur if he can accept the challenge in Arthur’s place. The king agrees.
Gawain takes the elf-man’s axe after promising to accept the terms of the challenge set by the Green Knight. Gawain then takes the large axe and swings at the neck of the elf-man. The blow is on target, and the Green Knight’s head is separated from his body. Blood and gore then flow from the shoulders of the Green Knight’s body as the head rolls across the floor.
But then something even more amazing happens. The body of the Green Knight, instead of falling over, straightens up and walks over to his head. He lifts his own head by his hair and holds it straight up so that the eyes of the head look directly at Gawain. And then the mouth begins to speak and tells Gawain that he must seek the Knight of the Green Chapel (the Green Knight) in one year’s time, as Gawain had agreed, and receive a blow from his weapon. The elf-man then rides his horse out of the court, still carrying his head in his hand.
The promise that Gawain makes to the Green Knight, the oath that he has sworn before all of the other knights in King Arthur’s court, forms the central conflict for the entire romance. Gawain knows that he must keep his promise. He must seek the Green Knight and allow the strange man to swing a deadly weapon at his neck. But Gawain also knows that such a blow will kill him. He is not an elf. He has no magic against such a blow. But the idea of the oath is important to Gawain. The importance of oaths, as can be seen in Beowulf, was a central part of the heroic code by which the Anglo-Saxons lived. And the idea that a knight’s word, his promise, must be kept even if it meant his own death was still considered an essential aspect of courtly behavior in the 14th century. A knight who did not keep his word was without honor. Gawain, being a young knight, wants to live up to the ideal of knighthood. He wants to be a perfect knight. Therefore, he must, he feels, go the Green Chapel and allow the Green Knight to kill him. It is better to be a dead knight than to be a knight without honor. One might remember the words of Wiglaf to the retainers or warriors who abandoned Beowulf when that hero faced the dragon. Wiglaf said basically the same thing. Death is preferable to a life of shame.
So, the plot of the story is propelled (moved) by Gawain’s promise to keep his oath. In one year’s time, he sets out to seek the Knight of the Green
Chapel. That’s when his adventures begin.
The opening scene of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in which Gawain agrees to exchange blows with the Green Knight, is a story element that appears in other medieval tales. This element, which is called the beheading game motif, probably appeared first in an 8th century Irish Celtic story entitled The Feast of Bricriu. The hero of this tale is not Gawain or any of Arthur’s other knights (even though the King Arthur tales also were originally of early Celtic origin). Rather, the hero is Cuchulain, a figure of great courage and strength and who is also the lord of many warriors.
In the Irish story a rough and tough stranger appears to Cuculain and his men and challenges all of them to try chopping his head off. Each of Cuchulain’s men and even Cuchulain himself tries to behead the stranger, but the stranger remains unharmed.
The very next day Cuchulain and his men are required to seek the stranger and receive blows in return. However, only Cuchulain shows up. The rest of his men are too afraid. Cuchulain receives only a light, harmless blow by the stranger.
The purpose of the story is to define the nature of bravery. Cuchulain is a great hero of the Irish not only because of his strength, but also because of his courage. Like Beowulf, Cuchulain represents the ideal hero. He possesses the ideal qualities that all other men should aspire to.
The beheading game motif also appears in French romances. But the motif in these stories was probably copied from the Celts.